Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
my gall bladder is broken
so, yesterday was eventful and i felt so loved through phone calls, texts & facebook messages so i thought i'd update you all.
i had yet another gall bladder attack yesterday morning and after taking vicadin and sleeping for a couple of hours i woke up ready to go to the hospital and do whatever we needed to do to get my gall bladder removed. well, it didn't really work that way...
i first went to the ER where they did some blood work (thankfully my other organs have not been affected, which i am so grateful about) and had an ultrasound ( a lot less fun when there isn't a baby to see!) and yes... i have gall stones (shocker) they recommended a few surgeons in rexburg for me to call.
I had an appointment with one yesterday and the receptionist said i could have the surgery tomorrow but they require 50% down before the surgery. The total cost would be a minimum of $8000 and we definetely don't have $4,000 on hand (more like $4) so that wasn't going to work. I met with the surgeon and I really liked him. He reminded me a lot of my dad which i'm not sure is comforting when they will be cutting you open (since my dad designs closets) but, oh well, i felt comfortable with him and so that went well. we spoke with the finincial lady at the surgeon office about our options with $. she said we should apply for county assistance and what they do is contract the hospital and surgeon to work for medicaid rates instead (1/3 of the normal cost) and we don't have to pay anything- we pay the county back after the surgery. They take monthly payments and when we talked to the woman @ the county office she said people typically pay $25 a month but some people pay as little as $5. (and i'm not positive on this but i'm pretty sure you only have to pay for 5 years- so it's not like we will be paying this off when we're 80 which is comforting) so, in total the bill will only be $2500-$3000 instead of $8000, which seems so much more doable. We only had to pay $200 when we had Daphne so I guess we're paying for her now. OH! and that reminds me.... I've been following this SUPER strict diet for the past 4 months since my 1st attack but the surgeon said that he's pretty positive my diet has NOTHING to do with having attacks- the stones probably formed due to a hormore during pregnancy and having attacks is due to that, not with what i'm eating. This really makes sense since I would always be confused when i had an attack because i've been 100% faithful only eating 15-20 grams of fat a day. So, i'm a little annoyed that I've been SO good and it doesn't matter. On the plus side, I've lost 15 very needed pounds and I still have about 10 to go to be where I want to be. So, it's not all a loss. But, it does make me want to go to five guys (i still want to eat vegetarian... i just want to have 1 day where i go a little crazy and then i'll go back to it.. which i'm sure would make me totally sick but i'm craving a cheeseburger and chicken strips with fries like nobodies business :)
The problem with going through county is that i won't be able to have the surgery for 10-14 days. I also learned that i won't be able to work for AT LEAST 2 weeks after the surgery and i won't be able to lift (which i do a lot of @ gap) for a month. So, that's not comforting.
In other news, we are desperately trying to sell/get out of our contract and we're moving in with Nic's grandma Jane in Idaho Falls. She lives right across from the mall so I can walk to work and Nic will carpool from IF up to school each day. It's basically the only way we can survive and not get evicted. It will be temporary till we move to Denver in December and we're grateful for Nic's fam (parents included) who were so willing to help us out. Why aren't people buying invites anymore?!?!?! It's annoying :)
So, that's life. Hope you all are well <3
i had yet another gall bladder attack yesterday morning and after taking vicadin and sleeping for a couple of hours i woke up ready to go to the hospital and do whatever we needed to do to get my gall bladder removed. well, it didn't really work that way...
i first went to the ER where they did some blood work (thankfully my other organs have not been affected, which i am so grateful about) and had an ultrasound ( a lot less fun when there isn't a baby to see!) and yes... i have gall stones (shocker) they recommended a few surgeons in rexburg for me to call.
I had an appointment with one yesterday and the receptionist said i could have the surgery tomorrow but they require 50% down before the surgery. The total cost would be a minimum of $8000 and we definetely don't have $4,000 on hand (more like $4) so that wasn't going to work. I met with the surgeon and I really liked him. He reminded me a lot of my dad which i'm not sure is comforting when they will be cutting you open (since my dad designs closets) but, oh well, i felt comfortable with him and so that went well. we spoke with the finincial lady at the surgeon office about our options with $. she said we should apply for county assistance and what they do is contract the hospital and surgeon to work for medicaid rates instead (1/3 of the normal cost) and we don't have to pay anything- we pay the county back after the surgery. They take monthly payments and when we talked to the woman @ the county office she said people typically pay $25 a month but some people pay as little as $5. (and i'm not positive on this but i'm pretty sure you only have to pay for 5 years- so it's not like we will be paying this off when we're 80 which is comforting) so, in total the bill will only be $2500-$3000 instead of $8000, which seems so much more doable. We only had to pay $200 when we had Daphne so I guess we're paying for her now. OH! and that reminds me.... I've been following this SUPER strict diet for the past 4 months since my 1st attack but the surgeon said that he's pretty positive my diet has NOTHING to do with having attacks- the stones probably formed due to a hormore during pregnancy and having attacks is due to that, not with what i'm eating. This really makes sense since I would always be confused when i had an attack because i've been 100% faithful only eating 15-20 grams of fat a day. So, i'm a little annoyed that I've been SO good and it doesn't matter. On the plus side, I've lost 15 very needed pounds and I still have about 10 to go to be where I want to be. So, it's not all a loss. But, it does make me want to go to five guys (i still want to eat vegetarian... i just want to have 1 day where i go a little crazy and then i'll go back to it.. which i'm sure would make me totally sick but i'm craving a cheeseburger and chicken strips with fries like nobodies business :)
The problem with going through county is that i won't be able to have the surgery for 10-14 days. I also learned that i won't be able to work for AT LEAST 2 weeks after the surgery and i won't be able to lift (which i do a lot of @ gap) for a month. So, that's not comforting.
In other news, we are desperately trying to sell/get out of our contract and we're moving in with Nic's grandma Jane in Idaho Falls. She lives right across from the mall so I can walk to work and Nic will carpool from IF up to school each day. It's basically the only way we can survive and not get evicted. It will be temporary till we move to Denver in December and we're grateful for Nic's fam (parents included) who were so willing to help us out. Why aren't people buying invites anymore?!?!?! It's annoying :)
So, that's life. Hope you all are well <3
Monday, August 9, 2010
update
i feel like no one reads this blog anymore and i really don't blame you! we had internet through our apartment complex and they just discontinued the service, so i'm writing from the lounge where i have to work now. we won't be living in rexburg for 6 months so it's been hard to find an internet provider for less than a 6 month contract. arghhhh it's so frustrating.
but, all in all- life is good. we're poor college students (but only for 4 more months- then we'll just be POOR which is kind of depressing) and i just got a job at gap to help things out. nic is off of school and i'm so glad he's at home with daphne. i'm saving all my favors for when i'll be working and he'll be in school (with 21.5 credits) so let me know if you want to watch daphne sometime! :)
she is doing great. she cracks us up. she's started sneaking around (not sneaky at all but she thinks she is) and it's really cute. she learns lots of new words everyday and talks CONSTANTLY at home- not so much when we leave the house, she's a little shy.
I've been suffering with gall bladder attacks and it's really unbearable. even with a very restricted diet i'm still having attacks and it's the worst thing ever (way worse then any part of labor i experienced, plus- no cute baby at the end)
so, that's the update. we're happy. we're healthy (ok, not me) and we're here- just not HERE on the internet. stupid apartments.
but, all in all- life is good. we're poor college students (but only for 4 more months- then we'll just be POOR which is kind of depressing) and i just got a job at gap to help things out. nic is off of school and i'm so glad he's at home with daphne. i'm saving all my favors for when i'll be working and he'll be in school (with 21.5 credits) so let me know if you want to watch daphne sometime! :)
she is doing great. she cracks us up. she's started sneaking around (not sneaky at all but she thinks she is) and it's really cute. she learns lots of new words everyday and talks CONSTANTLY at home- not so much when we leave the house, she's a little shy.
I've been suffering with gall bladder attacks and it's really unbearable. even with a very restricted diet i'm still having attacks and it's the worst thing ever (way worse then any part of labor i experienced, plus- no cute baby at the end)
so, that's the update. we're happy. we're healthy (ok, not me) and we're here- just not HERE on the internet. stupid apartments.
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