It Cost What?

A few weeks ago, I had a skin tag removed that was in a not-so-pleasant spot. Let's just say that the elastic leg band on my underwear irritated it to the point of pain. So, I had it removed.

It was a painless "operation". Took all of five minutes from start to finish, and that included the time it took for the anesthetic to take effect. When it was all said and done, I was skin tag free, and much happier.....

Until yesterday, that is. I received an insurance statement in the mail informing me that they were not covering any part of the procedure due to the fact that it was a cosmetic procedure. Even though it was causing me pain, it was not medically necessary. WTH?!

OK, fine. It can't cost that terribly much, right?

Wrong!

It cost a whopping $268!

I don't get it. Besides the anesthetic, what else was there? The doctor barely had to use the scalpel. If I wasn't such a baby, I probably could've cut the thing off myself. I was afraid of bleeding to death, though.

All in all, I'm glad the tag is gone. But, come on. $268?

Christmas Postponed

We were supposed to go down to my brother's house tomorrow around noon for our Christmas celebration with my side of the family. My parents live about three hours north of me, and my brother about an hour south. So, we decided this year to all meet at my brother's house for our family Christmas.

My Mom called this morning to say that Dad wasn't feeling well, and hasn't felt well for a couple of days. She sent him to the walk-in clinic near their home. Thinking he had the flu, he went. The doctors quickly determined that he didn't have the flu. He's had a small hernia for a while now, and they at first thought it might be that. After some tests, they discovered that he might have a blockage in his intestines or at least some inflammation.

So, they are headed to the hospital. He'll be in there at least two days with medications to try to cure the inflammation. If that doesn't work, he'll have to have surgery to correct it. He'll also have his hernia fixed at the same time because he tore it more with all the vomiting he's been doing over the last two days.

Needless to say, we won't be going to my brother's house tomorrow. We'll postpone our family Christmas until my Dad is feeling better. My brother and I might actually head up to my parents' house tomorrow to help out while Dad is in the hospital.

It's strange worrying about Dad for a change. He's never sick. He never misses work, even for a cold. Dad's always been healthy as a horse. I hope he gets better soon.