She's Fine
Back in 2017 I had a strange bout of syncope. The first time was at my (ex)boyfriend's house during quite the rager fraternity party - ironically I hadn't had a sip of alcohol that night. I remember vividly the sound of sirens and screaming downstairs as all the underage kids had to be told that the cops/ambulance weren't here for them but rather, me. ECG ran - fine. Blood pressure - fine. But I couldn't remember basic facts like the day or names of people I should have. EMT convinced me to get checked out at the ER and so I reluctantly obliged as long as I didn't have to ride with them because I did not want the $1000+ bill thrown on my parent's insurance. I was mad I had to even go in, so out I walked through the smokey hallways reeking of Natty Light and my boyfriend drove me to the hospital. It was luckily a quiet night for a Saturday, so we were able to get in and get a room. They ran some tests. You're not pregnant. You're not drunk. You're not on drugs. Yes - thank you I know that. But we don't really know what's wrong with you. I think you were just dizzy. So I literally left the ER with a diagnosis of dizziness and a $2000+ bill for being there less than 6 hours.
Flash forward about oh 12 hours or so...the rest of this synopsis from January 16, 2017 is all from what my best friend and boyfriend told me. I cannot recall any of this. Apparently I started acting strange when later that afternoon after I had napped post-ER visit and I was being taken home by my boyfriend. We apparently got to my driveway, and I thanked him like he was an uber driver and tried to tip him. He shook me and stared me in my eyes and I had no clue who he was. I went inside my house, where I lived alone, and my boyfriend debated what to do; he eventually followed me in as I hadn't locked the door or closed the garage like I always do. He found me cleaning, folding laundry, and doing random tasks. Still acting abnormal, he called my best friend to see if I recognized her - when she came over, I did, but I was becoming more and more agitated. They were so concerned they called my mother and she told them, try to take her to the hospital, if she refuses call an ambulance. I refused multiple times in my agitated state - seeing nothing wrong with myself - and it was when I collapsed upstairs with a strange twitch across my body that they called an ambulance.
I arrived in the ER via ambulance, but there were no open beds because of norovirus, all of the rooms had to have extra precautions to sanitize them, so I laid in a gurney with a throbbing head, IV needle prepped in my hand from the ambulance, and pure confusion for over 3 hours. Because it was 3 college students, without a parent to push and advocate for me, I laid on that gurney in the hallway for what felt like much longer. As soon as my best friend finally spoke up that I was in here less than 24 hours ago and had a history of head injury, I magically had a room open up.
Once they had me in a room, it was resident after nurse after attending. I was not allowed to eat because of what tests they were doing and in my strange state of mind I hadn't eaten since basically my IV saline bag 24 hours ago; I was a hot mess. Next thing I know is that they are coming in my room saying that I have an abnormal CT that shows I could have something serious, like a subarachnoid hemorrhage, we have to do an MRI to see more clearly. It's now almost 3 am - I have no food in my stomach - and they're telling me something's actually really wrong with me. And then my mom walks in. To this day I do not know how she got to the hospital as fast as she did because she had to fly from Houston Texas, but she came. After she arrived, it seemed like everything started running smoothly - I was getting nurses to help me, useful neurosurgeons were finally at my bedside, and progress was being made. However, after all that stress and concern and having to have my head in an MRI completely still for way too long after not sleeping - the test came back negative. I do have abnormalities in veins of my brain but they have not caused issues thus far in my life, so they could not confirm my current state was due to those. With all tests coming back negative, I was released within a few hours, this time diagnosed with "unspecified syncope" and inability to drive for a week out of concern it would happen again.
With all of that, my cumulative copay billed over the next 6 months was more than $2,616. I also remember the ambulance ride (which was billed separately) at least $1000; it hurt to see the numbers. (Truly, I remember the cumulative bill being more than that but my online health record billing will only go so far back and I can't see the itemized bills anymore unless I request them.)
I share this roller coaster of a ride to show some of the flaws of the US healthcare system.
1. Not enough ER beds
2. Overuse of testing without much concluding facts
3. Difficult billing for months afterwards - the bills never stopped - and you don't know how much it will cost until after the services
4. Ambulances are extremely expensive for sometimes being a necessity
5. There is a disrespect for young people advocating for themselves in the hospital
Flash forward about oh 12 hours or so...the rest of this synopsis from January 16, 2017 is all from what my best friend and boyfriend told me. I cannot recall any of this. Apparently I started acting strange when later that afternoon after I had napped post-ER visit and I was being taken home by my boyfriend. We apparently got to my driveway, and I thanked him like he was an uber driver and tried to tip him. He shook me and stared me in my eyes and I had no clue who he was. I went inside my house, where I lived alone, and my boyfriend debated what to do; he eventually followed me in as I hadn't locked the door or closed the garage like I always do. He found me cleaning, folding laundry, and doing random tasks. Still acting abnormal, he called my best friend to see if I recognized her - when she came over, I did, but I was becoming more and more agitated. They were so concerned they called my mother and she told them, try to take her to the hospital, if she refuses call an ambulance. I refused multiple times in my agitated state - seeing nothing wrong with myself - and it was when I collapsed upstairs with a strange twitch across my body that they called an ambulance.
I arrived in the ER via ambulance, but there were no open beds because of norovirus, all of the rooms had to have extra precautions to sanitize them, so I laid in a gurney with a throbbing head, IV needle prepped in my hand from the ambulance, and pure confusion for over 3 hours. Because it was 3 college students, without a parent to push and advocate for me, I laid on that gurney in the hallway for what felt like much longer. As soon as my best friend finally spoke up that I was in here less than 24 hours ago and had a history of head injury, I magically had a room open up.
Once they had me in a room, it was resident after nurse after attending. I was not allowed to eat because of what tests they were doing and in my strange state of mind I hadn't eaten since basically my IV saline bag 24 hours ago; I was a hot mess. Next thing I know is that they are coming in my room saying that I have an abnormal CT that shows I could have something serious, like a subarachnoid hemorrhage, we have to do an MRI to see more clearly. It's now almost 3 am - I have no food in my stomach - and they're telling me something's actually really wrong with me. And then my mom walks in. To this day I do not know how she got to the hospital as fast as she did because she had to fly from Houston Texas, but she came. After she arrived, it seemed like everything started running smoothly - I was getting nurses to help me, useful neurosurgeons were finally at my bedside, and progress was being made. However, after all that stress and concern and having to have my head in an MRI completely still for way too long after not sleeping - the test came back negative. I do have abnormalities in veins of my brain but they have not caused issues thus far in my life, so they could not confirm my current state was due to those. With all tests coming back negative, I was released within a few hours, this time diagnosed with "unspecified syncope" and inability to drive for a week out of concern it would happen again.
With all of that, my cumulative copay billed over the next 6 months was more than $2,616. I also remember the ambulance ride (which was billed separately) at least $1000; it hurt to see the numbers. (Truly, I remember the cumulative bill being more than that but my online health record billing will only go so far back and I can't see the itemized bills anymore unless I request them.)
I share this roller coaster of a ride to show some of the flaws of the US healthcare system.
1. Not enough ER beds
2. Overuse of testing without much concluding facts
3. Difficult billing for months afterwards - the bills never stopped - and you don't know how much it will cost until after the services
4. Ambulances are extremely expensive for sometimes being a necessity
5. There is a disrespect for young people advocating for themselves in the hospital
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