Week 2-In an American hospital

Alas, I don't think anyone needs to see pictures from the last 5 days of this excitement.

From what you read of my last entry, I wasn't feeling too well. I got a sore throat, and did what I always do when I get sick; bought herbals. I started taking oil of oregano and when the second day came and I had a pretty bad cold, I added garlic pills. Now, most of the time with sticking to this regiment very religiously, all symptoms cease and I'm better within at least 3 days tops. The following day the infection was in my chest and I was waking up 3 or 4 times in the night not able to breathe without the aid of my inhalers. After 3 days of ineffective herbals and puffers, I decided to check into a clinc.

Right.

My roommate called around to find out where I could go and after one rude secretary after another (in fact one even hung up on her upon hearing my Canadian decent) she was referred to St. Raphael, a catholic hospital in West Haven. She drove me down immediately.

Thankfully, American hospitals take asthma as seriously as Canadian ones. I was rushed in, put in a bed in the ER and given a mask instantly. What really bothered me was it didn't work.

I've had asthma since I was 18 months old. I've been admitted at least over 30 times in my life, spanning over a week for the most part. I usually know how these things work. But since I was 19, and have gone a more holistic route, I have been able to better manage my symptoms then ever before. Usually, once a year or so things get the better of me, every time stemming from a bad chest infection and I have to go to emerg and get a couple masks, a prescription for Prednisone and I'm home again. Almost 7 years now this has been the routine. But this time, the masks weren't working.

That night they admitted me onto the ward. The next morning I was feeling better, until I relapsed. And then relapsed 4 more times. Every morning I'd feel better, I could breathe, my wheezing was a lot more controlled, and then an hour later I was right back to the beginning. Tests followed; chest x-rays, nasal swabs, blood work, sputum tests, EKG's, a 24 hour urine test (where they actually collect all your pee for a full 24hours, and if you miss even the smallest amount, you have to start right over again). I had 3 IV's because they just kept clotting. Neither the doctors nor myself could determine why I was relapsing. Every morning the doctors set up to send me home. The day before last they even had me sign the discharge sheets. And then 15 minutes later I needed another mask and my chest sounded like a train wreck. I was not leaving.

So, this morning seemed promising. I was sounding better, but they were still unsure because every time I went for a walk my heart rate spiked to 150. (For those of you who don't know, a normal heart rate for an adult is anywhere from 60-100). So there should be no reason why mine was at 130 before I got to my doorway. The doctors decided to send me home with a special machine that would allow me to receive my masks without being in the hospital. The only problem was, my insurance company would not pay for it. It was either that, or I was possibly staying longer. Then a woman appeared at my bed, with the machine in hand and said that the hospital had donated the machine to me, free of charge. Thank goodness! It looked like I was actually going home!

I called as many friends as my phone card would allow. Got dressed and waited for my roommate to pick me up. And then a woman from social services came to see me. I may very well have a bill in the mail from the hospital, she said. The insurance company that I had gone with before leaving Winnipeg, was denying that I had informed them I was asthmatic and was refusing to pay the charges incurred. They are claiming that it is a pre-existing condition. The thing is, I did tell them when I bought the package. The woman very plainly asked me if I had any illnesses and I told her that yes, I had asthma, had it all my life. She sold me the basic insurance regardless, stating that my condition was fine, and wouldn't be a problem with the package I bought because it wasn't something terminal like cancer, HIV or Alzheimer's.

By the time I got home, it was too late to call them. Regardless, I don't think I've had the energy to deal with this issue quite yet. A few folks at the hospital were nice enough to give me some ideas of what I could do. If I haven't signed anything then it's my word against theirs and I might have a fighting chance against this. In any case, I have to deal with getting well, and working out the whole border thing. Yes, I still have that to sort out. The hospital said that the bill won't come for another month so I have some time. As well, they are a catholic establishment and are very fair in dealing with financial matters. I have no reason not to believe her. I just didn't anticipate paying off an American hospital bill for the next 40 years of my life.

So for now, I'm going to take the next week to rest and get better. If my asthma does not improve, I may be forced to come home and do the DTS next year because God knows, I don't want to be in any more debt then I may be. But there's something about this that doesn't rest well with me. I feel like the enemy has got a serious hand in this. I feel like giving up now, after all this hard work would only please him more. And for that, I have to fight. I know that God wants me here, I know this is something I need to do and I'm not going to quit. I'm going to deal with it one thing at a time.

But man, this journey sure hasn't been easy, and the DTS has just started.