sub q foreign bodies

i would like to thank you all for your good thoughts and concern - i really appreciate that, and am doing ok.  y'all are so nice.

a subcutaneous foreign body is something under the skin that shouldn't be there. could be anything that somehow got under the skin.  in my case, it looks like a bb.  my brothers were mean when they were little, ya know. 

yesterday was interesting.  was going over the bill and noted what labs were done - cbc, troponin I, etc and thought - dang, i know what those are! my time in medical has not been wasted.   and noticed something else...there was a charge for a tetanus shot.  hmm. i didn't get a tetanus shot and will dispute it.  i wasn't THAT out of it.

my god, how expensive medical care is. yesterday's mishap cost over 2k.  further, i could not leave the room until someone was available to 'walk me out', which meant walking me to the checkout line.  i suppose they have, in the past, had people who walked out and kept going...therefore, it is necessary to escort wounded people to the money woman who asked me - what portion of this would you like to pay today?

...

i would have paid all of it, but i was fresh out of pocket change.

this certainly makes me feel for people who do not have insurance and live JUST above the poverty level, making them ineligible for any kind of financial help.  there isn't a wide gap between indigenous and barely making it...something has to be done about the cost of health care and availabilty of funds for it in this country.

at the same time...i realize how expensive equipment, staffing and overhead costs are.  can you imagine, though, the price of a lengthy admission?  or even a short one.  omigod, the soapbox is calling me...

amazing isn't it, how a bump on the head can make you think.