Phillip Kohn's Medical Bills

I want to crawl up into a big ball and die; said a great entertainer.
Instead of giving you a laundry list of my friggin’ problems, I should have been talking to you like the friends you are.

So this is the last time I ever mention this…promise…

April 16, 2016; Charlotte and I downsized from our rented house to a small apartment. We have been living solely on our social security and boy; this is a sobering reality.

I suffered a heart attack and kidney failure during that move because of dehydration and heat stroke.

I spent a week in the hospital.

A perfect storm was created by this incident; my age fighting me, and it triggered things that has kept me surprisingly ill. It has apparently been like this for a while but then the bubble of arrogant false security decided it was time to explode.

I have never been seriously ill before. And I’m having to deal with a new reality. I’m following the path that someone my age faces.

Dormant issues have shown up at the same time  that were not detected by earlier physical examinations.

Fibromyalia really sucks because it makes you feel crippled and broken. It makes you pay a heavy price on your God given ability to think clearly…understanding simple things becomes kinda’ difficult. Or knowing where too much is?….or not remembering when one crosses that invisible line that quietly marks the difference between being funny or just being negative and unpleasant.

Having a heart attack and finding out I have all the crap that comes with age and discovering your body is now in the “diminishing” stage instead of the “robust” stage, opens your eyes to mortality.

I thought only women become anemic. It feels like someone has slipped you a downer and then you knock back a few shots of Jack Daniels. I sleep all the time and I just don’t awaken alert. This unrecognizable, bizzare, stagnation blows me away. I remember….I really remember being robust and having ‘no freaking health issues to worry about’ only a couple years ago.

And of course, I am now paying the price of that terrible sky diving accident in 2001. My spine has really been spanking me. The fibromyalgia makes it much worse.

Almost two years ago, I had an electrical spinal stimulator surgically implanted in my low back. This was done to help with pain from my disintegrating spine.
Emanating from the device are two wires that travel up my spine held in place with staples. Now held in place with scar tissue.
The unit, about 3" x 3", has come loose and migrated down a few inches and is trying to break through my skin.
It has to be removed as soon as possible; including the two wires. This will require full on surgery. But they won't proceed until I make a major payment that I can't make.



I have other issues that came to the surface but the doctors don’t really know what to test first. The reality of the delay?..$$$ They all hate Medicare because it pays fairly instead of what the big private insurance companies pay. They love big time health insurance because it keeps the docs’ spouses happy.

I’ve incurred a lot medical bills as Medicare only pays 80% and then I get chased for the balance. Sometimes they don’t pay anything.

Both my healthcare providers have cut me off from further care because I owe so much. They let me see a primary care doc as long as I make an outrageous copay. But no more further tests, procedures, or surgeries.

I’m disappointed that the system let me down. I worked hard all my life and paid my friggin’ taxes. I expected better.

A civilization that doesn’t take care of its elders is not a moral community. We should have each other’s backs in life.

I know, as a reviewer, I’m controversial and obnoxious but I’m funny too.
Here’s the thing: I don’t lie. I always tell the truth. You know that because I’m both sincere and rude.
And I absolutely know you love my music stories. It has become kind of amusing that a lot of readers communicate with me and tell me, while they like my reviews….THEY love my stories. It’s OK. I can deal with that. I just like writing. Always have.

I’ve already withdrawn the money in this account to pay both health care providers; but to them it is only a drop in the bucket. I owe tens of thousands of dollars.

All donations will be used to pay medical bills only. All the cigars in my photos on Face Book, and my review cigars, were 100% donated by friends. I’m not pulling anything on you or tricking you.

I appreciate that you took the time to read this. Thank you. That means so much to me…that I’m connecting with some of you guys. That’s pretty cool if you really think about it. I am really appreciative of the followers that have stayed with me. You either get me or you’re nuts like me.

Sick or not, my writing is coming back to me. I can write but I don’t have cigars to write about. Fortunately, a few readers have sent me sticks so I can keep on writing. But I need more.

If you can help, truly wonderful.
If not, thank you for reading this.

Love,
Phil