2018 - Medical Bills
Donation protected
(( - UPDATED 2018 - ))
The ongoing issues of 2017 continued through October 2017 when things seemed to settle out and I went for some time without any major issues.
As we rolled into the end of the year, then onto SHOT SHOW, and then travels after, the gallbladder issue came back in full force.
On February 2nd I was admitted to the Hospital here in El Paso for a gallbladder attack that had turned into pancreatitis.
Fortunately, the end of 2017 I was able to secure some measure of catistrophic healh care coverage. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how that is going to work using an out of state facility. We are waiting for the paperwork to start coming in on that.
After I was admitted to the Hospital and all the tests run, they began treatment for the pancreatitis. There's nothing they can do other than give fluids and provid pain management. Once the necessary benchmarks were hit to ensure we were out of the woods with the pancrease, they scheduled to remove the gallbladder. The gallbladder did not have a couple of stones, it had well over 100 stones. Essentially it had been a ticking time bomb perhaps for many years. They could not tell.
Thinking back over my life, I've had gallbladder like attacks going back into my late teens. They always resolved and I was always fine afterwards, but who knows.
With the gallbladder out, there were still some stones in the pancreatic bile duct so they did a 2nd procedure to cleare out the pancrease. That procedure went very well and I was able to go home the next day.
It's been a few days having been out of the hospital and I'm doing well. I'm a little sore and uncomfortable at times, but doing very well.
All in all, things went well and I should be in good shape movning forward. I know that there are going to be bills well above our ability to pay, that the insurance is not going to cover.
I've been continuiously humbled by the continued donations that have come in over the last several months to help cover the initial bills. And even now, folks, out of their own necessitiy continue to help out. I want to say thank you for everything. I will let everyone know how things progress.
**********************************************************
2017 - Medical issues
So many of you know me. Many of you know, and have expressed the fact that I've been getting bigger and bigger over the years.
This past January (2017) my father passed away. One of his requests in his last months was that I take seriously the need to lose weight. In March this year my wife and I joined Weight Watchers and I've lost about 50 pounds in 4 months with a goal to get down to under 200 eventually.
In June of 2017 while on a buisiness trip I got very sick and was up all night throwing up. Eventually it passed and I felt better so I chalked it up as something I ate.
This past Thursday (July 13th, 2017) I had the same type of pain and vomiting, only much more acute. After a couple of hours of excruciating pain I told Sue to get our daughter ready to get me to the Hospital. Being self employed and with no reasonable means to get medical/health insurance, I avoid the hospital simply due to the the overwhelming costs involved. But, I knew this was serious and I'd have to deal with the money after the fact.
Once at the hospital I was seen to by the ER team. I eventually got some pain meds on board which took the edge off but only managed to calm me a bit. The pain was still there in force. A CAT scan and Ultrasound later along with several blood draws and they had a good picture of what was happening.
I was diagnosed with an enlarged and infected gall bladder that had developed "sludge" and gall stones. A key contributing factor of this condition happens to be rapid weight loss. My white blood cell count was at 17,000 at the first blood draw which had them concerned and begin prepping me for surgery.
I asked them to wait and see how things went with the antibiotics and pain meds before cutting me open. I expressed to them that I did not have the money for a $35K to $50K trip to the O.R. They agreed to see how things went.
After a few hours they drew more blood and found that the white blood cell count had decreased significantly. I had time to call my minister and discuss things with him as well. He had been praying for me to be healed, as were many folks from our ministry and friends and family on Facebook. Thank you for all your prayers.
To bring this story to a close, they put me through a final series of tests which started with discontinuing the pain meds, then have me eat something and walk around a bit and do one last set of blood tests. The last white blood cell count was down to 12,800. I no longer had any pain, I was able to hold down the (liquid) food that I ate, and was fine standing and walking around the E.R.
I believe that Jesus has answered our prayers and that I’m going to be perfectly fine. I’m committed to continuing to move forward aggressively in losing weight and also dealing with many other areas in my life that the Lord would have me change.
On the back side of this story however is the impending E.R. bill. I spoke with their financial department and the CAT scan alone is $8,000. Add in all the other charges and fees and I’m looking at $12K to $15K for one night in the E.R. If I’m able to pay within 7 days, they will cut 50% off the bill. I may be able to leverage several credit cards to get that done, but doing so simply puts me in a terrible spot financially. I’m creating this account and asking for help to address these bills. Thank you all very much for listening.
The ongoing issues of 2017 continued through October 2017 when things seemed to settle out and I went for some time without any major issues.
As we rolled into the end of the year, then onto SHOT SHOW, and then travels after, the gallbladder issue came back in full force.
On February 2nd I was admitted to the Hospital here in El Paso for a gallbladder attack that had turned into pancreatitis.
Fortunately, the end of 2017 I was able to secure some measure of catistrophic healh care coverage. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how that is going to work using an out of state facility. We are waiting for the paperwork to start coming in on that.
After I was admitted to the Hospital and all the tests run, they began treatment for the pancreatitis. There's nothing they can do other than give fluids and provid pain management. Once the necessary benchmarks were hit to ensure we were out of the woods with the pancrease, they scheduled to remove the gallbladder. The gallbladder did not have a couple of stones, it had well over 100 stones. Essentially it had been a ticking time bomb perhaps for many years. They could not tell.
Thinking back over my life, I've had gallbladder like attacks going back into my late teens. They always resolved and I was always fine afterwards, but who knows.
With the gallbladder out, there were still some stones in the pancreatic bile duct so they did a 2nd procedure to cleare out the pancrease. That procedure went very well and I was able to go home the next day.
It's been a few days having been out of the hospital and I'm doing well. I'm a little sore and uncomfortable at times, but doing very well.
All in all, things went well and I should be in good shape movning forward. I know that there are going to be bills well above our ability to pay, that the insurance is not going to cover.
I've been continuiously humbled by the continued donations that have come in over the last several months to help cover the initial bills. And even now, folks, out of their own necessitiy continue to help out. I want to say thank you for everything. I will let everyone know how things progress.
**********************************************************
2017 - Medical issues
So many of you know me. Many of you know, and have expressed the fact that I've been getting bigger and bigger over the years.
This past January (2017) my father passed away. One of his requests in his last months was that I take seriously the need to lose weight. In March this year my wife and I joined Weight Watchers and I've lost about 50 pounds in 4 months with a goal to get down to under 200 eventually.
In June of 2017 while on a buisiness trip I got very sick and was up all night throwing up. Eventually it passed and I felt better so I chalked it up as something I ate.
This past Thursday (July 13th, 2017) I had the same type of pain and vomiting, only much more acute. After a couple of hours of excruciating pain I told Sue to get our daughter ready to get me to the Hospital. Being self employed and with no reasonable means to get medical/health insurance, I avoid the hospital simply due to the the overwhelming costs involved. But, I knew this was serious and I'd have to deal with the money after the fact.
Once at the hospital I was seen to by the ER team. I eventually got some pain meds on board which took the edge off but only managed to calm me a bit. The pain was still there in force. A CAT scan and Ultrasound later along with several blood draws and they had a good picture of what was happening.
I was diagnosed with an enlarged and infected gall bladder that had developed "sludge" and gall stones. A key contributing factor of this condition happens to be rapid weight loss. My white blood cell count was at 17,000 at the first blood draw which had them concerned and begin prepping me for surgery.
I asked them to wait and see how things went with the antibiotics and pain meds before cutting me open. I expressed to them that I did not have the money for a $35K to $50K trip to the O.R. They agreed to see how things went.
After a few hours they drew more blood and found that the white blood cell count had decreased significantly. I had time to call my minister and discuss things with him as well. He had been praying for me to be healed, as were many folks from our ministry and friends and family on Facebook. Thank you for all your prayers.
To bring this story to a close, they put me through a final series of tests which started with discontinuing the pain meds, then have me eat something and walk around a bit and do one last set of blood tests. The last white blood cell count was down to 12,800. I no longer had any pain, I was able to hold down the (liquid) food that I ate, and was fine standing and walking around the E.R.
I believe that Jesus has answered our prayers and that I’m going to be perfectly fine. I’m committed to continuing to move forward aggressively in losing weight and also dealing with many other areas in my life that the Lord would have me change.
On the back side of this story however is the impending E.R. bill. I spoke with their financial department and the CAT scan alone is $8,000. Add in all the other charges and fees and I’m looking at $12K to $15K for one night in the E.R. If I’m able to pay within 7 days, they will cut 50% off the bill. I may be able to leverage several credit cards to get that done, but doing so simply puts me in a terrible spot financially. I’m creating this account and asking for help to address these bills. Thank you all very much for listening.
Organizer
Richard D. Eutsler Jr.
Organizer
Lake Havasu City, AZ
