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Dislocated Elbow
Dislocated Elbow
5 hours in emergency
IV
Oxygen
Heart monitor
EKG
Blood pressure monitoring every 30 minutes
Brain cat scan
X-rays
Morphine 2 doses (I passed on the third)
Dr. said there was a 90% chance of putting the elbow back in its socket-otherwise surgery.
"How do you do that," I asked?
"We just pull and tug till it pops back in. We do a thousand of these a day."
>>Groan<<
"Don't Worry, we're going to sedate you."
Conscious sedation. I was out cold for about 10-15 minutes. Unlike ether or sodium pentathol, which are very heavy, I just fell asleep and woke up with my arm in a sling. Remembering nothing.)
More X-rays.
I haven't been in a hospital in 45 years. (Knock on wood.) Nurse had to excuse himself because of a Code blue across the hall. All hands on deck. Heart attack. Performing CPR. I guess he didn't make it.
Everything is on a cart with wheels. X-ray machine. (Costs $300K. The digital plate they put under my arm costs $80K!) IV cart. Drug cart. Nurse cart. And finally they wheeled in, "The how the hell you gonna pay us cart."
She got all of my insurance information, and said, "It's going to be a $90 co-pay. How are you prepared to handle that?"
"For everything," I asked?
"Uh-huh."
"Let me ask you a question, If I didn't have the insurance how much would this have cost me?"
"Well, with the sedation, quite a bit, about $14K."
They sent me home.
Next is an orthopedic surgeon and physical therapy. Looking at 4-12 weeks recovery time.
This took a long time to type with one hand.
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