Our First U.S. ER Experience (April 15, 2019)
Yesterday started off normally. In fact we were going back on Atkins induction to cleanse over the next 2 weeks as we are staying put here at the Harbor View campground. We did an extra weigh in from our weekly weigh in to record it for the restart. Cooked breakfast as usual but later in the morning Scott, who had been feeling a bit achy the day before as well, began experiencing severe cramps and the runs. Before you wonder if it was my cooking 😉 , cramps are a part of life for Scott since bowel resection surgery 5 years ago. That said, these cramps were stronger than normal, he felt a bit nauseous and had no desire at all to eat.
I headed off to get some groceries and a hair cut and was very surprised that he was feeling worse and in bed when I got back. Through the night he didn't sleep much and started seeing blood with his stool (sorry if that's too much information) which lead to us heading about an hour away to the Fredericksburg Mary Washington Hospital ER this morning. We did call our out of country insurance provider (Manulife through Costco) before heading out and they've already started a claim.
This is our first such experience in the U.S.. We checked in at the front desk at 9:53 AM with only 3 others sitting in the very clean, comfortable waiting room. By 10:57 Scott was in a bed, had seen several nurses, the doctor and had bloodwork taken. We waited for the results (less than an hour) before he was sent for a CT scan. An admin person came in to check on our insurance information and they will bill Manulife directly. At no time did we feel any pressure and as one of the nurses said, they try to put patients before billing although she couldn't say it was the same everywhere.
A nurse came to take Scott for a CT scan and the results and Dr. Hoff came back within the hour. It is an inflamed colon and although he couldn't rule out other more serious conditions the first thing to do was to put Scott on 2 antibiotics. We should see results within 48 hours and have a referral for a colonoscopy if he is still bleeding at that time. We were discharged by 1:30 PM. We did pay for the antibiotics out of pocket at a local drugstore however that will be reimbursed by our insurance.
We are extremely IMPRESSED!!!!
I headed off to get some groceries and a hair cut and was very surprised that he was feeling worse and in bed when I got back. Through the night he didn't sleep much and started seeing blood with his stool (sorry if that's too much information) which lead to us heading about an hour away to the Fredericksburg Mary Washington Hospital ER this morning. We did call our out of country insurance provider (Manulife through Costco) before heading out and they've already started a claim.
This is our first such experience in the U.S.. We checked in at the front desk at 9:53 AM with only 3 others sitting in the very clean, comfortable waiting room. By 10:57 Scott was in a bed, had seen several nurses, the doctor and had bloodwork taken. We waited for the results (less than an hour) before he was sent for a CT scan. An admin person came in to check on our insurance information and they will bill Manulife directly. At no time did we feel any pressure and as one of the nurses said, they try to put patients before billing although she couldn't say it was the same everywhere.
A nurse came to take Scott for a CT scan and the results and Dr. Hoff came back within the hour. It is an inflamed colon and although he couldn't rule out other more serious conditions the first thing to do was to put Scott on 2 antibiotics. We should see results within 48 hours and have a referral for a colonoscopy if he is still bleeding at that time. We were discharged by 1:30 PM. We did pay for the antibiotics out of pocket at a local drugstore however that will be reimbursed by our insurance.
We are extremely IMPRESSED!!!!
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