I knew life was going too smoothly for us. Everything was looking up and we were planning on getting out of debt finally. But, of course...life had to throw a monkey wrench at us. Miller had to go break his foot 60 days before he is about to get health insurance and 2 weeks after starting his new job.
Miller went riding his dirt bike on Saturday with his dad Calvin while I spent some quality time with his step mom (Betty). Betty and I went plant shopping for her new apartment and I bought some stuff to start a little herb garden (no, not the illegal type of herbs!). Betty and Miller's mom (Vicki) both got their Mother Day's flowers and we were having a great day. I bought some kickass shorts on sale and Betty and I were relaxing and I was introducing her to the Real Housewives on Bravo.
It was about 4pm-ish when I get a call from Miller..."hmmm you should probably head home...hmm I think I broke my foot". The scramble began...I sped home, went on Craigslist to call around for crutches then found that the Goodwill store by our house had a bunch. Betty and I went to Goodwill right away and got crutches for him. The only crutches that fit Miller were some nasty old ones, so Betty and I spent 10 minutes or so switching the nasty parts with the shorter crutches. We got back and see that Miller's right foot was swollen like crazy.
The freaking out then started to set in. OMG. What are we going to do? We have a lot of debt granted, HOWEVER we have perfect credit. We have worked our asses off to at least not have any delinquencies on our credit cards and all other loans. Miller did NOT have health insurance! Should we go to the hospital, get him treated and ditch the big ass bill? No, no, no. Miller and I refuse to abuse the system like that. We want to do it right and we also do not want to ruin what we've struggled to work for - our good standing credit.
We waited till Sunday and we headed to Urgent Care. You know, when you privately pay for your medical care, they really don't push you for unnecessary care. Anyhow, they did x-rays and found that he broke his bone in his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th toes were it meet the foot. Great. The doctor there said he'll probably need surgery. F*** was all that went through our heads. Miller knew he messed up big time and I was beyond upset. So we fought all weekend. I did and still do feel bad for giving him such a hard time because I knew he already knows that he F-ED up big time. He didn't need me to harp on him further on top of his broken foot.
So, we went to the County Clinic the next day some 20 miles away in the POURING insane Nor Cal freak rain in May. Guess what? We don't qualify for ANY sort of assistance, not even like an uninsured discount or some sort of payment plan. We're NOT by any means asking for free care. We don't need welfare. However, the County Clinic wanted to charge as much as a private doctor wanted and wanted the money up front. The evil little bitch at the clinic made it seem like it was our ONLY choice to be seen there...and now, I want to go back there and slap her and tell her she's an idiot.
Miller and I went home and tried to come up with a plan. Should we go to the hospital? What? What? What? I called an orthopedic office locally and they are willing to see him on a payment plan if he needed surgery. However, with surgeries, comes charges for a surgery facility and anesthesiologist. Both of those wanted money up front in full. The freak out continues. Thankfully, Miller's grandma has money and it definitely eased the anxiety to hear her say "don't worry, I'll take care of it". Mind you, we're not looking for grandma to pay for it. We're looking for a loan from her. If he needed surgery and we went to the hospital, it can cost $10k upwards. If we did it with the private surgeon, it will be between $6k to $8k and the surgeon gives discount to private pay patients.
With the renewed confidence from grandma, we made an appointment for an orthopedic consultation for Miller with a $150 deposit. We were there today and thank god the surgeon said Miller did not need surgery. Weird how again, doctors do NOT push for unnecessary care when we're private pay (I think this is how Capitalism works...honest people doing honest business). The doctor checked out his foot, said that the bones will heal itself and placed Miller in a boot to align the bones.
Miller can't walk for couple of weeks at least and even after that, he'll probably still be limping around for a few weeks. I don't know what to do with money. He doesn't get paid-time-off yet and he won't get shit from disability since he was pretty much making minimum wage before that.
I swear, life just HAD to throw us this monkey wrench just when everything was starting to look up! I wish I can throw the monkey wrench back at life!! I guess life is just full of surprises. FML. Hopefully things will get better and get better quick.
-Emma
