Friday, December 28, 2012

How Do Others Do It?

As we prepare for our trip to UCSF, we've discovered a few things we'd not thought about before:

1. It's going to be near impossible (this time around) for the four of us to be together at any given time during this stay. In fact, Rick and Eli will be dropping Renn and me off at the hospital, and we will not see them again until all the tests are over. Yuck.

2. San Francisco gets a lot of money from charging for parking. Holy. Cow. And, honestly, I've got to hand it to that city... It's such a great place with not a ton of room left in it, why not charge people to take up more space? Brilliant! I need to implement this idea for all the toys in our house.

3. We underestimated the costs that we were about to accrue.

I suppose that it was inevitable, right? I mean, this is about to become the biggest deal of our life together as a family, and of course, it's going to cost us.

We are very lucky to have the medical insurance that we have. Believe me, I am well aware that it could be FAR worse, and there are many out there who don't have any insurance at all. But, with the rising cost of each co-pay, of gas driving to and fro, of each prescription, and then what we imagine the surgery is going to cost... Y-I-K-E-S! It really adds up.

I am planning on doing some research on this topic, to see what other families do in situations like these. I've already gotten some great feedback from some friends of ours on what to do, but I want to know the success rate. What do parents do when facing those kinds of bills? What are the levels they reach before they just can't pay another dime? Which organizations do they/can they REALLY turn to?? How do other parents do it?

I'll be back sometime soon with more on this topic. I'm super curious, and eager to learn.

 
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If you have endured such a situation, and/or have good input or advice, please either comment below, or email me at: bethany(DOT)telles(AT)ymail(DOT)com. I'd love to share your story! Thanks!





2 comments:

  1. I can only imagine how difficult it all is - both personally and financially. Please know that, for what it's worth, you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. I don't have any knowledge about what people do in these situations, but if you decide to do an auction or something (which a friend of mine does for Parkinson's research) I would be more than happy to donate a set of signed books and/or a PB ms critique if that would help. I wish I could do more.

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    1. Susanna! What a wonderful idea, and what an incredible offer! Thank you so, so much. I'll be keeping that in mind as the surgery date is officially scheduled, and things are further put into motion. I love, love, LOVE my writing family, and their willingness to help. Thank you for your prayers. :)

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