I need help paying medical bills because I don’t have any insurance. I don’t have insurance because I drive for Uber and they don’t provide any benefits. I use to make good money with Uber but now they are paying a lot less than what they have in the past. I am actually making about half of what I use to make a couple of years ago. With making less and the cost of living going up so much in the past couple of years I just don’t have anything extra for insurance. I am just getting by with what I make. I have already checked into getting insurance for next year and my estimated monthly insurance payments will be around $300.00 per month. I am looking for a better job but in today’s environment it may be difficult.
My story begins on September 28, 2023, I was using a chainsaw to clear out some overgrowth along a barbed wire fence. Apparently there was a broken strand of barbed wire in the overgrowth. When the chain saw touched the wire it threw the end of it into my hand. I was wearing leather gloves but the barbed wire went through my glove as if it wasn’t there. The pain was immediate and very sharp. I thought the barb went into my hand so I had to work to get my glove off to see what had happened. Instead the main wire was deeply implanted into my hand. Being alone I thought I would just pull the wire out, go sterilize the wound and bandage it. I pulled on the wire and it wasn’t moving. It made me sick where I broke out in a cold sweat and almost passed out. I lay down on the ground until I felt better. I was going to get help but the wire was attached to the fence so I was trapped. Luckily I had my phone so I called my brother’s girlfriend who was at his home across the street. I explained the situation and told her I needed some wire cutters and needed to go to the ER. It seemed like forever while I was waiting for her so I tried again to pull the barbed wire out of my hand and again I almost passed out. I laid down on the ground again until she arrived. The wire cutters she had were not strong enough to cut the barbed wire (which is two strands of wire twisted together) but about three feet away one of the strands was broken so we were able to cut it there. I then rolled up the wire and she drove me to the ER with me holding the wire. At the ER they finally found a pair of wire cutters and cut off most of the wire to make it more manageable. (Tried to insert photo but couldn’t figure out how to do that.) They took X-rays and gave me a tetanus shot. Finally it was time to remove the barbed wire. The doctor deaden the area around the wire and used a pair of pliers to pull on it. Her first pull and it barely moved. She pulled again harder and the wire came out. I screamed in pain which is something I never do. This was probably the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life and this was with the area deaden. It turned out that the barbed wire had been inserted about two inches into my hand. It’s no wonder why I couldn’t pull it out myself. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics and sent me home stating I should come back if I had more problems.
The next day, September 29, 2023, my hand was extremely swollen and warm to the touch so I had to go back to the ER. They gave me two IV antibiotics and prescribed another antibiotic to help with any infection. They also made an appointment with a hand specialist.
On October 4, 2023, I went to see the hand specialist. She examined it and said everything looked good considering what happened. My hand did not show signs of nerve damage. The numbness was normal and the feeling should return with time. It just needed time to heal. A follow up visit was rescheduled.
On October 18, 2023, I went back to the hand specialist for a follow up visit. Everything was looking good. I had good movement of my fingers. She wanted me to continue to do stretches to help with the movement. She did not feel another follow up visit was necessary unless I should have any problems in the future.
At the time of writing this (December 10) my hand is still a bit swollen and stiff. There is still some numbness in my fingers. I will be scheduling another visit soon because I believe scar tissue has formed which prevents my fingers from going straight together to each other and leaving a gap between them.
Everything is returning to normal until October 28, 2023. I woke up with a large swelling between my legs. Yes, a bit personal so I will explain the facts in a way I hope no one is offended. Basically over night my right testicle had stolen from the size of a large grape to an extra large goose egg. It was about three inches long and two inches in diameter. I waited Saturday and Sunday to give the swelling a chance to go down but it didn’t. Late Sunday night (October 29) I went to the ER where they admitted me. They did some tests and concluded that I had an UTI. Yes, it is unusual for a male to get an UTI but it does happen, lucky me. On Monday morning (October 30) they transferred me to their Gainesville location. I stayed there until Tuesday afternoon. Before leaving they made an appointment with an urologist.
On November 2, 2023, I went to the urologist. He prescribed an antibiotic to take for 19 days. He said it would take weeks for the swelling to go down. Since I wasn’t able to urinate completely he had a catheter put in. So now I had a waste bag attached to my leg. Makes driving a bit more aukward.
On November 30, 2023, I returned to the urologist for my follow up. When I got there I was later told they mis-scheduled my appointment because I should have been there in the morning to have time for their procedure and they did not have time to do it this late in the afternoon. What a wasted trip!
December 1, 2023, I return to the urologist and the catheter was removed and the test only took about fifteen minutes. (Had plenty of time the day before.) I was mostly emptying my bladder so I was sent home with the instructions that if I was having problems to call back around 1:00. I called back around 1:20 having to leave a message that I was going to the bathroom with difficulty and not emptying as much as I should. They never called me back. Needless to say my weekend was very miserable.
December 4, 2023, I just went back to the urologist since they never called me back. In the end they put the catheter back in. We discussed medication options but everything he wants to give me has the possibility of many very bad side effects.
That is my history from September 28, 2023 to December 10, 2023. I will still need more follow up visits to the hand specialist and to the urologist. I have done Uber only one weekend since the hand injury so I have not made much money and using what little bit of savings I have to get by.
Thank you to everyone that helps with any amount. May you be blessed many times over. If I get more than the amount for medical bills it will be used to pay any operating expenses I have since I am only making minimum income right now.
Here are my medical expenses as of December 10, 2023:
Hand:
Medication $66.14
Northeast Georgia Plastic Surgery $303.00
South Georgia Radiology Associates, LLC. $42.00
Northeast Georgia Health System $6,504.54
Georgia Emergency Department Services PC $3,906.00
Total for hand as of December 10, 2023 $10,821.68
UTI:
Medication $373.27
South Georgia Radiology Associates, LLC. $195.00
Northeast Georgia Health System $8,015.10
Northeast Georgia Physician’s Group $713.90
Transcare $2,596.00
Total for UTI as of December 10, 2023 $11,893.27
Total medical bills as of December 10, 2023 $22,714.95
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