Ouch!

I hurt my hand in April  last year! Being the cheap resourceful person that I am I decided that all it needed was some rest well, maybe at night.  I did buy a brace that held my thumb somewhat immobile and that seemed to help. But I left it in a hotel a while back. A year later my hand is still killing me. 

I finally decided it was time to do something about it, since it wasn't responding to my treatment. I made an appointment with a hand specialist, since my regular doctor couldn't seem to find anything specific. I figured Mr. Hand Doctor would have some magic cure that would make the pain go away. Maybe a special band aid! That would make me happy!

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Off I went to the doctor. He seemed OK. He took some x-rays. He looked at the x-rays. And without the first shred of sympathy diagnosed my problem as arthritis.

Arthritis? Isn't that for old people? I can't have arthritis. I'm not that old. He nodded. His nurse brought out a special, magic ugly soft brace and showed me how to put it on. No cowboy bandages. No magic bullet. No fix. Put up. Shut up. Take NSAIDs. Out the door.

Yesterday I got the bill. (You wanna know why they call it a bill? I looked up the etymology of the word: It came about mid-14th century. From Anglo-Latin, the word billa meaning "list," and from Medieval Latin, the word bulla meaning "decree, seal or sealed document." Based on what I received I really think we should have been calling these annoying reminders to pay money "BULL"!) Oh, sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. So.... here is the bull bill:

Click to "biggify"... you gotta see this!

My "Comfort Cool" splint can be purchased from sites on the Internet for around $30. I called the billing bull  department and sweetly made an inquiry about the price (really, I was very kind - but it was a bit hard to talk while biting my tongue). I mentioned the prices I had seen the splint selling for on the Internet. She commented that they had raised their prices a bit (you have got to be kidding me... a bit?!), and asked me to hold while she checked. My bill, which seemed to be full of bull, has been adjusted. I am happy that I don't have to pay the outrageous charge, but it so ticks me off that the medical field inflates prices to such a degree. No wonder our medical costs are skyrocketing. No wonder insurance is so expensive.

Geesh! It makes my hand hurt even more!