Everyday Luxuries

I've had this odd pain in my left pinkie finger since July. I don't know exactly when it started but Jake hurt his knee on 07/07/07 and I noticed sometime in the week or so following that I was experiencing pain when I bent it.

Anyhow, here it is November and I still have pain. It doesn't always hurt but other times it aches. It is especially sore in the morning and I think this is because I clench my fists in my sleep. I haven't seen a doctor yet because I know the whole process is going to be a pain in the butt. First I'll set up an appointment with the doctor, she'll look at it and request an x-ray because it looks and feels normal to the touch. I'll have to set up an appointment, get the x-ray where they'll tell me nothing because they are "not trained" to read x-rays and are "not allowed to diagnose" and then I'll have to head back for another appointment with the doctor. Too much time and too many copays and my finger doesn't hurt that much. (Not to mention having to finda sitter for James each time) So I haven't bothered. Back when I didn't have health insurance I always said I'd take advantage of it when I had it. Looks like I'm taking it for granted.

Back when I was a junior in college, one night I was working on cropping photographs in my dorm room. These were black and white prints I developed from photographs of grape vines I took for a photography contest. I was just about to crop the first photograph when I noticed that the blade of my exacto knife was dull. (do you know where this is going?) So I changed the blade and laid my t-square on top of the first photo and start slicing. As the blade makes it way down it suddenly skips over the edge of the t-square and I slice into my left pointer finger. I jump up, rush to the bathroom thinking, "this isn't as bad as I think..." turn the water on, put my finger under the stream and blood starts filling the sink. I see a large portion of my skin move away from my finger and I am filled with panic. Then of course, I call my mom.

We'll skip ahead over the details of all my friends being out or without cars, my RD (resident director) calling emergency services, paramedics examining me, and my RD driving me to the emergency room. At the ER, they call me to the desk to give my information. In my mind I am so nervous because I know to be a college student you are required to have health insurance, and my dad had cancelled our insurance when I was a sophomore. So as far as the college knew, I had insurance. In reality, not-so-much. So when the woman gets to the insurance part, I tell her that I don't have my card on me. (Remember my resident director brought me to the ER, I was worried he'd find out I had no insurance and notify the college) So I tell the woman to look up my dad's name. Then I say, maybe it's under his business name. Pretty much I play dumb until she says that she's not finding anything and we'd worry about it later.

To make a long story short, I got about 4-6 stitches that night. When my dad got the bill for it, it was something ridiculous like $350 for the whole ordeal. Thank god I declined the ambulance ride to the hospital! (I knew that would be pricey) The itemized list was the best part. The prices for so many of the items were so inflated, it was crazy. So, I really should take advantage of having insurance, especially when so many people today cannot afford the luxury.

If you'd like to read my NaBloPoMo posts for this month, you can click here: November.