<p>When I was hospitalized on an emergency basis in Montreal three years ago, for a total of about six days, they certainly charged me – I ended up getting a bill, after I returned home, for close to $30,000. Which my health insurance plan eventually paid, but it took months, and I received many threatening letters from the hospital in the interim. The only thing my trip insurance paid for was the cost of the plane flight I had planned to take to go home, but obviously couldn’t. Both insurers refused to reimburse me for the $2,000+ cost of the ambulance I had to take to get me from Montreal to a hospital in New York City, so I was stuck with that myself. Thank God the ambulance company took credit cards.</p>
<p>So why wouldn’t someone worry about getting a huge bill like that? The insinuations being made are truly unpleasant.</p>
<p>Girls are savers like mom. I am one of 10 and believe me we learned to stretch a dime. Mom was an excellent cook. Everything was homemade, chicken noodle soup, bread cookies, pies, homemade noodles that hung from a string accross the kitchen to dry, homemade macaroni with chopped onion and tomatoes. Dad would go to the city market around four just as they were closing and bargin for the farmers leftovers. He’d come home with cases of peaches, blueberries, and tomatoes. We canned everything! On Sunday dad would wake up at 5 and if you were up you got to go with him to the farm where he bought milk for us, remember those 5 gallon milk cans? He stored them in a cooler he bought from a restaurant that went out of business. We churned cream into butter, read books in front of a fireplace, skated at a neighbourhood pond that froze over every winter, skates came from thrift shops. We didn’t mind if the skates were boys hockey skates, we wore them. If you needed shoes dad would have you put your foot on a piece of paper and trace around it. Hed’d go to the thrift shop and get shoes. Nice shoes, that’s how they were made back then. He also bought us used baseball bats and balls, we played in the yard for hours with the neighborhood kids…everyone had at least 8 kids! On Sunday we would cook a couple cow tongues or cow hearts for school lunches. YUM! We brought home our baggies and washed them out for the next day. When gram died dad broght home all her homemade lye soap. Yuck! We had used commercial washer and dryer. Dad taught us all how to use them. He had coins in an empty soup can, since the machines were from a laundrymat we had to put 25 cents in the washer and a nickel in the dryer! We all loved that! That’s just a small taste of the fun we had…you’ll have to wait for the book my kids are writing.
What a wonderful memories! My children love the stories when we get together on the holidays.
My girls have worked for two years to save for this trip, yes I kicked in some but I think I taught them along the way about budgeting. Each year I give them $ for school supplies. They buy what they need but they are in high school and they save their supplies from the year before because if they don’t spend their school supply $ it’s theirs.
They often skip going to a movie with friends just to save. My girls have always worn thrift shop clothes. Their friends think shopping there is cool!
Their friends have had debit cards since grade school, cell phones, eat out (we don’t) and now they get cars. Just handed to them. My girls get paid for grades. We don’t waste $ on things.
D said even her throat was swollen, she couldn’t swallow. It is still a mystery. I do have sibblings allergic to bees. She said she couldn’t even close her hand.</p>
<p>That is indeed scary and does sound like a severe allergic reaction. It would be good to figure out what she may be that allergic to, though tough at this point in time, now that thankfully everything has nicely subsided. Please, please tell her to try to be a good detective and think back to everything she may have eaten, drinken, or even put on her body (including lotions, sunscreen or soap) or if she may have been bitten in the 24+ hours prior to the incident/swelling. That is what we do to help figure out the things D & I are severely allergic to. D is allergic to many lotions & we have to be VERY careful as to what she uses. I’m very allergic to shellfish & sulfites as well, so have to watch my use of them as well.</p>
<p>epluribus, sorry your financial issues were criticized, but I loved your stories!!!</p>
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<p>My H should have thought of this years ago! There is little that irritates him as much as the kids wanting all new school supplies every year. But I also get irritated at him not wanting to buy a thing, because things like notebook paper and index cards are drastically reduced at the start of the school year, so I like to stockpile.</p>
<p>Epluribus, please consider th epossibility that your daughter may have a severe allergy to something. Talk to your doctor about having her carry an epinephrine auto injector such as epipen or twinject. You may want to consider having her see an allergist too.</p>
<p>With that severe a reaction, it would be wise to see your doctor about it ASAP. If it happens again, chances are very good that the reaction will be even worse. That isn’t something to ignore.</p>
<p>Yes, severe reactions can be MILDER or MORE SEVERE. It is difficult to predict, but it would definitely be important to touch base with your child’s MD very soon. Epipens are covered by most insurers, with a small co-pay. Unfortunately, they only last about a year or so & MUST be replaced. Would definitely be something to ask the doc about.</p>
<p>Have your D do her very best to try to recall anything she may have eaten/swallowed or been exposed to or bitten by or had applied to her skin that may have been different than prior days or usual to help pinpoint what may have triggered such a severe reaction.</p>