The day has come

The time has come. Tomorrow is my surgery date.

It amazes me how quickly I've recovered since I dislocated my knee cap the third time. I'm walking, in heels no less. Not quite to running, but I think I'd be able to handle it. I know this is a necessary evil though, because I can feel the pain in my knee when I go down stairs, and the instability when I get up to quickly from a chair or turn a corner.

I already have some complaints about the surgery. How clinics and hospitals operate is pretty terrible. Working in the medical device industry I know that companies and healthcare facilities will milk a patient for all they are worth. I mean, I guess I can't blame them... it is a business. I just hate being screwed when I feel so helpless.

Apparently its become a common practice to estimate how much a patient will owe on the front end. So although they haven't billed my insurance or submitted a claim, they are asking me for over $1000 before I walk into the clinic and I'm on the table. I understand wanting to collect the money... I have no problem paying what I'm supposed to pay. I just dislike them guessing. Especially telling me the day before surgery... as if normal people have $400 laying around to take care of a surgical center's costs. When I told the lady that my surgery had been scheduled for over a month and asked her why she didn't give me this information before, she informed me that this was a courtesy call. I informed her that it wasn't rather not courteous at all, and was more stressful considering I was having surgery THE NEXT F-ING DAY. F them. I hope the health care bill screws them.

My recommendation is:
1. Get your surgery video taped. If something goes wrong, YOU NEED PROOF. Also, it might help in billing.
2. Read EVERY single bill and make sure no one is screwing with you
3. If you are scheduled for surgery, call the surgical center and the physician's office and ask for estimates on how much you will owe... it's better to plan then get a surprise phone call day before. Also, you can shop around for a better price and maybe better physician. In even a different state.
4. Get a second opinion.