But I had felt like I was dying!
A major exaggeration, but I had been rather ill lately. It began on a Monday, my first day off in over a week and I noticed some swelling in the lymph nodes on the sides of my neck. Particularly the left side, it was about the size of a gumball. Big enough to cast it's own shadow!
And like any uninsured American college student, I decided to wait it out. The lump grew bigger... At it's biggest it was the length of my index finder. My ears became sore, my sinuses became congested, and my throat began to swell and developed a white coating. I waited it all out a week before I decided, I needed antibiotics.
As an uninsured college student, medical attention is not in my budget. So the first place I tried was a clinic at a well known warehouse retail store. I was flat out turned away when they saw my neck. I then tried a local urgent care walk-in clinic. For the uninsured to be seen there they have to pay an upfront fee. $140.00, plus lab fees, prescriptions, etc. I was $15 short and once again turned away.
My final visit was to an urgent care of a local hospital. They also charged an upfront fee. $170.00. I'm not going to lie, I began to cry. I had been turned away twice already and I just wanted to feel better! I have a job and I wasn't hoping to get help and dodge the bill!
The receptionist really took pity on me. I was able to pay $100, up front and they billed me for the rest. I was seen quickly and had three possible prognoses: strep, tonsillitis, or mono. Considering that no matter what I had I would be give the same prescriptions, I was able to skip out on the lab tests. And to top it off the doctor that examined me, gave me a 15% discount as an independent payer.
