* Abdominal Pain & No Insurance = Frustration *

I had Gastric Bypass in April of 2003. Starting weight of 341. I stand 5'5". In approximately 18 months, I lost 220 lbs, and had one complication from the original surgery, and also had a tummy tuck. I maintained at about 150 until about 2 years ago when mom passed. Now, I weigh 200 lbs :( As time went on from the original surgery, I also had a bowel obstruction, an intersusception (when the bowel collapses in on itself, Usually infants have this), an internal hernia, surgical adhesion repairs, and my appendix removed. Before all of these surgeries, I also had my gall bladder removed, and a c-section. Soooo, my tummy has been through it!! So now... for the past 5 weeks, I have been having intermittent abdominal pain. It wakes me up at night sometimes. It goes from my belly button to right under my ribs. I am quite sure that this is some sort of internal hernia, or intermittent  bowel obstruction. However, I have no insurance. I went to the ER a few weeks ago with this complain, but also had another complaint (heart related). They did not do ANY testing for my abdominal pain at all. No ultrasound. No CT... I was pissed. So last night again, the pain woke me up at 2, and I have been awake ever since. How long do I let this go on? I can't call my surgeon's office, because I can't afford an appointment, and if they want to operate, they wouldn't do so without payment or insurance anyway.. Arggghhh 

If this is a life threatening situation, you will receive care without insurance. You can apply for free care at most major hospitals. Try a patient advocacy dept. but, if you are in severe pain, listen to your body and call your surgeons office or go to the ER if it's severe. 

Please take care of yourself and keep us posted. 

Thanks Lisa... Next time I get sever pains I will go to a different ER than last time. They told me last time that because my regular xray was negative I did not have a bowel obstruction. I know ore about this then they do, and some obstructions (especially non mechanical ones), cannot be seen on a regular xray. Anyway, I know it could become serious, and will be careful.  I see you go to a center in Lowell. I grew up in Waltham, and now live in Vegas. I don't know how to update my city on here.. lol . Good luck with your revision! Be sure to take your supplements after your bypass surgery.... long story for another time... take care!

:)

Why, with the advent of Obamacare, do you not have insurance (even if it is just a "catastrophic" coverage plan that would cover a surgery)?

Unfortunately, the reality is that the job of the ER is to diagnose any life threatening emergencies and stabilize someone by whatever means necessary.  They probably should also have addressed your abdominal pain, but with a heart-related complaint, that is where they needed to focus (and may have attributed the pain to that issue). 

Unfortunately, abdominal pain is often a difficult one to get help with via the ER.  They will usually eliminate the possibility of pancreatitis, appendicitis, or a bowel blockage and leave it at that (and tell you to follow up with your doctor).  If the pain is truly severe, though, you have to decide whether you think it is severe enough to need the ER and knowing that you will likely spend hours there and wait until they have done the tests before even getting an injection of something to help with the pain. Unfortunately, drug seekers often choose abdominal pain as their complaint...

I went through 18 months of intermittent, severe abdominal pain caused by adhesions attached to my bowel, but even with insurance, multiple CTs and trips to the ER yelled no care other than a morphine injection while in the ER.  No surgeon was willing to do surgery until they had some idea of what the problem was (and the adhesions didn't show anything on the CTs).

I hope you get it figured out soon via some means.

Lora

I developed IBS-C since my RNY... 

I have to be very careful what I eat and to make sure my guts are processing food...I dealt with years of severe abdominal pain that came and went... 

Constipation, trapped gas, adhesions...etc can cause really extreme pain... 

But I also dealt with a few hernias...so I know how that can hurt.. You also mentioned adhesions.. 

But as Lora said - not sure why you have no insurance...ER is not a place to diagnose ongoing problem... They would just hold you eating for it to pass then tell you to see your regular doc. 

It sucks not having insurance... Big time..

Thank you for your replies. Lora, I didn't even think about drug seekers! I guess they make it harder for the people like me. Since I have had actually 9 abdominal surgeries, I probably have an internal hernia and/or an adhesion issue... I cannot afford Obamacare. I know, crazy.... For me to be covered, we wouldn't be able to pay our rent. I spent over an hour with them over the phone to try and find a plan months ago for open enrollment. I don't qualify for Medicaid because we cannot make more than 200% above poverty level, which for a family of three, is $40,000 (we have a 15 yr old). Hubby makes $45000.00 I don't work because no one will hire me, because my teeth are falling out. I have 9 teeth left, and I look hideous. I hide out in my apartment all day. Apparently my low Vit D levels (malabsorption issues of all vitamins and minerals) over the years after surgery have caused this I am told. Obviously I cannot afford to get my mouth fixed, so I am stuck. This whole situation is very distressing and depressing. I'm trying to hang on... 

Did they talk to you about any subsidies that may be available to help pay the cost of insurance through the Affordable Care Act?  Make sure you try again this year during open enrollment.  There have been many changes in plans that are offered on the exchanges, so you might be able to find one that works for your budget.

Do you have a diagnosed mental illness? If you do have you thought about trying for disability? Once you have it for two years you are eligible for medicare. Also are their any teaching hospitals near you? Maybe they can help you. Also with your income your family in NY would be able to get on the section 8 voucher list to help pay rent. So you may want to check into that. I work for our local aging office and part of my job is people call me and get information of stuff that can help them out. I mean anything from housing to where to get food. Perhaps you can see if your local aging office has that. They can be any age that calls me. Also is there a public health in your county? They would most likely have an enroller that comes in and can help you to better navigate the insurance world. Trust me there is often help there people are just not sure where to look. As a social worker I know it exists. Good luck