Really? Really? And the bad gets worse...looooong.

Well I wasn't sure whether to do the little flame face guy emoticon or the crying one. I went with crying because that is more how I feel at this point. I'll try to make a long story short. I. HATE. MY. LIFE. Okay, not my whole life, but this part for sure.

I do in fact have a seroma. Well, not A seroma--seromaS. Multiple. The nurse was able to drain two different areas to the tune of 200cc total. She wasn't able to hit the "pockets" of the other seromas. She suspects that I have them in both outer thighs (so maybe these saddlebags aren't saddlebags afterall!!) and in my abdomen as well as possibly more in my flanks. So what she drained didn't even touch it.

So that isn't the big deal. They want to send me for an ultrasound guided drainage of the seromas with possible re-insertion of a drain catheter. I was thrilled to hear it--thinking possible resolution finally even if it meant a drain (or drains) reinserted. Well here is where it gets fun. I had a snafu with my insurance that has me without coverage for the next week or so. I told the hospital that I'd go self pay since I want to get it handled and I know that my insurance will likely decide to deny the procedures anyway since they are a complication of an uncovered procedure. Then I asked about the cost. Well, once I came to, I realized that I am just about screwed. The ultrasound of all of the involved areas is 600.00. Ouch, but not horrific. Then the fun starts. If they just aspirate it that costs another 300. For them to insert a drain, that is 500. And that is FOR EACH SEROMA!!!!!!! ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME????? So for those that aren't feeling like doing the math right now, I am looking at at least 1200 for the two known seromas and up to 4K if I have the amount of them that the nurse suspects. Oh, and I forgot, it goes up from there for additional physician charges and if I'd need to be sedated for the drains to be re-inserted. Lord help me.

At this point I have a call back into the surgeon who was in surgery all day while I uncovered all this information. I have asked if it is possible just to do the ultrasound to have the seromas mapped out and then they do the aspirations at the office since my aftercare is free.  I'll happily eat the $600 if they can do the aspirations because the other complicating factor is that if they do aspirate them under the ultrasound guide, the fluid will likely reaccumulate and then I am facing down paying it all over again?? It just isn't managable. The hospital kept saying I'd need to be sedated for the aspirations if they are deep. Today the nurse aspirated one that she was shocked at how deep it was and I didn't feel a thing, so I say stab away until you hit the damn things! Actually, as I'm typing, I may ask if we can forego the ultrasound for a while and just try to get to some pockets without it.

I keep thinking about what the hell I'm going to do if it does come to my having to have guided aspirations, especially more than once. At this point I'm just going on the assumption that my surgeon will be willing to do more exploratory attempts at drainage before sending me to the hospital. They also have me back in super-tight compression. I also figure that if there is a risk that I'd reaccumulate fluid, they will just have to place the drain catheters because clearly no one can expose themselves to that kind of financial damage. My only other thought is that if they are going to insist I go to the hospital for the procedures, I will wait until I have insurance again and at least attempt to run it through them and deal with it later if it is denied. Hopefully I'd be able to negotiate them down to my only having to pay usual and customary vs. the obscene full charges these facilities always charge.

And this all supposes that my waiting and letting them take a few more stabs in the dark doesn't expose me to any long-term damage that would lead to even more signifcant financial liability with a surgery.

Sorry for rambling. I am sort of talking my way through it as I go. I guess I never imagined that if I got a seroma it would be anything other than them draining them in the office. Had I know this, I'd have told him to leave that damn drain in forever. And as it was I was willing to leave it in if he thought I needed it, but he didn't. How hard to you think I should fight if he resists doing the aspirations in the office? I definitely have the argument that he pulled the drain when it was still putting out 90cc.

Oh well. I'm going to sleep...

Your fluid filled friend,

Denise

Denise,

I'm so sorry to hear all this. I am amazed that your drain was pulled when it was still putting out 90cc/day.  That just sounds crazy.  Talk to your surgeon, but truly having this done US guided will minimize complications. I am also all for sedation.  Better living through Chemistry!  Hope things turn around. Now I'll just wait and see what Bubba has to add!

Thanks. I'm playing over and over again in my head the day he took out that drain. Obviously I was not pressing him to take it out since I let that sucker stay in 6 weeks. I remember him saying very casually that he suspect that my body would be fine absorbing the fluid and that likely the whole lymphatic vessel thing was in play, but if not they'd just drain the seroma. I never in a million years suspected there could need to be ultrasound guided blah, blah, blah to the tune of 4K!

I will definitely do whatever I am advised to do, but I won't be happy if it puts me in the poor house!!!

I hope Bubba adds that he has a spare 5 grand he wants to pass along to his favorite target of torment!!

Thanks again!

If I had it to pass along it would be yours buddy.

Good luck

Awwww...where's my emoticon...there isn't a "look, my normally antagonistic buddy has shown me his soft underbelly" emoticon so I'll have to settle for this..

Ok wierdo now it sounds like I rolled over like a dog wanting his belly scratched. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

And I even sent a hug emoticon! See if I ever do that again!!  I thought the dog reference only appropriate for our resident SPCA Dog Whisperer. Not sure RRRRRRRR was the best choice to reflect your aggravation--phonetically sounds a bit like a dog growl...just sayin'!

OMG Denise!  I am so sorry to hear about the multiple seromas and possible financial burden that you are facing.  We all go into this hoping for the best.  Please keep us updated and know that we are all here for you :) 

Hang in there!  

Kim

Thanks! I'll definitely keep you posted!

Hanging in there...

 CRAP. 

guuuuuurrrl. 

I absolutely feel the pain you're feeling in your wallet because I'm out $4,000 for my hospital stay (insurance won't cover it). But I'm still glad I went because I needed to go. I'm going to try to negotiate with the hospital. I've heard that you can offer to pay a certain percentage up front instead of going on a payment plan for the full amount. In that case I might just borrow money from my parents, pay them up front, and then pay back my parents in installments. I wonder if you could do something similar? I dunno though I haven't started that process yet. 

You definitely need to hold your PS accountable for pulling the drain when you were still putting out 90cc. They should be doing these aspirations for you for free in their office. And I think your idea of having them map out areas during the ultrasound is good, but they'd need to be sure that the seromas aren't in tricky areas where a slip of the needle would damage something else. If that's the case, better safe than sorry. Money comes and goes but this is your one and only body. If you were to get an infection you might end up in the hospital and that'd be costing you at least a couple thousand dollars per day. 

You mentioned that they might need to do multiple aspirations, because seromas do tend to fill back up again. I think if that's the case, and if you get the first set of aspirations done by ultrasound, perhaps they could mark the areas and somehow measure exactly how far in the needle goes, that way the next time maybe they wouldn't need the ultrasound and could do it 'blind'? 

Do they at least have you on antibiotics still, to ward off infection? I hope so. 

As far as anesthesia goes for the aspirations, if you're mostly numb, could you just take something left over from your surgery (percocet, vicodin, valium...?) or have your PS prescribe something? It'd certainly be cheaper than having it administered to you in a hospital. 

I've been cradling my cursed/beloved drain the whole time reading your post and replying, you're making me hate it a little (a lot) less. 

That is such a case of the ****s. I'm so so sorry. Figure out what you've gotta do to take care of your precious body. Your safety is what matters most. And you're worth it.