Orchiectomy cost and concerns

[Ashley3]

Congrats Devlyn... a continued great relaxing recovery your way!

[Devlyn]

I'm bleeding again, so I'm on my way to see the surgeon now. Will update again later.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Megan.]

Ooo keep well. X

Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk

[Devlyn]

Doc daid "Wow! Yeah, something let go and this is it finding its way out."

So it's alarming but not a problem because it's just old dark blood. He said there was a still a lot in there so it would do this until it was out. He really admired my leg bruise.   

Most importantly, hearing that it was OK calmed me down. My mind was racing, you don't want something to go wrong with this.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Megan.]

Glad it's nothing worse. Better out than in, as they say! X

Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk

[Devlyn]

Came home to good news. There was a letter from my insurance company saying they had reviewed the surgery request and were going to cover the surgery! They have to, but sometimes they need to be reminded of that. I still don't know if I'll have to pay towards my out of pocket expenses. I'm expecting the bill any day now.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Laurie]

Came home to good news. There was a letter from my insurance company saying they had reviewed the surgery request and were going to cover the surgery! They have to, but sometimes they need to be reminded of that. I still don't know if I'll have to pay towards my out of pocket expenses. I'm expecting the bill any day now.

Hugs, Devlyn

At least it is sounding better.

Laurie

[Ashley3]

I'm bleeding again, so I'm on my way to see the surgeon now. Will update again later. ...

Scary!

... So it's alarming but not a problem ...  Most importantly, hearing that it was OK calmed me down. My mind was racing, you don't want something to go wrong with this. ...

...yeah, no kidding... a relief... glad you are OK!

Came home to good news. ... my insurance company saying they ... were going to cover the surgery! ... I still don't know if I'll have to pay towards my out of pocket expenses. ...

... and great news to boot... I'm surprised by how much isn't covered by my current monthly insurance premiums... makes me appreciate junk insurance at low premiums... it's not so much that junk insurance is any good... we know it isn't... but it can act as a "penalty avoidance fee" and then I just pay out of pocket for my procedures which I do anyway! You apparently have good insurance at this point in time.

Anyway... continued goodness in your recovery Devlyn.

[Devlyn]

Thanks, ladies! There's a huge difference between waking up and saying "omigod I'm bleeding" and "yuck, its still draining".

No, I have crap insurance. $480 a month, $3,350 deductible, $3,000 out of pocket expenses. They have to cover it in Massachusetts but sometimes they need to be reminded of that.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Ashley3]

... No, I have crap insurance. $480 a month, $3,350 deductible, $3,000 out of pocket expenses. They have to cover it in Massachusetts but sometimes they need to be reminded of that.

Hugs, Devlyn

I'm not far behind that plan. Makes me wonder, if you need to remind them... perhaps plans with premiums over $500 include a "we don't forget as much" service fee.

[Devlyn]

Yeah, $480 and $720 were the only two I qualified for. Basically the same, the expensive plan came with better prescription drugs coverage.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Ashley3]

Yeah, $480 and $720 were the only two I qualified for. Basically the same, the expensive plan came with better prescription drugs coverage.

Hugs, Devlyn

My plan does not cover my Estradiol ... it costs about 3 times the cost of Estradiol. I went to an out of network doc... listed as "out of network" and I figured out of network meant they'd at least throw me a $20 bill to cover something... you know, a gesture for paying through the teeth each month... no dice... not one cent paid for that visit. I'm like, "Where's the trash $25 insurance... I can pay for that to make folks happy, use the rest for my medical expenses!"

[Chris8080]

Glad you went to see the surgeon, some of your comments since your surgery had me worried. Comforting to know he didn't seem alarmed. Did he give you any idea of how long you can expect the "drainage"? I take it he didn't recommend closing the stitches that opened up? Any possible risk of infection from that? Close on it's own? Any pain left or is that behind you now. Swelling gone?

I had originally reserved a hotel suite near the hospital for two nights, due in part to some of your experiences the other day I extended the reservation to three nights after surgery. The hospital is a 3 1/2 hour drive from home, the hotel is 5 minutes so as a safety net against any possible problems I thought being close until I could see what to expect might be a good choice. Surgery is Tuesday morning and the hotel is now reserved until Friday morning so I should be good. I think. Hotel says there is no early check out penalty or fee so if I leave for home on say Thursday no problem. The surgeon says he won't need to see me for two weeks after the surgery for a follow up but to call if I feel anything is out of the ordinary. All I could think was that since I've never been castrated before how am I supposed to know what is ordinary?

[Devlyn]

Glad you went to see the surgeon, some of your comments since your surgery had me worried. Comforting to know he didn't seem alarmed. Did he give you any idea of how long you can expect the "drainage"? I take it he didn't recommend closing the stitches that opened up? Any possible risk of infection from that? Close on it's own? Any pain left or is that behind you now. Swelling gone?

I had originally reserved a hotel suite near the hospital for two nights, due in part to some of your experiences the other day I extended the reservation to three nights after surgery. The hospital is a 3 1/2 hour drive from home, the hotel is 5 minutes so as a safety net against any possible problems I thought being close until I could see what to expect might be a good choice. Surgery is Tuesday morning and the hotel is now reserved until Friday morning so I should be good. I think. Hotel says there is no early check out penalty or fee so if I leave for home on say Thursday no problem. The surgeon says he won't need to see me for two weeks after the surgery for a follow up but to call if I feel anything is out of the ordinary. All I could think was that since I've never been castrated before how am I supposed to know what is ordinary?

He wants me to keep an eye on it and email in a week. He said whatever leaked settled into the scrotum, producing the swelling and hematoma. The blood first clots, then starts to break down and liquefy, thats whats finding its way out. No pain at all. He said I had the most swelling and bruising post op he's seen in his patients.

Chris, remember that I was on my own after the ride home. This is all manageable, and while my healing departed from the norm, yours probably won't. 

I'm not looking at this as a bad result or less than satisfactory. I am thrilled. The quiet and calm that so many people mention has descended on me following this surgery. I  know now that the tests were right and my T wasn't being lowered by the Spiro.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Chris8080]

I too will be on my own right from walking out of the hospital doors. That's the reason for the three day stay in the hotel after. Just want to be close in case something isn't right, not that I'm expecting anything to go wrong but 5 minutes from the hospital sounds so better than 3 1/2hours. This surgeon has done several orchi's on the recommendation of my MD. Says he hasn't encountered any problems in the past and doesn't expect any this time. Sounds good to me.

My T hasn't been reduced as much as I would have liked or my MD expected. She did say this past week that I could/should stop the spiro. Yippee. She said the orchi should be the equivalent of an increase in estradiol so recommended staying on the current dosage for now. Is it Tuesday yet?

[Leslie601]

Dr. Greenwald in Tampa charges $3,500 if you're self-pay or $5,000 for insurance. That's for scrotum rentention, extra 1k to remove it at same time.

Leslie

[Devlyn]

Thanks, Leslie! We're getting a lot of information in this thread. 

Hugs, Devlyn

[Chris8080]

I don't know how you ladies deal with such mind boggling expensive worthless insurance. I stuck it out in a very tough industry for 34 years, up & down amounts of work and frequent 16-18 hour days and 80-90 hours in 5 day weeks. Did it because of the good health coverage and a mediocre pension so I wouldn't have to live on a SSA check. I pay nothing for my health insurance now other than some deductibles which aren't bad. At 65 and retired my work health insurance switched to Medicare as the primary and the work insurance pays what Medicare doesn't, before 65 work insurance paid everything. Medicare has an annual deductible of something like $175 a year snagged right out of your January SSA check. Then the work insurance has deductible's of $15 per Dr. office visit and $10 for generic prescriptions and $50 for name brand prescriptions. To hear of your monthly payments and incredible deductibles and still have basically zero coverage is enough to curl my hair.

My insurance wasn't free by any means, I paid dearly for it with my health for 34 years. Often counting how many hours of sleep I got last week the way most people count how many hours they got last night. Sleep deprivation is an ugly beast and causes all manor of problems. But it is what it is and at least I now have the health insurance.

[Dena]

What your medicare coverage really looks like is about $134 a months for part b, a bit over $2,000 for supplemental insurance and then drug coverage which is around $20 a month. Before I was on medicare I had to have a private policy and that had reached over $600 a month and the only advantage of having it was I paid out of pocket the negotiated price instead of full price. Insurance may have covered one flue shot but that was it. I probably paid around $2,000 out of pocket while I had that policy.

[Chris8080]

Yeah thinking about it your probably right on the Medicare monthly Dena. Since I don't write a check for it I most likely got it wrong. I don't have Medicare for prescription coverage though, that is from my work insurance. My supplemental is also my work insurance and that costs me nothing except the deductibles I mentioned.

Had to get the cards out to check, my Medicare is"
Hospital Part A
Medical part B

Supplemental insurance and prescription is covered by my work insurance with Blue Cross - Blue Shield. Dental and vision plans are also covered by the work insurance with similar deductables.