Fuuuuuuck....

[anarky]

$135 at the doctor's office in two days. And that's with insurance. Three of us had to go in for lingering colds that had led to other problems for the kids (with visit copays and a total of seven medications), and Mrs A needed prescription inserts for her shoes due to the early onset of arthritis in one foot following an injury last year.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, that's a lot of money for an achy ankle and three colds.

[Sleazer]

sorry to hear that...I hope the Nark Family is feeling well soon.

HSA plans for us, so it's "straight cash, homey."

[anarky]

Thanks.

$10 copay per visit. $10 copay per prescription. Hefty discounts on OTC drugs. I have no complaints. But, still.... Damn. When it stacks up, it's like an extra major grocery trip.

I've had one cold after another for about three weeks. The kids have both been sick off and on the same amount of time. We called to see if there were any medicines we could give Baby 'Nark, and they had us bring him in. Good thing; his congestion had led to a minor case of bronchiolitis, which can be very serious. But, like I said, it was a very minor case. Anarky Jr and I went in today. She's got an ear infection as a direct result of her congestion. Both of them got amoxycillin (sp?) and something for the cough. I didn't have any further complications, but have developed some nasty congestion that Mucinex couldn't deal with, so I got three drugs.

I'm not in the "mind working so badly I can't think" stage, but I'm pretty wasted after taking all three about an hour ago. I can't walk at a normal pace without holding onto something.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Mucinex is a gateway drug to Malibu.

[anarky]

Nah, Mucinex just leaves a disgusting metallic taste in your mouth and makes you cough up phlegm, which is nasty, but preferable to having it in your throat. And they make awesome commercials, because who could hate an ad about talking boogers?

The cocktail of Flonase, codeine, and Sudafed, however, is another story, yo.

BTW, I've never gotten Sudafed before (I tend to avoid medicine unless I feel it's necessary or the doctor tells me to use it, and then to stick to whatever's worked before without too many side effects), and it's amazing how many hoops you have to jump through to get it. I had to give them my driver's license number and sign that I'd bought it. I know they're trying to cut down on meth labs, but damn.

[Diabolical]

For me, nothing works better on a cold than Alka-Seltzer. And it has to be the orange flavored stuff, which still tastes awful, but its drinkable.

I'm a big wuss when it comes to having a cold. I tend to over medicate when I have a cold, which I know is really bad, but I'll take anything to dull the symptoms. Vitamins, cold pills and cough syrup, washed down with alka-seltzer and OJ every 4 hours. I live with my head in a self-induced cloud.

[jjreason]

The extra bill sucks - but there is a nasty compulsion to take your kids to the doctor, isn't there??? We have it so lucky up here with the public healthcare, I can't even imagine it any other way.

For what it's worth - Sudafed is a meth precursor, hence the hoops. The codeine is what's making your life nice - I had codeine cough syrup one time in university after I came down with pneumonia - and basically took 5 days off school to lay on the couch & watch star wars. I would chug syrup, lie down, fall asleep & wake up to change the tapes.... then go lie back down for 10 minutes & fall asleep until it was time to change the tape again. Loved it.

[anarky]

I live in the IE, JJ. No need to tell me what the main ingredient of meth is. Honestly, with the housing values plummeting and foreclosures and so many vacant houses being rented to forty and fifty people, a constant minor fear in the back of my mind is that one of the houses on my street will explode.

I feel awful that I waited so long and they got complications, even if minor ones. I'm just a bit of a weirdo; I don't like to go to the doctor unless it's necessary. Not so much fear, but some of them have a tendency to just prescribe shit you don't need. Luckily, the kids have an amazing pediatrician whom I can't imagine doing that, and the doctor I saw yesterday (it's tough to get an appointment with my regular doc on short notice) seemed to genuinely respect that, so I'm pretty confident I actually need all the medicines she gave me.

Plus, I just don't like being talked down to. So many doctors are so used to patients knowing nothing that they dumb everything down so much. Some of them will pick up on a patient not being a numbskull if you respond with an intelligent question that shows a basic knowledge of anatomy, but most don't and keep talking to you like you're five.

Dunno what it is, but I think I'm the opposite of most guys in that I'd prefer a female doctor for most things. If I had some sort of dong problem, it might be awkward, but I feel like it'd be less awkward than talking to a strange dude about the same thing. (Doesn't hurt if they're cute, but that's not a priority.)

BTW, one of the medicines supposedly can hype people up. Look at the time. I'm guessing that one kicked in.

[Rollo Tomassi]

It'd be SUPER awkward if you went in to talk to the cute lady doctor about having ED, and then when you dropped trou, her hotness caused your little soldier to stand up and salute. Awkward.

Either that or porno music would start playing.

[vynsane]

dude, seriously, alternate reality shit again.

we're all sick here, too. my daughter has an ear infection.