The abdominal pain started about 12:00 noon, and stayed with me...the pain didn't increase in intensity...nor did it decrease in severity.  It just stayed with me all afternoon and into the evening of March 15, 2012.

As the day wore on, I continued to suffer from the pain, which was just over the belly-button or just a little bit lower.  Black stools were also apparent, and I remember back in the 1970's when I suffered from a bleeding ulcers, there were black stools, that indicated that I was beeding inside. 

By 10;00 PM that night, I had to decide, whether to call 911, and go to the emergency room.  I took a laxative and a suppository that day, which did nothing for me, so I didn't think my problem was constipated-related.  But, I was nervous about the possibility or internal bleeding.

About 10:00 PM I called 911, and the ambulance people arrived a few minutes later.  They took my vitals and off I went to emergency room.  During that time in the emercency room, a test for the bleeding stool was made, which showed negative, which I was ever so grateful.  An MRI scan was performed, and I would get the results later in the evening. 

All in all, I spent the night in the ER, as I entered the ER at 10 PM and I was discharged at six in the morning.  Before being discharged, my ER doctor told me, that my problem was kidney stones, and for me to make a follow-up appointment with a urologist, in which I was given a name and address.  I made that appointment, which will be on April 4, 2012, so I don't know the full story yet, about what I can do to stay healthy. 

I do know that I passed a kidney stone at work in 1988, and I wrote an article on the event, which is entitled;

Passing a Kidney Stone 101 For Dummies;

The importance of this article, is to show the reader the bill for one night in the ER, which is a disgrace, and one reason why the United States is on the verge of going under...because of all the greed in this country

This is a bill I got about two weeks after I was discharged from the emercency room, and I didn't have to pay anything but a $50.00 co-payment. 

- Medications; $416,00;
I was given a one-time prescription for pain, which amounted of ten pills.  This is how much ten pills cost in the emergency room?  Plain and simple...a disgrace!  These medical people are hammering away at Medicare, until the program goes bust...

- Laboratory tests; $1,006.00;
Things like blood tests; urine, etc. It's hard for me to believe that these costs can be so high!  Medical people will tell you, that these are charges that we can charge...but they are not, necessarily, the charges that we make.  Medical and pharmaceuticals are leading the way in bringing this country to its knees!

- CT Scans; (MRI); $7,540.00;
They put me in one of those big donut-hole machines to check the stomach area, which took all of five minutes.  It's had for me to believe that this test cost nearly $7,500 dollars. 

- Emergency Room Services; $1,442.00;

Total; $10,404.00

This is a bill for one over-night stay in the emercency room, which was eight hours, and I slept most of the time since I was taken by ambulance at 10:00 PM.  This amount is not only a disgrace, but I can see why the country is going under! 

Recently, I saw an interview of a medical doctor on one of the morning news shows.  The doctor was asked by the reporter how the United States and Medicare in particuliar could get out of the mess they find themselves in.  The doctor said, that there are too many specialists in medical today.  And, until there are more generalists...such as family doctors...the high cost of everything will never go away...but, will continue to increase!   

Today, everyone is out to make a buck...no matter how they get it...and the American people will pay for it all...when the country goes bankrupt...

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Copyright; 2012; Jerry Aragon; The Humor Doctor