An Unexpected Sunday
Sunday we’d planned to go to a farmers market on 77th Street, maybe go to Central Park afterwards, get something nice for lunch on the Upper West Side—just have a relaxing, fun, New York day.
Instead, at 4:30am, Andrew woke up in excruciating pain; he could barely stand up, and was covered in cold sweat. He would have been crying out in pain had the baby not been asleep. At 6am, we rushed downstairs and put him in a taxi to the ER; Lucia and I followed by foot. When we arrived, Andrew was hooked up to an I.V. delivering pain medication—he had kidney stones. Fortunately, after a few hours, he was fine, and he was home by noon. He said he’d been checked in right before two guys who’s OD’ed, and they released him because they were expecting a large influx thanks to the Gay Pride Parade. The whole ER was swarming with police. Ah, New York!
What an awful experience—and one that solidifies my already-vehement belief in never going even one day without health insurance. I may be the world’s most cautious person when it comes to having insurance, certain that broken legs and appendicitis will occur during whatever gaps in coverage others may be tempted just to weather. So we don’t tempt fate; never have. It’s just too scary. Broken legs? Appendicitis? No—but kidney stones. You just can’t plan these things.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to worry about insurance—the week Andrew had between jobs would have been covered by retroactive COBRA had the need arose, and his new plan started on his first day of work. He got no hassle at the hospital for not yet having his card, and he left without paying a thing.
He's back to normal now, none the worse for wear, back at work as though nothing ever happened.
Instead, at 4:30am, Andrew woke up in excruciating pain; he could barely stand up, and was covered in cold sweat. He would have been crying out in pain had the baby not been asleep. At 6am, we rushed downstairs and put him in a taxi to the ER; Lucia and I followed by foot. When we arrived, Andrew was hooked up to an I.V. delivering pain medication—he had kidney stones. Fortunately, after a few hours, he was fine, and he was home by noon. He said he’d been checked in right before two guys who’s OD’ed, and they released him because they were expecting a large influx thanks to the Gay Pride Parade. The whole ER was swarming with police. Ah, New York!
What an awful experience—and one that solidifies my already-vehement belief in never going even one day without health insurance. I may be the world’s most cautious person when it comes to having insurance, certain that broken legs and appendicitis will occur during whatever gaps in coverage others may be tempted just to weather. So we don’t tempt fate; never have. It’s just too scary. Broken legs? Appendicitis? No—but kidney stones. You just can’t plan these things.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to worry about insurance—the week Andrew had between jobs would have been covered by retroactive COBRA had the need arose, and his new plan started on his first day of work. He got no hassle at the hospital for not yet having his card, and he left without paying a thing.
He's back to normal now, none the worse for wear, back at work as though nothing ever happened.
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