back from the hospital (and leave as well)

So I filed an emergency leave in the office so that I can help out with the family when my father was in the hospital for an endoscopy and colonoscopy examination.  My coach said ok but my leave that I filed in the computer is still waiting.  Hell, I just back from my leave and it’s still waiting.  Perfect.

I went to the hospital the night before yesterday and I saw that my parents were there and so was my sister.  There was takeout food from Jollibee (yehey!) wherein I ate it voraciously (I was hungry then).  Later on, my mom and I went home.

The next day my mom and I went back to the hospital early since both procedures would begin at 8am.  But since this is the Philippines, the actual time those blasted procedures began was at 10am. Not only there was another patient being examined before us, but the doctor was nowhere to be found (it turns out she arrived on time and was making rounds when she was informed that endoscopy and colonoscopy would be delayed).  I went with my dad while my mom and sister stayed behind.  My mom is squeamish with almost anything and my sister is sick and tired of watching people being poked with tubes from their mouths or asses.  Why me?  It’s my first time to actually see an actual endoscopy and colonoscopy.  TV’s ok but it sure beats seeing it in person.

So I watched the anesthesiologist putting a small bottle of anesthesia in place of my dad’s IV fluid and the gastroenterologist sprayed lidocaine in my dad’s mouth (which is a very bitter oral anesthesia).  Minutes later, my father fell asleep and the action began.  There was a machine monitoring his pulse,  a third doctor checking his blood pressure every now and then, oxygen for my father while he was unconscious and the last but not the least, the tube used for endoscopy.

The endoscopy was the first and it was fascinating seeing someone’s internal organs (even if it’s your father).  Eventually it became boring since all I can see is pink tissue and mucous.  When the doctor got to the stomach she told me that there was a healed ulcer and will do a biospy to make sure it is just a harmless piece of tissue.  I just nodded.

When that was over, the colonoscopy began and I’m not sure which is more unnerving, a tube going down your throat or a tube going in your ass.  Now I saw another color aside from pink and two things that made the doctor a little nervous.  One was a polyp on where she commented that my parents are taking turns on getting sick.  She also took some samples on that polyp (and even managed to remove it).  The second one made her uneasy.  It was a small mass and she began taking samples of that as well.  Blood was coming out of that mass and I lost track on how many times she did biopsy on that thing.  She must have seen how wide-eyed I was when I saw all the bleeding and said that it’s nothing serious.  Well, duh, you’re getting a piece of tissue of course there would be blood.  As if I never graduated from BS Biology.

At almost 11am, it was over.  What was both amusing and annoying was that the other doctors were now tring to wake my father up.  My father did wake up a few minutes later and whenever he closes his eyes the doctors are shouting at him to wake up.  When he tries to get up one of them would restrain him.  I guess they want him awake not mobile.

Dad was wheeled back to his room in a stretcher.  He spent the next hours sleeping.  My sister and mom went out to buy lunch.  

The bad part came when we paid the bill.  Remind me not to go to a hospital that is accredited by our office’s insurance.  The disaster began when my father made a remark of staying for another day to rest.  My mom said that he can do that at home so he was supposed to be discharged later in the afternoon.  We ended up leaving early in the evening.  We had the bill computed and was advised that the insurance company would be contacted to compute on how much they will pay.  My father thought it was a free thing, but that doesn’t apply to dependents.  So while that is being done, my mom and sis went out to tbe bank and withdrew a few extra cash.

I waited with my dad in his room and I was both pissed and humiliated.  It was past 5 in the afternoon when an aide came in and said that the bill is ready.  I went down to the billing department and I asked the guy on how much it was.  He gave me a sheet and I blinked at the charges.  Five-figure amount for an overnight confinement?  Damn!  Then he showed me on what we are going to actually pay for, I blinked again.  I called my sister and told her how much is being charged (and where the hell they are at that time).  

They got back and I gave them the sheet for the bill.  It was a relief for us to get out of there.  No wonder some people prefer to die instead of being hospitalized, the cost of staying in a private hospital is bad enough to kill you.  Insurance’s great, but can be a pain especially when it comes to paying the hospital bills.

At this time, I need another leave, a much longer one. 

anger management maybe?

I have a right to my anger and I don’t want anybody telling me I shouldn’t be and that something’s wrong with me because I get angry.
                                                                                                          —Maxine Waters

But how long before it becomes an abusive form of self-exprssion?  How long before it would affect everything around you?  How long would it be before it kills you?

For me, anger is something I have integrated in my personality, something that distinguishes me from others because of the volatility of my temper.  Some like to see that anger, some don’t, some appreciate it (because at least they can see it) and some don’t.  It not only shows that you don’t take shit, but also you’re not going to let anyone trample you.

When it goes out of control and affects other things, like work, that’s a different issue.  I’ll be fired if this goes on.  So far I’m enjoying my job at the same time I am also feeling exhausted because of so many things we’re doing here.  We deal with second level support (dedicated or not), create reports, monitor things that needed to be monitored, cover other colleagues’s asses if needed.  Like what is happening right now. 

I lost it, as my boss said and that needed to be remedied or there’s nothing they can do for defense.

Or maybe I am just out of touch with what I used to do in my job.  Before, I was just dedicated to provide secondary support on the bay but now, I feel worse than a secretary.  Added responsibilities for a supervisor huh?  Think like a supervisor, as my boss said.  Maybe that’s my problem, I never think of my position as something supervisory because my thinking is more on the job description behind it instead of just merely a position. 

Or maybe I should just stop losing my head and keep my feet on the ground.  I don’t want to die a painful death especially if it’s my fault.
 

testing

My father is on his way to the hospital.  It’s nothing serious really, but it’s because he has to undergo both endoscopy and colonoscopy which requires spending the night in the hospital.

Yesterday, my sister filed a two-day leave because of that and I decided to do the same thing as well, but my sister said instead to file a one-day leave since tomorrow is kind of critical because that would be the time my father would undergo those procedures and there’s also the part of paying the hospital bills. 

But since my work has group insurance, which covers both outpatient and inpatient and can have dependents on that insurance (in my case I have my parents), it means that my father can stay in the hospital without paying anything.  This is possible if the hospital he’s in is accredited by the insurance company, which in this case it is.  If it isn’t then there’s always reimbursements.  I file so many reimbursements that the nurses in the office were sick and tired of me poking my head inside the clinic.  Hey, it’s my right as an employee, so who cares?  It’s a benefit few companies have.

One of the reasons why I filed for an emergency leave is because my sister is the one who would keep an eye on my father for the evening.  That would definitely make her sleep less than 8 hours because, she has to help out my dad in preparing for getting examined tomorrow morning.  Come next morning, she would be sleepy and maybe out of focus.  Not to mention that she can be cranky as hell when she lacked sleep (who wouldn’t be?).

This just in: sister just sent me an SMS saying that an authorization letter is needed from the insurance company.  I called (with MOD’s permission) my sister on her mobile and ended up talking to my mom.  While I was speaking to her, I can hear my sister and father arguing in the background so I couldn’t help myself saying that they’re killing each other already.  Now I would need to call the insurance hotline to inform them that my father is now in the hospital.

Oh joy. 

Calling the insurance hotline is annoying because it took me 3 tries to get someone on the line and I have a horrible feeling that the rep I spoke with thinks that St. Louis Hospital of the Sacred Heart and SLU Hospital are two different hospitals.  I hope not or I may have to bug them again.

And boy am I annoying when I bug people.

patience please

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