My recent hospital stay for diabetes

ronk

ronk

Member
I'm a Senior, living on Social Security. I have Humana health insurance coverage. Back in May I was hospitalized for newly-discovered Diabetes. I was in observation for two and a half days. I wondered why I never saw a bill from the hospital, other than $35 for medications. I looked at the latest summary from Humana. My stay in the hospital cost over $22,000! Humana covered the entire amount.

It's good to know I have great health insurance coverage.
 

ronk said:
I'm a Senior, living on Social Security. I have Humana health insurance coverage. Back in May I was hospitalized for newly-discovered Diabetes. I was in observation for two and a half days. I wondered why I never saw a bill from the hospital, other than $35 for medications. I looked at the latest summary from Humana. My stay in the hospital cost over $22,000! Humana covered the entire amount.

It's good to know I have great health insurance coverage.
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Great to see you again Ron, and glad you're out of the hospital. Your experience with your insurance sounds excellent, don't hear too many good stories like that these days. Hope your diabetes is under control and you're doing okay otherwise.
 
SeaBreeze! It's good to hear from you. I am doing just fine. I check my glucose levels once a day, and give myself an insulin injection once a day. It's all quite routine. I was happy to learn that I really didn't need to change much about my diet. I just cut out most of the sugar, and started eating a whole lot more fruits and veggies.
 

ronk said:
I'm a Senior, living on Social Security. I have Humana health insurance coverage. Back in May I was hospitalized for newly-discovered Diabetes. I was in observation for two and a half days. I wondered why I never saw a bill from the hospital, other than $35 for medications. I looked at the latest summary from Humana. My stay in the hospital cost over $22,000! Humana covered the entire amount.

It's good to know I have great health insurance coverage.
Click to expand...
I know what you mean.
I had Humana back in 2008 when I had heart surgery, and they paid for it.

All I had to pay for was the angiogram, which was my $15 co-pay.
I was even out of town in Monterey, Ca., because I requested a specific cardiac surgeon.

Glad you've got things under control w/your diabetes.
 
ronk said:
I'm a Senior, living on Social Security. I have Humana health insurance coverage. Back in May I was hospitalized for newly-discovered Diabetes. I was in observation for two and a half days. I wondered why I never saw a bill from the hospital, other than $35 for medications. I looked at the latest summary from Humana. My stay in the hospital cost over $22,000! Humana covered the entire amount.

It's good to know I have great health insurance coverage.
Click to expand...
What a blessing! Like you, I haven't had to pay a hospital bill for the two times I was admitted 1989 for major surgery (in for 5 days) and 2016 for a cardiac procedure (in for 2 days). I never had to pay for any same day procedures or first post op visits. I've had Aetna for decades and Aetna Medicare HMO through the N.J. State Health Benefits plans. I just switched to Aetna Medicare PPO in May. As the commercial used to say "Oh what a relief it is" not to have to worry about large medical bills.

I'm diabetic too but never needed hospitalization due to complications. Were you admitted because your blood sugar went too high or low Ronk?
 
I was feeling very badly. I could barely stay awake, and my head had been aching for weeks. I called an ambulance. They checked my blood sugar, and it was 615. I've been told it was a wonder I was still conscious! I was in the observation ward of the hospital for 2 1/2 days while they gave me an IV with Saline, and monitored my blood sugar etc. (That was when they officially diagnosed me with Diabetes.)
 
ronk said:
I was feeling very badly. I could barely stay awake, and my head had been aching for weeks. I called an ambulance. They checked my blood sugar, and it was 615. I've been told it was a wonder I was still conscious! I was in the observation ward of the hospital for 2 1/2 days while they gave me an IV with Saline, and monitored my blood sugar etc. (That was when they officially diagnosed me with Diabetes.)
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Wow, you were almost in a diabetic coma! I'm so glad you called the ambulance.
 
ronk said:
I was feeling very badly. I could barely stay awake, and my head had been aching for weeks. I called an ambulance. They checked my blood sugar, and it was 615. I've been told it was a wonder I was still conscious! I was in the observation ward of the hospital for 2 1/2 days while they gave me an IV with Saline, and monitored my blood sugar etc. (That was when they officially diagnosed me with Diabetes.)
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It's likely you were given more than one IV with Saline. Didn't you also get an IV with insulin & another one with other fluids to prevent Diabetic Ketoacidosis which can occur with glucose that high?
 
I was constantly connected to an IV for the entire 2.5 days I was there. I don't know if anything was in the IV other than saline. I also had a few insulin shots during that time. I'd guess the idea was to monitor me to see how much insulin was needed to stabilize me.
 
ronk said:
I was constantly connected to an IV for the entire 2.5 days I was there. I don't know if anything was in the IV other than saline. I also had a few insulin shots during that time. I'd guess the idea was to monitor me to see how much insulin was needed to stabilize me.
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Luckily, your adventure wasn't as exciting as mine (that I posted about previously)
5 years ago a dentist did an incomplete & incompetent root canal that resulted in me spending several days in Intensive Care for Sepsis which could have been fatal. The infection also spiked my blood sugar to 705, causing Ketoacidosis - explained by my doctor. That means NO food or liquid will stay down, requiring IV saline, IV glucose & IV antibiotics & can also be fatal if untreated.
When I left the hospital 8 days later, I weighed 28 lbs more - all fluid weight that took 2 weeks to come off.
Be careful about treating any toothache or any other infection immediately.
And NEVER have a regular dentist do a root canal; ONLY have a root canal specialist do it.
 
win231, Wow! I had my remaining 15 teeth pulled around 2005. I had 4 infected teeth. Those teeth had been infected ever since my teens. They would settle down for awhile, and then kick in again. I now have dentures, and am very happy with my new teeth.

By the way, my Humana statement was 36 pages! I'm too lazy to skim through it all to see exactly what they dd! They took good care of me!
 
You do have a meter, don't you? Your doctor probably told you to check 2 hrs after meals & when you get up in the morning.
You'll also need to become familiar with carbohydrates, fiber, sugar in foods. We're all different. Some diabetics can eat certain things others have to limit. Also how exercise affects glucose.

There are several people here dealing with diabetes. Feel free to ask questions.
 
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Yes, I have a meter. The doctor only wants me to check once a day, before breakfast. I give myself an insulin shot at that time also. I also checked with the Diabetes expert. My current diet is just fine....after I cut out all the sugar!
 
Wow Win, your root canal!
I had an angioedema during a root canal (by a regular dentist) a few years ago. He was forced to stop working on my tooth when my upper lip blew up to the size of a baseball, so he sent me home to "put ice on it and come back in three hours." I've since found out it was a life threatening condition and I would have been alone and unable to breath or speak if my throat had closed.

Ronk, I admire you for cutting out sugar! I keep trying to give it up and seem to have no more control over it than a heroin addict.
 


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