Scheduling a surgery

I spent the following 24 hours on the internet googling “fibroids, surgery, pregnancy”. I don’t recommend this. In reality, this was a driving force for me writing these entries because what I would have loved to read was a first hand account from someone who had been through what I was going through. What I found instead was countless blogs spilling over with questions and fears and horror stories and on the other side medical journals offering no real life anecdotes. 

 “Maria Civuentes – Surgery Scheduler - Dr. Davids” A full day had passed since the surgery bomb had been dropped. I stared at the card in my hand and then dialed the number. Voicemail. Great. That was underwhelming. I left a message and a couple of hours later, Maria called me back. “Okay, I’ve got you down here as needing to schedule a Hysteroscopic Myomectomy. When would you like to go ahead with that?” Without taking a beat, I replied “Yesterday. I mean, as soon as possible. Let’s get those bad boys out.” She asked me to hold the line for a moment, my pulse was still racing. I still couldn’t quite believe this was all happening. I’d always been so “healthy”. Only last month, I was in the doctor’s office saying I had a bit of period pain and now I’m scheduling a hospital surgery. Maria was back “How about June 27th at 8am? Cedars Sinai has an opening then and can take you & Dr. Davids’s schedule can accommodate you” June 27th – That was in a few weeks. Coming from Ireland where it can take months to get a date for a procedure, this was, yet again very efficient. “Sure, sounds good” I replied and Maria said she would be in touch to confirm. She informed me that the doctor’s fee would be $200 after insurance and the hospital fees and the anesthesiologists fees would be on top of that.

Here’s what people don’t tell you: Call up the hospital and get a quote for your bill straight away. Also, the price can differ drastically between hospitals so don’t just accept the first hospital that the doctor’s office assigns to you. When I received my quote from Cedars, my jaw hit the floor. $4,300! For an outpatient surgery where I would be in and out within 3 hours. Bear I mind, I had paid into my deductible and I was also on good Blue Cross PPO insurance, paying the equivalent of $1100 a month for coverage (for my husband and I) The out of pocket is where it hits you, supposedly. I called Maria back on the verge of tears and explained what I had just found out. It was at that point she volunteered “Oh, well I can check availability at another facility. They tend to be more reasonable. Please hold.” I waited and while I waited I wondered why this option wasn’t presented to me from the off. I assumed it was because the office had a relationship with Cedars and it was their preference but I never did get a straight answer. Maria was back “ Hi, yes so they have an opening on June 24th at 7am. You’ll have to call them to get a quote of course but I’m sure they will be cheaper” Sounded good to me “Book me in Maria, book me in” Turns out they were a lot cheaper. $2100 and 3 days earlier. Boom!