This week I took a very interesting path down finding out what it feels like to go broke via emergency veterinary care. Let me just say....it doesn't feel good and I don't want to do it anymore. Interesting thing about when your cat decides to skip the "cry for help" stage and go straight for the poison....you get sucked into some expensive vet care. And he gets to continue living...better luck next time sucker.
Now, I was initially impressed by the care he received the day I first brought him in...but that was because I was terrified and willing to spend anything to keep him alive. 5 days later, I feel like I've been manipulated...much like I feel when I take my car into a Jiffy Lube for an oil change and leave with replaced air filters and shiny tires and a patched up windshield. So, just to walk into the door of this place as an emergency case, is $160.00. No joke. That is for registration and an office visit. Which is interesting...because registration is me telling the receptionist that my name is Dani and that I have an address and a phone number. That costs $11.00. The office visit was interesting, because they then charged another office visit on top of that...plus money to make him throw up and take two expensive blood tests. Oh, I forgot to mention too that in order to even take a pet into this emergency clinic...you have to call the ASPCA Poison hotline for a consultation....this costs $60.00 right up front. I get that...its helping a non-profit. But I think its interesting that you need that to show up to this ASPCA clinic...with doctors who should know just as much as the poison doctors do...they all go through the same schooling. Sounds like a scam....but being a "freaking-out" pet owner...I forgot to consider scams. So, I'm $200.00 deep before they even look at the poor thing. And then $299.00 for the extra office visit (?) and all the other stuff...and I get to leave.
I might add that this all happened as I was getting ready to head to work and was in the midst of getting breakfast going. Since I didn't eat, I was starving at the clinic. I asked where there was a Starbucks nearby so I could run and grab something to eat. She advised me that we couldn't leave the facility unless I left a deposit. Yes, because I'm going to abandon my disabled, poisoned cat at your facility. Are ya kidding me?
And that wasn't even the half of it....every night this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and tonight), I went and spent $81.00 to get a blood test done($20.00 more than I was told it would be I might add...my doctor distinctly told me that it would be $60.00...the cost of the test and no charge for an office visit. When I brought this up, they said they don't do that and that I would need to speak with the doctor to get written permission for that to be refunded back to me. Yeah, like that will happen). And his test results came back slightly off tonight (his last scheduled night of tests), so I imagine that they will ask me to come back for another tomorrow. So, I'm sitting at about $820.00 plus some cab fares....about $900.00 right now. And to throw a cherry on top of everything (Jiffy Lube), they said they heard what they thought was an irregular heartbeat in him, and that we should consider an EKG.....at some point....not life threatening RIGHT NOW. I'll give you an irregular heart beat.
Holy crud...they saw a sucker and they worked me hard. I have gotten on Yelp and read some reviews and discovered I'm not the only fool that has shelled out an arm and a leg. Makes me feel less like a moron...which is good. I needed that.
So, it remains to be seen if I'll be eating Ramen for the rest of my life...or if this cat will just buck up and quit "needing" tests. I need a real veterinarian.....this place is taking me for all I'm worth. I miss home.
There is something incredibly lonely about being in a new place during a mini-crisis such as this. My roommates are heaven sent and have been wonderful...hands down. But you can't help but wish you weren't here when things like this happen...nothing is easy here. Nothing is close by. People aren't always friendly. EVERYTHING is expensive. Nothing is familiar. People that should be dependable disappoint...in really big and kind of inexcusable ways. Reality. Boston is fantastic and I love my new home, but it isn't a fairy tale land of perfection. It still sucks some days.
But, because life is bigger than this crisis and this bad week and myself and this city and this world even....God is good. And he continues to provide me sanity in the midst of this mild insanity. Life can be so much worse than this....this is nothing. This is stressful and hard and potentially could be really sad if it doesn't work out well, but life can be so much harder and so much more sad. I have friends who are struggling right now with feeling God's goodness. I can relate...sometimes there is not a single thing that looks good...not one.
I was listening to Pandora today and this song came on, and it is such a sweet reminder of what faith looks like....knowing that even if everything else falls around us, God is the one standing there holding us up still. Sometimes that is the only good thing, that you are still standing there. But hey, that's one thing to praise Him for.
For those of you that are reading this that are far away (which will be everyone)...I love you guys and miss you. Also, to you West Coasters...I have been here for a month now and I can confidently say that the West Coast is indeed the best Coast. Let's put these fools in their place.
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