Have you ever noticed that life sometimes just seems to happen?
About a month ago on Friday the thirteenth of August, I got married in Portland, Oregon. I was very happy about that, as was my wife (fortunately). We spent a week at the base of Mt. Hood, travelling around the area, taking plenty of pictures. Then we came back to Utah and set up house, where we will stay for the next year or so.
We also got interviewed for the Peace Corps, and they seemed to like us all right, because we were nominated to Washington DC for an English Teaching Program in Asia. My wife will teach English at a university level, while I will either teach high school students or train English Teachers. They left the location intentionally vague, as it might change over the next year, but through a little investigative work, we are placing our bets on Mongolia!
For those keeping score, this has all been good news so far.
Now for the bad news…
Before we enter the Peace Corps, they make sure that we are medically fit. Something that is bound to come up is that I am reasonably sure that I have an inguinal hernia. It’s not strangulated, and I’ve been living with it since last winter, trying to deny that it exists. And for the record, I think I gave it to myself while going off jumps in the snow on my Uni.
So I decided to do some research about hernias on the internet. Inguinal hernia repair is the most common form of surgery in the world, takes about 30 minutes to perform, and costs somewhere between $3500 and $10,000. My parents have calamity insurance on me, but the deductible is $5,000, with 70% covered after that, so this surgery could easily cost us more than $6,000. As my wife and I both are working part-time, we will both probably have to get second and possibly third jobs to pay for my operation, plus I will be laid out for two weeks. We have to have this paid for in about 8 months, because we’ll be leaving for the Peace Corps after that. Meanwhile, I’m afraid to do any strenuous activity (including MUni) for fear of making the situation worse. So my unicycle goes unused in the corner of our new house. Sigh.
Mongolia, wow. I have always wanted to go there and believe it or not had a dream recently that I was in Ulan Bator.
Hope all your medical issues get worked out favorably. Working for the Peace Corps is a noble step to take. I had friends who went after college and I kick myself for having been too cowardly to join as well.
CONGRATULATIONS Mr and Mrs Paco! Good luck to both of you and I sincerely hope that you have a long and happy life together.
As far as the medical stuff - If you’re meant to go off with the Peace Corps, then it will sort itself out. Keep positive! Why not put your mind at ease and ASK them what they do if they find out that you have some pre-existing condition. If they want you enough they’ll help you make a plan.
BTW - I thought you were aiming for Angola or somewhere closer to South Africa. If you do get down this end of the world, let us know and we can organise you a week off in Sunny SA.
PACO!!!
we are truly brothers-under-the-skin
i’m with jayne
it’ll work itself out
but get that hernia fixed soonest
it can strangulate at almost any time and u don’t need that in your life
be well
and pass on my most respectfull greeting to madame paco
Gild:
I saw that thread when I searched for hernias in the forum. Maybe that should be part of the initiation into the Paco-Gild Movement.
And Madame Paco salutes you back. I’ve shown her some of your posts and she’s a Gild fan.
Jayne:
The Peace Corps gives you full medical coverage-- effective once you become an offical volunteer. You can’t become an official volunteer until after you get a full medical and dental examination. So no dice there. It looks like we’ll be paying for it out of our own pockets. Fortunately, I do twist balloons and do clowning, which can be a lucrative second income.
We were hoping to go to southern Africa (and the entire South Africa unicycling excursion had crossed my mind), but it looks like Asia is where we’re heading.
Paco, Before you do anything on this surgery, find out all the entities that will be involved. If you are having to pay it out of pocket, you can actually negotiate your cost up front. Many of the charges that are on the bills for the insurance company are there to help cover the cost of indigent care. You will see costs on your bill like $10-$20 for regular tylenol, or $175 for being rolled to the curb. If you negotiate your price up front, explaining that this is out of your pocket, they will likely get rid of many bogus charges. If somehow, you can get the cash up front you may even get it cheaper, but still can save a ton if you set up a payment plan. Good luck on your surgery, I will likely schedule mine for November. I have had one for over a year myself. This is the second. I had my first on the other side back in 1995. It went well, and was beggining light exercise within a week. I was back to work the Monday following a Thursday surgery. I had no choice, since missing work, would have been financially devistating. Good Luck.
Good luck Paco on the surgery (and you too Bugman)
Assuming that all works out well, and you do get to go to Mongolia, I do hope your Uni (or MUni) goes with you.
I’m sure I’m not the only one here who would dig hearing about unicycling in Mongolia!
Well, I just called around yesterday to the different hospitals, trying to find out how much a hernia operation costs in the area. I called about 5 hospitals, and after getting transferred around multiple times, I ended up with voicemail every time. Okay, once I didn’t get voicemail. Once hospital transferred me to one extension where they didn’t even pick up. So I still only have a vague clue of how much it might cost.
But in good news, I have a mongolian student in one of my classes, so I can find out all sorts of good information about Mongolia. And of course, since I’m so excited about going there, I’ll probably go somewhere else instead.
Has anyone ever heard of this place for hernia surgery? They say that they can do hernia surgery for cheaper. I don’t want to pay as much as it costs around here for a half-hour surgery. The cost is ridiculous!
Or, does anyone know of any place in the U.S. that does hernia surgery for cheaper than at a general hospital?
