03/19/10 Friday Update

Another Friday in the hospital and we're still in the NICU. Today went well but Eli is a little constipated. The nurse says that's fairly common with the iron supplements Eli is getting. She is planning to give him a little laxative to help loosen things up.

*** And it's about this time that I realize I'm blogging about my child's bowel movements. Unlike my Dad who thinks discussing bowel movements to be an engaging and interesting topic, I find the whole thing a little repulsive. Enough said. ***

The only thing going on at this point is our desire to get out of the hospital and barring that to get out of the NICU. We asked for a copy of our detailed billing and it isn't pretty. We're spending about $10,000 a day to be in the NICU and we're here primarily for respiratory support which seems very possible to handle at home. The Attending Physician completely agrees with us. He's been trying to tackle the problem in a straight forward and proactive manner and we very much appreciate that. The problem we're faced with is one they run into maybe one or two times a year. The mask Eli is on for his CPAP is getting too small and the home care mask is a little too big. There isn't a good solution for in-between so we're stuck sitting in the NICU at a cost of $10,000 a day.

Now it's time for a little note about the cost of staying in the hospital. Today marks day 41 that we've been in the hospital. Our total bill is a little over $300,000 and we're looking at the possibility of being here another month or two. It costs $10,000 a day to be in the NICU and roughly $4,000 a day to stay on pediatric floor. This doesn't include the cost of labs, tests, or special consults. I have very good insurance so my out of pocket expense will be very little and the insurance companies all negotiate discounted rates for services so the actual billing will probably be cut in half or more by the time it's passed on to the insurance company. What is my point? Make sure you have damn good health insurance. If you don't have health insurance right now go get some. I never thought I would end up with a child in the hospital for 40+ days and if I didn't have good insurance coverage I'd be filing for bankruptcy right now. All those lessons my Dad drilled into me about never going without health insurance sure seem like sage advice now. Thanks Pops!

This evening went well too. Eli took 20CC's of formula from the bottle for me tonight. He's making great progress with his feedings and he's gaining weight exactly like he should be. I've got Eli off his CPAP and we're having a little bonding time. Eli is allowed to be off his CPAP for 2 breaks of 4 hours each. When he's off he is on regular flow oxygen. After Eli's break we put him back on the CPAP and it's a bit of a struggle because he's moving around a lot and the mask is a touch too small. It's getting late so I'm calling it a day.