Over the years Ive built up a pretty loyal following of friends who are interested in what Ive been up to and how I’m doing health wise , but the bulk of visitors to this blog still get here while searching for answers to asthma related questions or topics. The following (in order of popularity) are the top 3 internet search phrases that bring people to my blog. If you’re one of those people, let me help make your life easier by answering those questions for you right now.

1) Recovering from a Severe asthma Exacerbation

Ive written extensively on this topic from personal experience, but this is probably my favorite post on the subject.
The Recuperative phases of a severe asthma exacerbation

2) Can you have a normal O2 sat during an asthma flare?

This is another question that pops all the time, not only in the Google searches that brings people to this blog, but also in my asthma support groups and in private emails. So here’s the short answer:
YES , you most certainly can have a normal or near normal oxygen saturation during an asthma flare up. Asthma is a disease of the airways, NOT the alveoli ( air sacs) where oxygen exchange takes place. In fact, if you’re O2 saturation is low during an attack, this can be an ominous sign. O2 saturation is usually the last things to drop during an asthma flare. Having said that an asthmatic who had a low O2 sat is probably sicker than someone who has a higher sat. Regardless of someones O2 sat, an even more important indicator of respiratory failure is an elevated CO2 level( carbon dioxide). When in doubt, an ABG should be obtained. Here’s an article I wrote about oximeters and O2 sats
Btw, if you’re searching for answers to this question, you’re probably either a physician or a healthcare worker who has encountered a patient like this, OR, you’re an asthmatic who is trying to justify whether they are sick enough to warrant hospital care. Am I right?

3) Hospital Bills for Asthma

With over 100 hospitalizations for asthma during my life time, I know a thing or two about hospital bills. Thankfully Ive been fortunate enough to have fairly good medical insurance that covers most of my medical expenses. Asthma, especially severe asthma, is an extremely expensive disease and accounts for a large chunk of this countries healthcare costs.
The typical 7-10 day hospital for me averages about $180,000. That’s enough to by a small house here in the SF bay area. An ICU bed alone can cost $22,000 per DAY! and that doesn’t include any of the medications or treatments. In the past 3 years alone, my medical bills have exceeded $1 million. This is just one of the many posts Ive written about the topic. It’s getting expensive to stay alive

So what brings you here today?

I wasn’t going to post this, but I just couldn’t resist. Here’s the bill for my little New Years week stint at the local pokey.

For fun, I threw in one of the 12 pages of itemized charges to give you an idea how much individual things cost. Like for example, the Ventilator charge per day. Or how much the continuous nebulizer costs for the first hour, and then how much it costs for each additional HOUR. (Remember, I was on a continuous neb for 48+ hours!)

The cost of inpatient hospital care is just mind boggling.

Yes, I have medical insurance ( at least for now)

The bills have been tallied.  During these past 12 months,  I’ve managed to rack-up an astounding $492,338.53 in hospital bills. Add to that, all the outpatient clinic charges, prescription costs and so on, and we’re easily over the half million dollar mark.  That’s pretty scary.

Did you know , that a single day in the Intensive Care Unit at UCSF medical center in San Francisco, now runs almost $16,000. For that price you get the Nurses, Physicians and a monitored bed.  Everything else is charged separately! Even If you’re lucky enough not to need the ICU, a bed in the step down unit will still cost you $5,000 a day.  I think a regular semi-private room on the medical ward goes for around $2000. I’m not sure , because Ive never actually stayed in a regular hospital room. They always put me in ICU or TCU (whether I think I need it or not.)

I’m extremely fortunate (at least for the time being), that I have good medical insurance and don’t have to pay the bill. But, looking though the itemized charges, I quickly found over $50,000 in billing errors and/or charges for stuff I never received!   For example…$150 for a pediatric airway adapter?? ( I don”t even know what that is) How about $600.00 for Bipap masks when I wasn’t even on Bipap? One of my favorites though , is $ 900.00 for a bottle of Flonase. You know…nasal spray? And how about the legitimate charges; $190.00 for a single nebulizer treatment. $500 per day for Oxygen, $200 for a single blood gas, or how about $3000 per day if you need a ventilator? I wonder if the insurance companies ever bother to scrutinize these line- by- line charges? I know they have contracted rates with the hospital and end up paying less than 10 cents on the dollar anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter to them. I’m just floored every time I receive a hospital bill.

How on earth do people with serious health problems survive without insurance?

PS…As of Oct 1st 2009, the average cost of an ICU bed in San Francisco is $19,000 per day..and that doesn’t include any extras.

Remember that little incident two weeks ago? Here’s the bill . It’s so ridiculous I just had to post it.
27 Grand for a one day hospital stay! I think that’s a record for me. (My co-pay is only $250.00 , but that’s still a marathon fee and a hotel room.)

Here’s the bill for my most recent hospitalization.
This brings the total for the year ending June 30th, to $202,402.19

I don’t think I’ll leave a tip.