Chronicle of the Underinsured

I have lamented this before, but until my new job starts I am among the millions of under-insured Americans. When I lost my job the whole $275+ a month to keep my insurance under COBRA seemed so insane and I'd had almost a full year of great health, so I went another route. I knew Government Agency job was lining up, so I decided on a mid-grade deductible on a short term policy, not cheap, but affordable. Now, that $250 a month seems like such a good idea. Doctor visits covered and prescription plan, that just seems like bliss to me!

In the last 2 1/2 weeks I have had to go to the Doctor twice and both times resulted in prescriptions, because I am a lucky, lucky adult who gets ear infections. I have never had a sinus infection, UTI...heck most of the normal adult health gripes I have avoided, yet I get an ailment that little kids get. Seriously, I'm almost 30 and I get ear infections? Urgh!

Two weeks ago I went to the Doctor and once she confirmed the oh so fun diagnosis of infected ears, we went to the next phase: prescriptions! Thanks to overuse of Amoxicillin in my youth, it now does nothing for me. This fact I have told my Doc almost every time antibiotics come up for discussion. What is the most common treatment for ear infections? Amoxicillin. So this time I reminder her, "Do you remember my bronchitis that turned into an ear infection and how useless Amoxicillin was?" She did and so she prescribed Augmentin, whose primary ingredient I come to find out is....Amoxicillin. Now I like my Doc, she is normally so good and cautious with antibiotics (which I totally appreciate) so I figure she prescribed it for a reason, yet I knew within 3 days of finishing the course of drugs that something was still not right.

Cut to today. I'm stuck at this useless mandatory training so I can keep my unemployment, I'm in pain and when I call the Doc's office I find out she is out. "Never fear" I'm told, her partner can see me. Now, Doc 2 is qualified, but he is very difficult to understand. His accent is very thick and he is much slower in the exam than my Doc. There was also the fun moment when he jabbed the lovely ear looking devise so far in my ear I shouted out from pain and pulled back. He attributed this to my ear infection, I attributed it with his trying to pierce my eardrum on the stupid ear looker! Not cool!

Now I have the very expensive, but very effective antibiotics, that cost twice as much as the last one (thank you no prescription coverage!) and now for the first time ever, Ear Drops! I fly home to WI for a quick visit this weekend and I knew if I didn't fix this ear thing I would be a screaming mess on the plane....and there is also that whole ear infections can lead to hearing loss thing. I shall happily take my antibiotics and put drops (ewwww....the worst feeling ever) in my ears all in an effort to fix the issue. Now comes the effort to stay healthy until job starts, insurance gets upgraded and I can confidently get meds and care without feeling worse with fear about the bill! Fun, fun!!