Premier Care

I recently received the bill for my emergency room visit on July 7th, and it read as follows:

ER VISIT - LEVEL 5: 938.00
MORPHINE SULF UP TO 10MG INJ: 8.00
PULSE OX-MULTIPLE DETERM: 142.00
XRAY ELBOW ANT, POST & LATERAL: 183.00
IVP SINGLE OR INITIAL: 159.00

TOTAL HOSPITAL CHARGES: 1,430.00

But the very best part of the whole bill was this part:

PATIENT AMOUNT: (blank)
NO PAYMENT DUE AT THIS TIME

Thank you, Premier Care! I was afraid to even go to the ER because I knew they would charge me a fortune and I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover it, but the pain got so intense that I felt like I didn't have a choice. Fortunately it appears that my University of Michigan Premier Care plan has covered everything.

Speaking of my arm, it feels miraculously better. At my first visit with the orthopedic doctor he prescribed four weeks of physical therapy with three visits per week. At my first physical therapy session I made such promising progress that the therapist said that she thought we could wait a whole week before a follow-up visit. I really stuck to my stretching exercises all week long and at the next visit she told me that I had very nearly regained my whole range of motion and that she didn't think that I needed any more physical therapy.

My arm is virtually pain-free now but I've lost a lot of strength, so I've been doing bicep curls with soup cans like my therapist advised. But I've been able to get back to most of my normal activities, and last week I went running again because my arm no longer hurt with all that swinging around. And I finally have the strength to play barre chords on the guitar again.

Just like my broken foot, this injury upended my life a lot less than I ever imagined it would and I feel blessed that I have gotten back to normal so soon.