Orthopedics, Collections, and an Ice Cream Sandwich

Today was one of those days where after being at work a mere hour, I wished that I could run straight back home to climb in bed and start over again. But since that wasn't the way I could handle my stressful morning, I stuck it out and survived. Shocking! I scrubbed a total hip...with an ortho doc who admitted (perhaps, just for my reaction) that he has an attitude problem. Well, that's a start, Sir... I was stressed out to the point where my body didn't feel right. That's just not healthy. And when I got home, the first thing that I discovered was a bill in the mail - not a bill we had to pay, but in our name, none-the-less, and weighing on my shoulders just as much as if I was going to be held responsible for the five-hundred sixty six dollars and ninety-five cents. To make matters worse, the top of the page reads "NOTICE OF DEBT AND POSSIBLE REFERRAL FOR COLLECTION". I'm thinking, what did we ever do to deserve this!? I should just tell the whole story so there isn't confusion (we're NOT being sent to a collections agency or whatever, don't you worry!).

So, a lot of months ago, while I was still a student I got stuck with an injection needle that had already been in a patient...not good, right? Yep, that's right. But the Lord is gracious, and after blood tests done both on me and the patient - I'm clean! :) That was a relief, but what isn't a relief is that the hospital keeps sending me a bill for the blood tests. A hefty bill at that, I'm prone to think. The issue here is that immediately after the stick I called the school and got everything squared away. I sent in an incident report and they assured me that the school has insurance for things like this, and that I not worry one bit. So, I didn't worry...didn't worry, that is, until I received the first bill in the mail!! I called the school right away and they assured me that sometimes it takes a little while to file through claims and that I should fax over a copy of the bill I received and that they'd take care of it. And take care of it, they didn't! Today, when I got that notice in the mail, I tried calling the guy from school I had been in contact with - he didn't answer - big surprise... I've been trying to contact him about this for a couple weeks now and he doesn't answer, nor does he return my calls, and yes, I leave voice mail! Since he didn't answer, I thought I'd better try another approach. I didn't necessarily need to talk to him, just someone from the school to try and get this resolved. I looked around online and all I could find was a number to call if I was interested in more information about any of the programs that the school offers. Nope, I didn't want that! I've already got all I could hope for from that terrific school. 'Oh!' And then I had an idea... I called the lady that had been up in Seattle to help students find internships. And, heehee, I had her personal cell phone number, so she'd most likely be available even after office hours :) She answered and was not surprised at my dilemma, said that it has happened before and that she'd work to get it all taken care of. Praise the Lord for someone who understands! Anyway, so there's the story about that...

Now that that's more squared away I am feeling much better. Nic and I had a wonderful dinner and now he's watching football, eating an ice cream sandwich, and I think I'll go join him...