Help with medical expenses

Last fall we received a letter saying that because of the myriad of changes that HHS had ordered health insurance companies to make to individual policies that were purchased on the open insurance market, that our health insurance would be cancelled...and it was despite they lies presented by President Obama and Sen's Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. "If you like your insurance, you can keep it, period."

 Because last year  was a pretty good year for me, we don't qualify for subsidies...so my insurance which had costs us $132 per month rose to $137 per week. We had the choice of paying that or the rent...

The problem now is that I have four fractured ribs...for no apparent reason.  I have no surface trauma that would indicate that the underlying musculature is damaged...but I have four fractured ribs.  At first, because I work as a cabinetmaker and I"m often lifting heavy sheets of plywood, etc, I thought that I had just strained my chest muscles.

On Tuesday night, when tried to sleep (I usually sleep on my stomach or side) every time I tried to move over, I kept feeling like bones were grinding and "snaping" against each other and would wake up in huge amounts of pain.  So, when I got up in  the morning and had trouble getting dressed...I had my wife take me to the hospital...where they took a series of chest and back x-rays.

From the start, the ER physician gave me the feeling that she thought I was faking it.  When they were preparing to release me, she had said I had just pulled muscles, etc, and should just take it easy...but as we were signing the paperwork for release, she rushed back into the room and said that after having looked at the x-rays, I had four fractured ribs on the right side of my chest! This visit is going to cost us about $3,000.00...with no insurance we have to pay for it out of pocket.  That's going to be a very large problem, as only I am working.

On Wednesday, I went to my family physician, an awesome doc named Rachel Benn...who because I NEVER go to the doctor's office was shocked to see me and worked me in (despite not having an appointment). She wants me to have a number of test done (blood work $450, bone scan $1,500, MRI, etc)...I can't afford to pay for all that and keep a roof over my our head.

It wouldn't be so bad, but Cheri hasn't been able to find even part-time work, so we're dependent upon my $22 hour cabinet making job...so I'm literally reduced to holding out a tin cup to try and raise money to pay for the tests Rachel wants me to have...so please, hit the tip jar to the right.