The following story was submitted by a reader:

In June, I was rushed to the emergency room with bilateral abdominal pain. I spent twenty-two hours in the ER and there was told I had a malignant mass, gastroenteritis, Crohn’s disease, an ovarian torsion, or most unlikely, appendicitis. Following two inconclusive CAT scans and a sonogram, I was admitted to the hospital without an official diagnosis. My general practitioner had given up her hospital privileges unbeknownst to me, and as a result, I was admitted with no private physician and placed under the care of a surgical team. A week later, after my mother insisted that I have an MRI, I was finally diagnosed with perforated appendicitis (the perforation having most likely occurred in the ER), mesenteric lymphadenitis, diverticulitis, colitis, ileitis, and peritonitis. The complications only worsened after the surgical team changed the antibiotics prescribed by the infectious disease doctor, and I went septic. At that point, I was NPO and not allowed anything by mouth for twelve days. Another mistake was made when my healthcare team failed to start me on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) after ten days, and organ failure became imminent. It took a total of three weeks in the hospital for me to be stable enough to return home with a PICC line and visiting nurse for IV antibiotic therapy.

Although my illness was the first battle, troubles with my insurance company did nothing to help the situation. I was sent a statement of liability for $85,000 in August after the participating hospital failed to perform the necessary precertification. In September, I was notified that my coverage had been dropped effective September 1 due to loss of full-time student status, even though I was granted a medical deferral. The person in charge of terminating my coverage, who was well aware of my medical condition, had actually called requesting transcripts September 2—something that had never been done before. Weeks away from surgery at another hospital, my initial reaction was to feel disgusted with the system and give up, but blessed with an amazing and supportive family, I was able to continue battling the insurance company. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the Morse Family, my insurance is now forced to maintain my coverage under Michelle’s Law.

If five months of pain, insurance company battles, and medical mistakes have taught me anything, it’s to appreciate life, my family, health, and properly practiced medicine that much more.

This ordeal serves a better than perfect example of the current state of healthcare in America. From the initial ER visit it’s chaos, misinformation and a lack of cohesion among trained professionals. To read about a three week hospital stay is one thing, but to live it— moment by moment, minute by minute without knowing what was going on or outcome to expect is entirely different. That’s terrifying. Then enter health insurers and their seemingly sworn oath to drop any individual who is going to be a inadequate business investment and it becomes a full blown nightmare. When reading this story take at  least two things away:

1) There is a problem here, and just adding another option or increasing regulation or de-regulation or whatever the newest idea being thrown around Congress calls for, isn’t going to provide lasting change.

2) Despite all the barriers the system has put in place, advocating for yourself or a family member or a friend  still works.

Please share your stories here.

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