Guaranteed Healthcare

In 2002, a driver making a left turn drove his truck into our truck. I received poor ER treatment, followed by poor care from my PCP, and ended up, 11 days later, in another ER with a partial bowel obstruction. My surgeon, who had saved my life 6 years earlier (I am still paying $24,000 in hospital bills), felt a hernia repair was necessary. I had surgery in April 2002, but was extremely unwell afterwards, and it became clear I was full of infection,

In September 2002, most of the hernia repair mesh was removed, and I spent 6 days on IV antibiotic for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, after 10 weeks on various combinations of oral antibiotics. A year later, fistulas (openings to the outside from abscesses within) opened on my abdomen. I had no health insurance, and have tried many alternative therapies, but 4 years later, I still have 2 draining fistulas.

My husband is now an RN, works for a hospital, and we have health insurance ... kinda. We now pay $2,000 a year for the privilege of having "health insurance" with a huge deductible and a maximum charge of $8,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. I am scheduled to see a surgeon in March, but the costs of treatment will add to the debt we incurred for my husband's schooling and living expenses. I am unemployed because I am not well enough to work. I should add that I am 54 years old and my husband is 56 years old.