Today I shopped for doctors.   I knew this day was coming, but I can’t wait any longer.

I smoked cigarettes from about age 23 until around 28.  Then I quit for about 7 years, only to restart them after my divorce.  When I started again I chose the “ultra light” variety…you know, because they are “ultra light”.   I smoked for another 3 years until December 12th, 2008.  That’s when I smoked my last cigarette.

That’s also when I started having some serious breathing problems.

Cooincidence or not, I was almost immediately stricken with a bout of bronchitis.  3 months later, a second one hit and this one came with one of the biggest scares I’ve ever had…waking up and not being able to breathe.

If you’ve ever had a nightmare where you’re suffocating or drowning, imagine having one of those terrible nightmares, and then when you wake up, YOU STILL CAN’T BREATE.  Not a very pleasant feeling.  It was like my lungs were waterboarding me for smoking.

I went to an emergency walk in clinic.  You know, one of those 24-hour urgent care clinics?  My mom calls them a “Doc-in-a-Box”.   I had made the mistake of going to an actual emergency room once before.   I don’t have health insurance so I am  forced to be aware of the actual costs of medical care.   The dollars I trade are dollars I earned, and my “insurance” is whatever I can pay within my a credit card limit.

This particular clinic cost me $270 to see a doctor (wait time: 3 hours).    Plus $80 for a test to check the level of oxygen in my blood (a clothespin type device placed on my index finger).  Once the doctor finally saw me, I watched as he read me a series of questions from his computer screen, and clicked on choices based on my answers.  This lead him to a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis.

He prescribed me a Z-Pack, some oral steroids (Prednizone)  and a one month supply of an inhaled steroid powder Asmanex and a referral to a pulmonary specialist because…and I quote, “you might have asthma.”

Between the visit and the cost of filling the prescriptions, I was out about $750 (not to mention the 2 weeks I couldn’t play piano, and the non-prescription meds I bought).    But I felt better.   I was breathing better.  After a while, I was able to start sleeping normally again (you’d be amazed at how hard it is to fall asleep after you’ve experienced the horror of waking up while gasping for air).

But about a month after the Asmanex prescription ran out, I started having the same exact symptoms, minus the flu-like sypmtoms:   Shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing (but nothing coming up).   The sleepless nights returned as quickly as my anxiety.

I made a few calls to pulmonary specialists.  Um.  yeah.  That’s not happening without health insurance or some sort of grant.   IF you can get an appointment, it’s $400 to see someone and the tests start at $1000…and go up from there.   But the Asmanex seemed to be doing the trick…maybe?  At $160 a month, I sure hoped it was doing something?

So I returned to the walk in clinic, slapped down my $270 for another visit.  This time I learned a trick to skirt the 3-hour wait.   When they asked why I was there, I said “shortness of breath”.   It’s just the speed pass they have at Universal Studios…straight to the front of the line!

They gave me an an Albuterol breathing treatment on the spot ($90).   I was glad to have it…immediate relief.

This time I saw a different doctor…an English bloke.   I gave him the whole history and told him about the prohibitive cost of the pulmonary specialist.   He listened to my lungs a bit with his stethoscope and said, “I’ll save you the money, you’ve got asthma!”

Yay!   Wait…what am I cheering about?  I have asthma but I’m feeling like I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance!  I was so confused at this point, I actually felt relieved.   He wrote me another script Prednezone ($30) and one for 3 months of Asmanex.

I started taking the Asmanex again, and again the symptoms eased.  If I stopped it for a few days, they would return.  So it seems like the Asmanex is doing the trick.  At least, this is a solution I can wrap my mind around (and the costs), although I’m still curious as to what this jewel-encrusted pulmonary specialist for the rich-and-famous would tell me.

So now my 3-month’s supply of Asmanex is nearing a close.   For $50 I bought a Walgreens Prescription Discount Card, which saves me about $50 each time I buy a 30-day supply of Asmanex.    So that makes the Asmanex $110 a month.   Not cheap, but I can cope.   But when you add in the $270 clinic visits to get the prescription, this is getting a but cumbersome.

Today I spent a couple hours researching websites and calling various doctor’s offices around Orlando and asked some pointed questions…the kind of questions you ask when you’re shopping for, say, new car tires.  You don’t necessarily want to buy the CHEAPEST tires…you want some good, fairly priced tires.

I finally found a doctor nearby who specializes in allergies and asthma treatment to see me for $150.  I’m hoping that at the least, he can give me 6-month (or more) prescription for Asmanex.   I don’t know what their rules are for this kind of thing.  Also, do I really have asthma?  Maybe he will be able to confirm.  They also have tests to check for allergies that range from $200-$400.   If allergens are triggering the asthma, maybe there’s a cheaper treatment plan than the Asmanex?

This is the reality of living uninsured in our health care system in the United States.  You have to shop around.  You never know what you’re getting overcharged for.  Do you need a test?  Can you afford that test?  Is the test even necessary?  You have to do your own research…looking up the drugs you’re prescribed, reading websites.

I’m relatively well-equipped to handle this.  Well educated, I have a car, a computer, and I’m still relatively healthy.  I’d hate to see what would happen to someone who didn’t have these advantages.

Fortunately I can afford it…for now.    I just wish everyone else could too.  If only it could be that simple.