[zzarratusstra]

Today I was packing and watching Xenia on Slovak-TV and fell and my ribs landed on the edge of a chair and I heard something crack. I assumed it was the chair and then I just stretched and I was sore but OK. I went out took pictures, had coffee and a Sacher Tort and took the train to Kosice.

However, while I was on the train the pain got worse and I thought maybe I cracked or broke a rib. When I got to Kosice I decided to go to a hospital first thing.

I got a kind and understand cab driver who took me to the the Louis Pasture Hospital and I was seen by a doctor who spoke English pretty well. I explained what happened in English and a little Slovak and I was examined and set to Roentgen (X-ray) then I was told I would go to sauna. I thought that sounded great. However, it was sonogram. They took two X-Rays, and I spent about 15 mins. with the sonogram doctor. When I got to this department they asked how I would pay and I said that I had a bankcard. I gave up my health insurance before I left the US:

1. Because it cost me $500 a month.

2. I was told that it would not cover me overseas.

The doctor told me that everything was fine and that I had a contusion. He wrote me a prescription for pain relief. (I'm planning on just using Tylenol but if I need something more...) I was out of there in just about 1 hour. The total bill: 8.25 euros about $12.

[Quigoxito]

Thanks for posting that. I think we need more stories about real life experiences by regular folks.

Would be interesting to hear some similar events from people in the US.

I can tell you, I had a similar thing happen to me. I walked into my garage, the lights were off and I tripped over a bucket. As I was falling, I tried not to spill my coffee (duh) and landed right on my side. The next day my ribs were in agony.

I didn't have insurance, so I got an ace bandage and prayed nothing poked a hole in my lung.

[zzarratusstra]

Thanks for posting that. I think we need more stories about real life experiences by regular folks.

Would be interesting to hear some similar events from people in the US.

I can tell you, I had a similar thing happen to me. I walked into my garage, the lights were off and I tripped over a bucket. As I was falling, I tried not to spill my coffee (duh) and landed right on my side. The next day my ribs were in agony.

I didn't have insurance, so I got an ace bandage and prayed nothing poked a hole in my lung.

Yeah, the punctured lung was the thing I was concerned about. The pain tolerable but I just needed to know if anything was broken or cracked. I didn't go the hospital just for pain.

[benderkoz]

12 bucks, huh...my x-rays cost $225 here in the US...

[jhkjurter]

I guess there's something about traveling that cracks ribs, as I broke a couple in Egypt 2 years ago.

Actually, I cracked them in Jordan, but didn't do anything about it until the next day, when I was in Egypt and woke up in terrible pain. I called the hotel front desk; about 20 minutes later, an English-speaking doctor arrived. He felt my ribs and told me that it felt as though one or two may have broken, but the location wasn't dangerous. He offered to have me taken to the hospital for x-rays, but as I already knew, it wouldn't really matter what the x-rays showed. So I declined. He then called a pharmacy and asked them to bring me a particular pain killer. (It wasn't a prescription there, but it would have been here).

Total cost: $10 for house call
$ 7 for about three days' worth of pain pill
$ 2 charge for someone to get the pills