When Fraz and Jenz were roommates, I guess Jenz was a little put off by the fact that Fraz didn't have much actual furniture in her apartment. Fraz managed to get a couch from somewhere and needed my help moving it in. Fortunately, she had a pickup to transport it.
The three of us needed to move it from the pickup, across the driveway of the main house and down the stairs leading to the "in-law" unit where Fraz lived. Near the entrance to the stairs was a tree with thorns on it. As we were maneuvering the couch around the corner to the stairs, I felt one of the thorns pierce the left side of my nose above the nostril. It felt like it went in really deep. (Maybe an eighth of an inch, but that's still rather deep.)
We were able to get the couch in without any other problems. The three of us hung out for a bit before I went home.
The next morning, I felt some pain in my lower right abdomen when I was walking around. I didn't know what was going on. When I took a shower, I pressed down on the area. It was all "squishy, squishy, squishy." I thought, "Oh, that's not good." After walking around some more, I came to the conclusion that I had a hernia. And I didn't know what to do about it.
The pain wasn't constant. Every once in awhile, the breach in my abdominal wall would feel like it snapped back into place and I would be without pain for some time. Then, it would snap back out and I would have to apply pressure to it.
The first thing I did was go out an buy a new pair of jeans. The jeans I wore were probably a little small around the waist to begin with. This made me wonder if this contributed to the problem. Then I remembered moving the couch the day before. This may have also been a factor. However, I never felt the tear happen. Everything was fine when I went to bed the night before and I didn't feel any pain until I got up and started walking around.
After buying the jeans at the Miller's Outpost in the Fashion Valley mall, I immediately put them on and wore them out of the store. It helped relieve pressure on my waist, but I was still in pain. I recalled the images of trusses I had seen on TV and movies and decided to create a makeshift version. I went to Kmart and bought a large Ace bandage. I was able to stretch it around my waist and between my legs. This felt like it was holding everything in place, but I still had some pain here and there. I knew this was only going to be a temporary solution, but I didn't know where else to turn because I didn't have health insurance.
On top of this, I had planned a mini-vacation. Mom and Dend were going to be in Reno for a few days while he did some fire training for his job at the refinery in Artesia. In the previous year, Pacific Bell had created a rewards program in which you could earn points to go towards a number of promotions, including free airfare. They had a lot of premiums when the promotion was going on, but toward the end, the number of items you could get with your points dwindled dramatically. I just barely attained enough points for a free flight on Reno Air. I decided to use the points to go see Mom and Dend and do some gambling. I'd never been to Reno before.
The flight to Reno went very smoothly. Mom and Dend met me at the airport. Mom told me she had just won about $500 on a penny slot machine before I got there. I told her that was great, because I might need some of that money to go see a doctor while I was there. I told them about the hernia. I said that the pain was bearable, but I didn't know if I needed to go see a doctor. If it got a lot worse while I was there, it would need to be taken care of.
Fortunately, the hernia didn't feel like it was getting any worse during the visit, so I did not go see a doctor. I came back home and tried to figure out what to do next. Fraz told me that she found a low-cost clinic in San Diego and was able to set me up with an appointment. (She could be a good friend sometimes.)
The doctor who examined me told me I needed to go see a surgeon to get it patched up. She referred me to someone who she said would be able to assist a low-cost case. I called the number and set up an appointment. Dr. A was a man in his mid 50's. He felt the area and said it was a fairly large hernia. He recommended I have surgery to have a metal mesh patch inserted over the breach to hold the abdominal wall together. He said that while it wasn't a major issue now, eventually my small intestines would seep through the crack and work their way into my scrotum. The doctor's receptionist told me the procedure would cost $3000, including the doctor and outpatient facility charges. However, there may be a discount from the facility for their portion if their fees were paid upfront. I asked if they could take a credit card over the phone and she said they could.
I called my Mom up and asked her if she could pay for the outpatient facility fees. She said she could pay the facility, but I would need to pay the doctor fees myself. I agreed. Mom later decided that she and Dend would need to come out to San Diego to help me out when I needed the surgery. I went ahead and scheduled the surgery and told Mom when it was going to be taking place. They made their plans to drive to San Diego.
Tomorrow: I go under the knife.
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