Upcoming hysterectomy: Financial woes

So sorry you're facing the added stress of financial challenges. I'm sure you are not the only one who is dealing with this same issue.

I'm one of the fortunate ones who has enough sick leave to cover me while I'm out of work. As for copay and insurance, I work for a hospital that is self-insured and our plan pays 100% for all services that are performed in our hospital.

The downside for me is trying to protect my privacy from nosy people at the hospital. I told admitting during pre-registration that I want to be a "confidential" patient so that my name doesn't appear on the hospital directory. It's a small community hospital and some people there don't respect boundaries.

My prayers are with you and your family during your recovery.

I had 12 weeks of paid FMLA time and up to 26 weeks of paid short-term disability if I needed it. I also had a couple of weeks of paid vacation and personal days left. I get 75% of my pay, but after taxes it ends up being around $100 less than my usual take home pay. There is also a one week mandatory waiting period before my FMLA benefits kicked in. I used a week of vacation to cover this time. I had surgery on December 10th. My DH gets a holiday bonus, so that helped a lot too. Sit down with your whole family. Set up a budget that covers the necessities and eliminates the extras. Stick to it. Try using cash only instead of debit or credit cards.

Are there things your family spends extra money on that you could temporarily cut back on? For instance, going out to dinner, a movie here and there, or other entertainment-type things could be easily put on the back burner for a couple of months. You could try calling your cable and cell phone providers to see if you can get a lower rate. Ask to speak to a supervisor if they won't budge and threaten to switch providers. Are there family members who could help out in a pinch? Do to belong to a church who could help out?

If you have a Flex Spending Account, you can use that to help pay for medical costs associated with your surgery. Once the bills start coming in, call the providers to set up a payment plan. Most are willing to negotiate to receive monthly payments, rather than nothing at all. Good luck!

ahh, this is my main concern really. i left a job in the school system to realize my dream of owning a bakery, which is actually due to open in october. This surgery is anything but convenient but I feel it is better to do it now than wait until the shop is up and running and then have to close for a time. my doc assures me that this "isn't your mother's hysterectomy," for whatever that is worth and i'm hoping for a miraculously speedy recovery because I need to be back to baking soon.

Thankfully, our insurance is fantastic so we don't have that worry, but as far as income while i'm down...well, time is money when you work for yourself, so we may have to do some magic.

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Originally Posted by chrisyub ahh, this is my main concern really. i left a job in the school system to realize my dream of owning a bakery, which is actually due to open in october. This surgery is anything but convenient but I feel it is better to do it now than wait until the shop is up and running and then have to close for a time. my doc assures me that this "isn't your mother's hysterectomy," for whatever that is worth and i'm hoping for a miraculously speedy recovery because I need to be back to baking soon...

I *had* your mother's hysterectomy. By that I mean I had an abdominal hysterectomy with a vertical incision, just like in the good ol' days. I had a pretty easy recovery. I could walk a mile in 15 minutes at two weeks and by four weeks was going for six-mile walk/hikes on hilly trails.

*However*, one thing I've noticed from other women's stories is that lift limits seem to be pretty uniform across the board, no matter what the hysterectomy type. Most women are told not to lift more than 10-15 lbs for the first 4-6 weeks. I was cleared to lift up to 30 lbs at four weeks, and that's sooner than some women who had less invasive surgery types.

Another thing I've noticed is that doctors often seem to underestimate the amount of physical work women do on their jobs. If you tell your doc you're opening a bakery, your doc is likely to imagine taking a tray with a dozen muffins out of the oven. They're *not* likely to understand the weights involved in handling commercial baking pans. So you need to quote them some weights and get their advice based on those weights.

In my case, at the time of my surgery I was working at a part-time desk job that occasionally involved handling 30-40 lb boxes in the archives area. When I told my doc about the boxes, he immediately said no boxes until six weeks. But if I'd just said, am I cleared to go back to work as normal?, he would have said yes because how was he to know about the boxes?

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Originally Posted by Mischief586 ...Are there family members who could help out in a pinch? Do to belong to a church who could help out?...

I was only out of work four weeks for surgery and that was at a time of year when I was working part-time, but the next year I was out *eight* weeks for chemo and radiation - six weeks of treatment plus two to recover from the side effects.

The credit union I was working for took up a collection among the employees, which was really sweet of them and helped a great deal. I didn't even know it was being organized until I got a note from HR that the money was being deposited into my account.

You'd be surprised at who steps up to the plate when other people know that you need a bit of help.

Hi,

I'm self-employed (large scale event planning) . Since I was able to schedule my surgery well in advance; I was also able to manage my project schedule, too. I took on a few new/big projects in the early spring prior to surgery in order to compensate for letting go of a big fall gala project.

I definitely had to engineer my work calendar to make have my finances work. Also, I'm only taking 3 weeks and then will be back doing some phone conferences, etc.

Good luck!

I was on 100% commission at the time. I worried, at first, but my buyers were happy to have me call for their wine orders. I ended up having one of my best sales months...sympathy purchases? Ha ha ha.