by Vicky Monroe
When it rains, it pours! In addition to my dental issues, I’ve had two more medical problems pop up. My medical costs are definitely going to be higher this year than last year. Just a warning—possible TMI coming if you’re squeamish and don’t like discussing medical stuff.
Getting An Ultrasound
I’m not due for a physical until December, but I had to go back to the doctor early because I had a painful rash/lump on my chest. Plus, my armpit was hurting badly due to what I believed was a swollen lymph node.
If you have a touch of health anxiety like I do, you’ll understand the panic I felt when I looked up my symptoms on Google. I was so scared that I had cancer that I considered going to the emergency room (luckily my spouse talked me out of it).
My doctor believes it’s a benign cyst and I’m on a course of antibiotics to treat it, which were completely covered by insurance. However, I still have to go for an ultrasound in a month just to make sure there’s nothing else going on. My doctor thought it was a little weird that the swollen lymph node wasn’t on the same side of my body as the cyst, so she wanted to order more tests to be safe.
Possible ADHD
Another medical issue I have going on is potential ADHD. My therapist who I’ve been working with for over a year believes it’s possible I have it and wants me to get tested by a psychologist. I’m in the process of finding a psychologist who has an opening in the next couple of months (many are booked up for a year or longer) and takes my insurance, which will hopefully help reduce the cost of the testing. I’ve heard it’s expensive, so I’m not looking forward to getting that bill!
But I think undergoing testing will be worthwhile. I’ve been doing research on ADHD and the more I read, the more it seems to match up with my personality. Many people with ADHD say they have a constant hum of thoughts, and I definitely relate. During the day, I cycle between feeling like my brain is in overdrive and feeling completely spaced out. Although I was an A student and have managed to run my freelance writing business, tasks take me longer than the average person.
I was always the last one to finish tests in school and had trouble paying attention to lectures and conversations. It almost feels like my brain or ears “short out” and make it impossible to understand what the person I’m trying to listen to is saying. I register that sound is coming out of their mouth, but I can’t interpret the words, no matter how much I wish that I could understand and focus.
My therapist thinks I developed good coping mechanisms over time, which enabled me to succeed in school and launch my writing business. But he thinks I may need medication to function optimally and stop feeling like I’m always behind the eight ball.
Mortgage Update
Recently I talked about our mortgage payment increasing to $1,500 per month. However, my spouse called the insurance company and managed to secure a lower homeowner’s insurance premium. We’re going to save about $900 on our policy this year, so our mortgage payment probably won’t go up after all.
Apparently we were getting homeowner’s insurance through an insurance broker, which raised the cost. We’re not sure how this happened because we called the insurance company directly to get our policy. It’s good news that our insurance will cost us $900 less this year. But I’m upset that we’ve been paying more than we had to for the last two years unknowingly. Has something similar ever happened to you? I’m pretty confused by the whole situation!
Read More
Confession: We’ve Taken On A Little More Debt
Ashley’s February 2023 Debt Update
Finally Dealing With My Dental Issues
Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.
Sounds like you need to put some thought into the cost/benefit of some of the medical treatments, particularly if you know you’re medically anxious. What does “function optimally” mean? What are the side effects of the meds and the long term usage?
You’re grappling with a lot of uncertainty in every corner of your life, so hopefully you and your husband are having lots of frequent conversations trying to weigh all opportunities.
Usually anxiety leads me to be avoidant about going to the doctor and I have to be dragged! This was just a trigger because my grandmother died pretty young of breast cancer and I had a tumor previously that was suspected to be cancerous (luckily it was benign). So it just brought those feelings back up I think. Definitely going to do the ultrasound because it’s what my primary care doctor recommended and she is by far the best doctor I’ve had. Considering the family history it’s just non-negotiable. I also trust my therapist and he thinks getting ADHD treatment would enable me to bump up my work hours to full-time if I want to (working somewhere between full and part time now). I never took out student loans so this is the first investment I’m making in my earning potential, and to me it’s worth it. I don’t spend much if anything on luxuries, not travel, not eating out besides occasional fast food, etc. Being frugal is enabling me to start taking better care of my health. I have the full support of my spouse who is encouraging me to take care of some of these medical things I’ve put off.
Sure – definitely pursue the treatments as needed. An observation as a reader is that you and your husband have a lot of balls in the air and a lot of decision points you’ve tossed out here that will have a massive impact on your life. Relocation, jobs, kids, medical questions, etc and so forth. Doing some deep thinking on each of those, identifying a timeline to make a decision, research before taking that decision, etc are key. Money is obviously a big factor, so what kind of savings do you want/need before moving forward on each type of decision.
It’s such a good point that we need to put a timeline on our decision-making process. I will definitely take that on board and implement that as we communicate about these things – thanks for your insight. Making sure we have enough savings squared away and a handle on the costs of each decision is so important as well.
hi, I hope you get some answers with your doctors appointments. Just wanted to give you a heads up on the ADHD testing. That is generally through a Neuropysch. And insurance doesn’t cover much of it. It can run in the thousands of dollars ($3000-10,000). Although we are in an expensive part of California, so it may vary. But I would definitely check in with your insurance company before you book to learn your expected costs.
Thank you! I definitely will check before I make the appointment. I’m in Michigan which is a LCOL state so hopefully that will help.
Go to a neurologist for ADHA testing. It’s brain chemistry.
I’ll look into that, thanks!