Million Dollar Boy

Photo courtesy: Health Insurance is Obsolete. J. Walters.

Million Dollar Boy.

That is what the Respirologist (Pulmonologist) calls our middle boy. Middle boy has had a chronic cough since he was 2 years old. He is now 14 years old.

Some days when the cough was bad it would interrupt his sleep, his school studies, and is just no way to live.

Sometimes the cough would go away, but not for long.

When we lived in Florida the doctors could not find the cause of this cough. Depending on what our healthcare plan of the moment covered, we tried to find out what was causing this. Our son was diagnosed with “acid reflux”. We had a “bravo scope” and some other expensive test done which ruled out acid reflux. These were outpatient procedures in a hospital and our son had to be sedated. They were very expensive tests. There were many diagnoses, and many expensive tests that followed, each ruling out another diagnosis.

In February we went to see the Respirologist in Ontario for the first time. We brought a file filled with his US test results, ex-rays, and doctors notes. She reviewed these and said our son was the “million dollar boy”. She examined him and said that he had a nasal drip from an infection that had never cleared up properly. She put him on a nasal wash and nasal spray and told us to see her again in two months.

Within a couple of weeks of the nasal wash and spray, cough cleared up.

A few days ago the Respirologist's office called to remind us it was time to make an appointment. Very efficient. Went went for the follow up checkup, and everything is cleared up.

It’s a shame he suffered for so many years when his cough was so easy to treat. I wonder if medicine for profit was driving all these expensive tests, rather than finding the cause of the cough.

Cost of treatment: $15.00 for 100 saline packets for the nasal wash.

Cost to see the Respirologist: $0.

A few years ago in Florida our youngest fell off his bike and broke his arm. We were insured, but our insurance carrier paid $0 and we were charged $8,000 for a broken arm. Read our story here.