ketostix/dehydration

[MommyO]

This is my first post, I'm new to this board but unfortunately, not to HG. I had HG with my first pregnancy (DD is 3) and I'm experiencing it this time as well. Last time I had excellent insurance coverage, this time none. So not only am I worrying about being sick, I'm worried about being so sick that I have to go to the ER. Last time, I would have gone by now. I am keeping next to nothing down, maybe a few sips of liquid and a few bites of solid food a day. I'm trying to keep up with my caloric intake and as best I can tell, it's around 200cals a day at best. I called my Doctor's office and they cannot see me until my scheduled appointment time on thursday. I can't go to any other OB's because they'll want to charge me the full fee ($400-1800) that they charge ppl for a first time OB visit. So I bought some ketostix last week and all week my ketone level stayed at the "trace" level. I knew better than check it this morning because I had a bad weekend but I did and now it's at the "large" level or 160mg/dl vs 5mg/dl where it was last week. Now I'm really scared and I don't know what to do. Should I just go to the ER and wait to be seen and end up with that huge bill? or is this something that will be ok until Thursday. I hope somebody knows what I'm talking about. Sorry to ramble.

[mammaclare]

Might you qualify for pregnancy Medicaid? The income guidelines are much more generous than regular aid.

Not that it helps today...I would still go--you and your baby are worth way more than a silly bill--all that can be addressed later when you aren't sick any more. Just let the nurses know that you have no insurance so that they only give you the basics of what you need and nothing more--otherwise you may get charged for things you didn't really need.

[aaronsmommy]

Don't know if you went or not, but another thought would be to find an "urgent care" where they can do IV hydration there in the office. You would probably want to call first to see if they are set up to give an IV if you need it so that you don't need to go to the hospital too. I know of a bunch in my area that do that, and the bill would be much less for basically the same thing (and the wait may be shorter too!)

[Ivydragon]

MommyO,

PG and facing HG is a great time to swallow your pride and apply for Medicaid. I was a newly wed when pg w/ our first and suddenly very sick w/ no insurance coverage. We applied and qualified, and the best part was that it kicked in to cover the whole pg, although we applied after I was pg, and AFTER I'd already been seen in the hospital for an IV. My dh had been layed off a great job w/ benefits and had a job w/ no benefits when our daughter was conceived. We qualified then, too. Two HG pgs, and I never saw a bill, and received the care and medical attention I needed.

HG can get really bad really fast. You really need to take care of the dehydration. Have you read the sticky on B6/Unisom/Zofran? B6/Unisom or Meclizine are available over the counter, and would buy you some time. If they want to prescribe Zofran, and you don't have coverage yet, ask for Phenergan or Reglan (providing you haven't had previous adverse reactions to these meds). They are much less expensive and can be effective in some HGers.

Huge hugs and update us to let us know how you are!

Andy