How much did your expenses increase after your immigrant arrived?

[Iyawo Ijebu 157]

They did, and I think I have decided to sue if we can do it in small claims court. Some of the hospitals in the Philippines actually hold you at gunpoint until you prove that you have paid the bill. There is a guard with a shotgun posted at the exit. When my wife told me that I ridiculed her. But she was right.

Of course that is what they say. But that isn't what they did. We are not stupid. There has not been a baby abduction from a hospital in this state ever. There have been 128 of them since 1983 out of the 124,000,000 babies born since then nationwide - literally one in a million. None have been abducted with both parents and the baby in the room at the same time. The risk was zero for us. This is what they do: paternalistic fear-mongering. The risk of baby death from malpractice though is on the other hand a risk worth worrying about.

Blame the victim: it's our fault. One of the things they did was trick us about how long it would be before the pediatrician came around. They had the same attitude towards us that you do right now: lesser than you. Paternalistic. It certainly can't be that they are doing something wrong. I have a wife there who does not like conflict. I would have been happy to throttle some people but she gets incredible migraines from stress.

Well we disagree. I told the truth. This wasn't even close to the nightmare we had when I shattered my leg in six places. Getting the nurses to show us the medication schedule was like world war three. Every single nurse fought us and we kept insisting it was our right to know. I got the floor supervisor who immediatly agreed we had the right to know, but then refused to write it up on the board where I could see it, using the same excuses as the nurses - it is already there on their computer where they could see it; just because it was the medication time did not mean that I would feel like taking it; I could buzz them if there was a problem, etc. I wanted to look stuff up on the internet, and boy they didn't like a patient with the power of getting his own information. When I FINALLY got one of them to write the name of the medication on the board, she spelled it wrong and left before she finished writing the schedule out.

One of them told me I needed to eat a lot of protein, and I immediately looked that up to find it is calcium you need and not protein - so she sent the word to other nurses about me being a "problem patient". That was the one who had erased the board and made fun of me as I was protesting. We know about her sending the word out because we have a friend that works as a nurse there and she told us after we left. This is the only hospital for 360 miles. They have a huge portion of medicaid/IHS patients who don't ask questions and don't have to pay for anything. Free airfare, food, taxi - so we were unusual for asking questions and looking up information ourselves.

This hospital not only inspects your baby seat before you leave - they follow you out to your car to make sure you install it in the car. We listened to them telling us that the seat we were required to use by law the year before (to save the baby's life) was now a threat to the baby's life: our baby could be killed if we used it. This is how stupid they think you are: we told you the same thing about this exact seat last year, how it was saving the life of our baby and now be a good little ####### and accept us telling you it will kill him now.

When we have a choice of leaving for better care we do. My local leg doctor knew nothing about ultrasound bone stimulators, and has no ability to look at CAT scan disks at his office. He is 30 years behind the field. This is the last frontier, and that's what you get. So I left for a surgeon in the lower '48 and because of that I did not need a third operation on my leg. When the accident happened I had no choice but to do it here because it was an emergency. But that required travel, and insurance doesn't pay for it.

This forum is about "Life in America", so did this accostation happen here or in the Phillipines? You know the episode where the hospital held you hostage until you saw a Pedicatrics the next day?

Additionally, I wasn't there so I cannot blame you and I never did on this thread, I only offered an alternative point of view while acknowledging that you might have faced the alleged challenges that you referenced. I can sense why you have had problems though as I sense that you have a "they are all against me" mode of operation.

In Texas, in 4 years, there were exactly 4 attempted abductions in the system that I worked for and one of them was successful in reaching the parking lot before being apprehended by armed Police Officer (yes they take the safety of the patients and staff very seriously so they have their own hospital police department). (These are my own hard data not some nonsensical data grab from the web) I think those parents will have a different viewpoint from you.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Iyawo Ijebu

[Holly2234 66]

For sure, this is a huge social issue here in the states.

Yeah its definitely an issue. But i have to say, im on the fence about a government health program (Such as the NHS that we have here). I know that in the US, you generally get what you pay for. And while on an NHS waiting list, we went through absolute misery for a whole year and nobody would help. We basically got "If youre not stabbed, shot or bleeding, we wont help". That night when they said that, i would have paid any sum they asked for just to get seen and help! Taxes are paid into the system, but we felt that we got pushed aside. So i really dont know if something like that would be best for the US, it could well end up putting people in positions like that. The insurance systems could do with some looking into from what i have noticed though!

[chikings 27]

I've wondered about this to. My fiancee will probably get here right at the season change of summer to early fall. So I will be looking for deals this summer for coats and heavier clothing for him. I am about to lease a car this summer, mainly because we probably will relocate with in the two years and my job and house are so close barely any millage, plus we still have "old Besty" as a back up. I found a great lease for under 180.00 . I think the most expensive thing will be food. My Kingsley always stresses fresh foods. So in the fall and winter months the Community summer markets close up in the Metro-Detroit area and we will have to pay higher in the suburbs. I'm looking forward to it all, even though it's just me for a while holding it down. There will be so much more he will contribute that me and my son will really appreciate in the home that has no price. Just like others I can't wait for that second income to save and build a future back home in Nigeria or somewhere warm here, and just to take a break from it all. I just want this time to pass quickly so he can be here. I'm ready for the sacrifice.

Peace,

Chi

[Psoas10 17]

I saved money when my wife came here. She cooked food for us, and it is cheaper than eating out. Also stop going out to bars with friends, and spending money on little stuff when out of the house so much.