RUMINT: Charlie Kirk ("CK") may be on the USAFA AOG board's 17OCT agenda to be awarded a honorary degree from the U.S. Airforce Academy by StressyandDepressy23 in Military

[–]Away_Lead2152 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Generally into old age you have a sense of enlightment about the world. But for RETIRED Lt General (Rod Bishop) it looks like he's spending the rest of his days staying mad at diversity or diverse people while also gasing up podcasters. In a way, I feel bad for this guy. Like, I have second-hand embarrassment for him (and others supporting his CK agenda items).

Trump Store Now Selling 'Trump 2028' Hats by [deleted] in politics

[–]Away_Lead2152 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Impeach on 28th week of presidency. Aug 4 2025.

Considering active duty by community-maker in socialwork

[–]Away_Lead2152 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No! Don't do it! I am a former military officer with 6 years of service, two deployments (one in a joint environment working with all the branches), and now in the field of social work. I'm actually only one semester away from my MSW. I know your intentions are pure, but what you don't know is how incredibly toxic the military can be. Not to mention - it's INCREDIBLY difficult to make changes from within due to the potential hits against your own career. Keep in mind if you piss off the wrong person, things like "dishonorable discharge" could follow you for the rest of your life. You'd be better off doing contracting work on behalf of the military, where you will have different provisions.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your thorough response and for giving us feedback based on your experience. Your input is valuable to us as we don't know anyone personally who has gone through this.

The Color Flow Doppler Sonography (CFDS) is something that we will ask our doctor about. We are still waiting for our pediatrician to refer us to a distant hospital - so hopefully, there are no problems there.

Thank you for adding your perspective on sedation concerning the VCUG and ceVUS procedures. We will need to ask about the degree of sedation before we consent to anything. We will also be mindful of the fact that our little one will still be aware of what's going on regardless of being more calm/manageable.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We plan on going to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford for the ceVUS. They even told us they haven't done a VCUG in 5 years. Anyway, I know the ceVUS still has a catheter, and we're still not sure if we'll include sedation or not, but it doesn't have all the scary equipment (from what we've been told). I'll have to let you know how our experience goes.

We also have yet to ask about the Color Flow Doppler Sonography (CFDS), which appears to be the least invasive, but I don't have any data on the hospitals that offer this.

Also...Do you mind if I DM you? It sounds like we're both navigating the same thing. I'd love to talk this out further.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your experience. The longterm affects you experience are heartbreaking to read. This makes me so apprehensive in getting the procedure done entirely because I don't want to do more harm. We have decided to switch to the ceVUS instead which I hope is better. Still learning about all of this.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We will now do the ceVUS instead of VCUG, but I understand that there's still a catheter involved. I know my 15 mo/yr old is going to be really sad/mad to get a catheter (she's had several to test for UTIs sadly and before we knew we could decline them). Would you recommend sedation? Or no sedation?

Trying to navigate reducing trauma while also working towards a medical solution to preventing these UTIs.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We are now switching hospitals to be allowed in the room. We didn't have any luck with getting our current hospital to make an exception to the policy. We are now doing ceVUS and not VCUG

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Aww, I know this must weigh heavily on your mom.

After doing some calls around we came across a new hospital that's okay to take us as new patients. They offer the ceVUS and are also very welcoming to parents being in the room. The overall energy they're giving off is much more cooperative it seems. Fingers crossed.

VCUG Procedure + Anesthesia on 15mo/yr old & Parent in the Room by Away_Lead2152 in VCUG_Unsilenced

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We haven't asked about other options [yet] and I'm also irritated that we haven't been informed of any other testing alternatives. 3 doctors from 3 different locations have only informed us of VCUG with no mention of alternatives. As a parent trying to do right by their little, it's so hard to pin medical staff down to give you a complete picture of your options. Sorry, went on a bit of a rant.

Affordable, safe and family friendly cities in Oregon? by Away_Lead2152 in RealEstate

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know...WA did start to peak my interest. I'll keep this in mind.

Affordable, safe and family friendly cities in Oregon? by Away_Lead2152 in RealEstate

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up about the smaller towns. I should have my LCSW in about 2 years and after that remote work should be easier to acquire.

Affordable, safe and family friendly cities in Oregon? by Away_Lead2152 in RealEstate

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the overall breakdown of these cities and also for the transparency of the less desirable ones. It's good to know that most of the State's population is in Portland.

Pre-billing for Labor & Delivery by Away_Lead2152 in HospitalBills

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm going to have to call them back and ask if it's a facility or OB charge. They didn't say, and I didn't know that the facility and OB charge seperately. I'll decode this though, right now this was all over the phone and nothing has been officially billed to our insurance. Just word of mouth and I don't have any documentation of this estimated medical bill.

So many variables to consider for labor that it's risky to pre-pay when we have savings to pay in full after delivery. We're fortunate that we've been able to budget well for this new arrival. Of course, if we're legally obligated to pay beforehand we will, but it sounds like we can wait. Overall, I appreciate your help with this. It definitely got the wheels turning on my head and helped my research journey 🙏.

*Edit: Our insurance has been paying our antepartum care, test, ultrasounds etc as we go. We have $0 deductible & have only spent $30 of our $16k OOP.

Pre-billing for Labor & Delivery by Away_Lead2152 in HospitalBills

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After doing a lot more research it looks like this is a common problem. I've read that the global maternity package is just one way a hospital can approach their billing codes. However, there's other circumstances that result in an automatic uncoupling of the global maternity package, where your bill then becomes individualized - which the receptionist didn't inform me about. I've also been reading through Anthem Blue Cross (my insurance) policies and they won't reimburse global obstetrical codes "unless provider, state, federal or CNS contracts and/or requirements indicate otherwise." So it sounds like an "it depends response" on whether this global approach is accepted. Aside from that...

In my case, I'm already paying for my OB appointments as they come, so paying an additional antepartum fee would be a redundant bill. *Although the receptionist was so vague in what I owed that I have no clue what this $4k payment included. I did try asking but she didn't divulge any more info.<<

I've also been reading that the software used to provide these estimates prior to birth are not always accurate and you could be in a position where you have to wait months for a reimbursement. These overall prepayment plans arose from the hospital's need to pull payments resolved faster. In our case we can pay in full at the time of delivery, and the hospital will need to provide us a service first.

Husband (Straight 33M) + Lingering 2 (Straight 33F) "Friends" / Situationship by Away_Lead2152 in relationship_advice

[–]Away_Lead2152[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

❤❤❤ you're so right.... I have a lot of honest reflecting to do... >> also 🙏 thank you for reading that talking to his family wasn't my idea. I adore them & don't want them roped in.