Three Thousand Dollars
It is often the case that when my car is making a funny sound I will take it to the mechanic and the noise will disappear when I get there. The neighbors heard the sound and said, “You should get that checked.” Now I am standing with the dealership service advisor. In my experience his job seems to be to never let me leave with a repair bill under $3000. Even when I go in for $100 oil change I leave with a $3000 repair bill. They always find critical fixes that must be done…today. Bring in a car making unheard noises, and he will call later and say, “My guy didn’t find the source of the noise but found critical fixes. They need to be done. Total bill is $3000.” Of course.
I’m sorry, I got off on a tangent there. I was talking about car noises going away in front of mechanics. The same can be true with symptoms when you go see a doctor. That painful rash from yesterday is gone today at the dermatologist. The itchy and red eye is not there now that you are at the ophthalmologist, but it sure was driving you crazy earlier in the week. Of course you get home after seeing the doctor and the pain and itching are worse than before you went to the doctor.
As most of you know, this can happen at the neurologist office – and not the rash or eye thing, but in my case, it’s a freaking loss of balance in the real world! Not when I go in for the pro but now when I go in for programming my DBS. At home I fall two or three times back into my chair before I can stand up. At the Neurology office, I stand perfectly the first time, I walk down the hallway, I turn around and return. Then I stand on one foot at a time with my eyes closed for the required amount of time.
Seeing I have no issues of balance evident they just make a few minor adjustments and send me home thinking I’m doing great. My balance is worse at home, though. I try everything I did at the office (stand, walk, spin and stand on one foot), and I almost fall three times. Now I have to return quickly for fear I will fall for real, but there’s not enough time to get an insurance authorization. So I asked the scheduler how much it will cost me out-of-pocket, hoping he doesn’t say $3000.
