I have to tell you that I got help, and I believe it can be found because I did it. My hospital which is a teaching institute, waved many of the fees through the hospital patient advocasy program. Many hospitals that service the public with a certain amount of indigent folks have to take them. Nobody knows about this until they investigate this with their own local hospitals. I had to search for it, it wasn't advertised...... ginnie

Thank you Ginnie, I think I have found the hospital in my area the university of Tennessee hospital. Its connected to the university and they waive or half price a lot of the fees. Now if I could just get past the test part. Does not sound fun at all. looking it up online says they numb your throat then have you eat something then put in a small tube in your throat, ok, does anyone else hear MASSIVE CHOKING or is it just me?!?!?

KittyLady,

Don't worry.
I've had it done that way and it was very much OK. Just keep swallowing if you start to gag and the tube will go down more easily (even if you tend to have swallowing/choking issues).
I've also had it done under a light general, which was way better...but you don't get to see the cool images on the screen with that method. It was the best sleep I've had in months though .

Hope that all goes well and easily for you.
In my thoughts and prayers .

With love, Erika

Ginnie and all-

I agree with you- if a facility or doctor is treating you AND is willing to reduce or eliminate fees, then that is definately the way to go. I was simply trying to point out that: the obligation to treat you and the fee issue and both things to get agreed upon. It is a scary thing when they say "Yes, we will treat you"... and then you get a whopping bill for that treatment after the fact because they did not agree to provide charitable care via waiving/reducing the cost of the treatment. Some places group it together, but some do not. Just rrying to let you know so you are not caught unaware.

Kitty- Vey happy you have found a way to get the test you need!!! Hope it goes well for you

I had a lookie down the throat with that nose tube. It wasn't bad at all. They numb your nose and throat with some kind of spray. After that I had an endoscopy, again not bad as they put you in a twilight kind of sleep. neither one gave me any trouble. The first swallow test however where you drink some awful stuff and then take pictures, now that was icky. I didn't hold it down and gagged. Rather have the tube in my nose than that!!!! Hope it all works out. Try not to worry. ginnie

Kitty Lady: I also have a lot of swallowing troubles. I went for my upper/lower GI tests...colonscopy and endoscopy. I had explained to the dr that I had difficulty swallowing most likely caused by my MS. While doing the endoscopy he took some kind of tool (sorry for the non technical lingo lol) and he stretched my esophagus ..... it is a lot better now. think of one of those shoe-stretchers....it worked. I have less trouble swallowing and less spasms in my esophagus. I don't know if it lasts, I doubt it but it has definitely helped. I wish I could remember the name for that particular procedure but a gastro doctor should know it off the top of his head.

I have felt exactly as you feel in your post .... my worst relapse which did leave some damage, I couldn't think, I couldn't explain things to anyone and everyone had a freakin opinion. and I didn't have ins for 4 years. I feel your pain. So sorry you are going thru this.

Take care of yourself and know you are not alone ....
janet

Sounds like some folks were OK with the tube test. I would not consider it for myself without general anesthetic.
I am just completely out of steam myself. Life has become just a coda to what it once was, even though it always was a struggle. Just hoping for reunion with my husband in Heaven, that's my hope.

My husband had one of those esophogeal dilitations and it worked fine. He had conscious sedation and wasn't aware of anything. That's what conscious sedation is, you are out and it'sa n amnesiac, meaning you don't remember anything. I was going to tell you the name of it but it slipped my mind! I wanted to be a nurse in the lab that did all that.