OK, so today despite it being a holiday I called the Wound Center and convinced them to accept the necessary documentation faxed from me and not from the clinic (before they had only wanted to accept it from the doctor's fax number). I'm glad that I requested a copy of all the paperwork! The appointment is first thing Friday morning.

Here's some facts about public health care in Washington state. Most institutions require that you earn no more than twice the federal poverty line for your household. For a single adult, the poverty line's about $9k a year, or doubled is $18,000/year. I make a little more than that - last year I brought in $21K. I do not have full time permanent employment (I am working as a temp contractor) and don't have medical insurance, but don't qualify for any sort of state benefits. I could rant on about how I would be raking in the bennies if I was a single mom or an illegal alien, but I'll leave that for some other time. yes, the emergeny rooms would have to offer me treatment, but I would be billed and becaue I'm over that magic 200% of federal poverty guidelines, I would have to pay for it in full - and that's more expensive than seeing a specialist. The $2100 tab for the ER visit after the accident proves that.

I do go to school, but there's no relief becuse I'm going to a very small and brand new branch of a private art school that does not offer things like a wellness center or insurance.

It was difficult to find anyone who'd even see me without medical insurance. The treatment I've had is the best I could expect from a low-cost clinic and a general practitioner, except that I think the doctor could have been a little more aggressive in treating the infection, which the lab results defined as "staph, but not a resistant form, and some other bacteria as well." The area surrounding the wound responds to the antibiotics but was never 100% cleared of infection, so it would return quickly once the run ended.

Richard is fairly stable; he was two thirds the size he is now within a week of it opening and has grown very slowly and shows minimal erosion into the underlying tissue. This was, by the way, the point of contact where the bumper of the car hit my calf in my accident at the end of August; the ulcer opened nearly a month later.

By quirk of Washington State law, if you are a cyclist or a pedestrian involved in an accident with an automobile, the insurance company must extend personal injury protection coverage to you regardless of fault. I don't want to get into the fault and liability issues of the accident (suffice it to say that it's murky enough that I may yet decide to get a lawyer) but it doesn't matter - the driver has $10k PIP coverage and I get to use it. But rest assured, ladies, even without it I would have been seeking medical care regardless of cost after the new year. Richard isn't exactly a great roommate, you know?