This Fish Needs A Bicycle

Oh God!

Could just be a nerve pinch. Happens sometimes. Be careful.

Hope it is a nerve pinch.

Christ on a stick! You better get that checked out, health insurance or no.

Seriously, if you do want to go to the doctor, you should have 60 days to file for COBRA (insurance that your old employer is required to offer you), and it works retroactively, so you can file for reimbursement for any doctor visits from when you left work to when it kicks in in your new job. Yes, its ridiculously expensive (mine was when I did it) but I found it was worth it for times such as these...
and if you can't do the COBRA thing, then hopefully one of the other peanuts can kick in with info on a relatively low cost walk-in clinic...
Good Luck! and here's hoping it is just a pinched nerve and that you feel loads better already...

ooh, go bluerabbit! That sounds like an excellent answer.

If it's a pinched nerve, you might want to check out an acupuncture treatment or two.

Hope you're feeling better, Fish.

Not to give advice or anything, but it sounds highly computer-related - especially since you are in a new job with, presumably, a new chair and computer arrangement. Doctors will do little other than perscribe drugs (which won't help - only mask), so what I did when I had the same is this: a couple day's rest, some aspirin and exercises designed to strengthen your back muscles - things like lying on your back and lifting your legs (ooh er). A sports injury person would give good advice about the best exercises. And frankly, I never go to doctors for that sort of thing - they're hopeless, IMO.
Yoga is also good, of course. When you get into work, trying changing your screen around, make sure your feet are elevated, etc, etc... you know the drill, I'm sure. Sorry for the long post, but it sounds so very familiar I just couldn't help myself!

Take care, fish!

Go to the hospital and get it checked. You still have time to file for COBRA, even though it's expensive (probably $300+/month) it will be much cheaper than most other bills you'd get at a doctor's. And you can cancel it later, when the new job's coverage kicks in.

If peace of mind has a price, it's probably the price of three months' worth of COBRA coverage.

Another good thing about COBRA is that, when you DO get insurance at the new job, you won't have to answer "yes" to the insurance company's question about whether you have been without coverage for more than a month. It may be different in New York, but in the western states where I have most recently lived, if you go from one insurance carrier to another with more than a month's gap, the new carrier may exclude any existing conditions, and require you to have a physical to find any you didn't know about that they might then exclude.
My husband has just had an illness and surgery for which the medical bills are over $90,000; our insurance covers anything over $4000. While the odds that something like this will happen to you in the next 3 months are very low, you never know... and if it does, the $900 or so you spend on COBRA will seem like pocket change.

I second Kimberly's nomination -- it's been my experience that once one insurance company choosed to exclude a pre-existing condition, it'll be excluded for the rest of your life.

A company I worked for long ago when I was still a droid working for wages fell on hard times, and without a word to anyone just stopped paying employees' insurance premiums. When they finally got around to closing up shop, I found myself unemployed with a stack of medical bills, and a (now ex) wife with a list of pre-existing conditions longer than this rambling comment.

The only thing that sucks more than dealing with insurance companies is dealing with health problems without insurance coverage.

Or you could get married Britney-style and get spousal benefits.

Actually, what Fish needs as well from her old company (besides her COBRA info) is a HIPAA certificate (Health Insurance Portability and (I think Administration) Act) which proves that she had insurance and her future insurance company cannot deny any claims of pre-existing conditions. That has to be mailed to her once she leaves the company.

Since I have no advice to offer better than that which has come before, I merely second (third?) the hope that it's just a pinched nerve. But even then, I also second (fourth?) the idea that you must see a doctor to be sure. I have pinched nerve issues under my shoulder blades that are from an injury almost 20 years ago and it still hurts terribly-- and since I did nothing about it at the time, there's very little that can be done now. (I know, exercise and all that works).

"Just a pinched nerve" can be awful.

And I'm also sympathetic cause right now I don't have insurance either, and have worried about just such an event.

Best wishes!

God I love the Canadian Health Care system! You don't need to deal with all those hassles.. Maybe Fish could move up here? ;)

I do hope you are feeling better my dear. I can't imagine being stuck for 6 hours on the bathroom floor. From what I understand about you however, I'm sure it was a very clean floor! ;)

I get pinched nerves sometimes. They're simply awful. No extra advice, but do hope you get better soon.

hi - could be a cervical rib.