Thanks for the answers–not as bad as I had feared! I didn’t want to call the hospital, because I’ve done that before and they always forget to add costs from other depts., etc. Thanks, too, you Canadians, for your empathy! It’s not as bad as it sounds, really–many hospitals will waive their fees for low-income people. Robin, I hope you’ve looked into this–have you spoken to the billing office–maybe they have a program?Abigail