Tag: Medical

Give Me A Break

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

It’s been a lovely six weeks.  It started with laryngitis, moved on to a kidney stone, and then the flu.  I hoped it was done but now I have upper respiratory crud which includes crud in my lungs.  Breathing takes a lot of effort.  The alternative – well not acceptable.  

Related imageMy frustration is I want to write!  I have recently finished two manuscripts (they are in the editing pile with two others).  I have several other stories all pushing at me.  All I want to do is write but when I’m struggling to breath and coughing so much everything hurts, I struggle to put words together. 

I’ve done the responsible thing – gone to the doctor and gotten antibiotic.  Now I’m have to give myself time to heal and rest.  I’ve got stories pushing at me – one I thought was going to be a light and easy story but it very quickly turned into a much more complex story than I expected.  I’m not sure I like it.  In fact, I considered deleting everything I’d written beyond the opening scene but I found myself hesitating. 

I’m always telling people – I write the story the characters tell me.  If that’s the case, I have to go with the story the characters are telling me.  It’s another assertion of trusting myself.  Ultimately, I have to go with what I’ve got and if I hate it when I’m done, I’ll rewrite it. 

I’m going to get better.  This upper respiratory crap will go away and I’ll feel better.  In the meanwhile I’m going to let the characters whisper in my head and see what stories wind up on the pages.  The worst that can happen?  I have to do a rewrite.  With any luck by the time I shift back to crochet mode, I’ll have finished several manuscripts and I can work on editing and publishing.

Kidney Stones

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

For the last few days I’ve been unable to talk – lovely laryngitis.  During a busy time at my day job, this is not conducive to getting work done.  Yesterday I had a hard time eating which for me is an indicator the laryngitis is going away. 

After supper last night (which was soup), I got this pain in my back and side.  I’ve had three kids and gallstones.  This was bad pain, bend over double, take my breath away painful.  Vicki and Ken were already in bed so I took myself to the ER.

After giving blood and urine, they gave me delaudid – one of the two pain meds I know I’m not allergic to.  It was mostly ineffective.  Eventually – after they paired it with a muscle relaxant – the pain eased enough.

Now they gave me the delaudid, which I’ve had before and have driven with no problems.  However, they told me I’d need a driver to go home.  My problem?  No one at my house answered their phones.  I tried, my two daughters in Georgia tried but Ken doesn’t keep his phone by him and Vicki often turns her sound off. 

Finally after many attempts to reach them, I called my sister and asked if she would be willing to drive to my house and wake someone up.  She did – thankfully.  She also took Ken to the ER so he could drive me home (I had my car). 

We got home about midnight.  I was still in pain but I put the heating pad on my back and tried to sleep.  I was up and down a few times but somewhere around two, I passed a 4 mm kidney stone.  I slept from 2 to 5:15 and then went back to sleep around 6:30 and dozed till 7:30. 

If you are given a choice – don’t pick kidney stones.  Gem stones are pretty and sparkly choose them instead. 

A Rough Week

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

It’s been a rough week.  Mom went by ambulance into the hospital on Saturday.  My oldest sister rushed to be there so she wouldn’t be anxious or upset.  I followed as soon as I could.  They weren’t sure what caused the problems but suspected a TIA (mini stroke).  After we left another of our sisters stopped in to spend time with her.

After being there Saturday to support my mom and sister, I went back on Sunday as did one of my sisters and one of my nieces.  Monday I picked her up from the hospital and took her home. 

Yesterday my daughter was supposed to take my mother to a doctor’s appointment.  When she got there, my mother was lethargic, unresponsive, dizzy, and couldn’t get to the car.  My daughter called for an ambulance. 

In the last four days, my mother has had two CT scans, two chest xrays, an MRI, and ultrasound, and lots of blood drawn.  Now they think she has a heart infection.  They wanted to send her to Madison for a test – to be taken by ambulance, put under anesthesia, and then brought back by ambulance. 

I’m not thrilled with the medical community under normal circumstances.  This makes me even less thrilled with them.  Why did they release her on Monday?  Obviously she wasn’t well.  Perhaps if they had kept her in the hospital, she wouldn’t have deteriorated or they could have caught the other issues. 

We are facing a lot right now.  I have to say, as much as kid about my family and how we don’t always see eye to eye, we’ve been on the same page.  It’s all been about the best care possible for mom without infringing on her desires for little intervention. 

Mom is 86.  She’s fighting this infection.  I don’t know where this will take us but hopefully we will continue to all be on the same page.  We all have different belief systems but we are all sending our positive energy or prayers or whatever we believe in to our mother for the best possible outcome. 

My daughters have been amazing in offering me support and care, giving me a chance to vent and talk through all the things going on.  The family has all come together to support mom in this difficult time. 

Elephants Dancing Off (off off) Broadway

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

Since before Thanksgiving I’ve been sick.  Sinus infections which persist and won’t go away have progressed into what I believe is bronchitis (no diagnosis other than for my husband and we have the same symptoms).

Ironically, my husband and middle daughter both went to urgent care on Sunday, saw different doctors, had the same symptoms.  My husband was treated with respect and due diligence, got his diagnosis and prescriptions.  My daughter was treated disparagingly, was told she needed to suck it up and just deal with her “cold”, yet her symptoms are more pronounced with breathing being a significant issue.  She was given medications but had to fight for them.  What is wrong with our medical system?

When I went to ER because my bp was too high and I couldn’t breath, the ER doc was rude, disparaging, condescending, and suggested I take a drug I’ve been allergic to for more than 25 years.  He also told me to go off my daily decongestant.  I did – it was a total fail.  On top of my symptoms I was already struggling with, I then added in more breathing problems – asthma attacks, more congestion, and more struggling with breathing.

One other thing this lovely ER doctor did, he doubled the dose of the antibiotic (one of the few I could take) which then caused me to have issues with it – similar to ones I have with other drugs in this family.  Now I’m not sure I’ll be able to take this drug again because every time I’ve taken it since then, I’ve had some pretty severe side effects.

My daughter and I both feel like we have elephants dancing our chests and want this feeling to go away but the medical community don’t seem to know how to take care of us.  It shouldn’t be that hard to listen but apparently doctors don’t know how – perhaps in all their fancy classes they should add in one about compassion, concern, and active listening.  

It’s a Racket

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

Unfortunately I’m not talking about tennis or badminton.  And yest before you read further – you should probably know this is going to end up being a rant.

My husband went to the doctor for his checkup and was told – you must get tested for Hep C.  He’s not at risk for it, has none of the symptoms.  But it seems to be the latest “NECESSARY” test we’re all supposed to fall in line to get.

The doctor said – the insurance will pay for it.  I wish he’d talk to my insurance because the blood test cost us $67.  To be fair, when I read through Mayo Clinic’s at risk people, he falls into two of the categories.  Perhaps it is worthwhile to have him tested – perhaps.

To me it sounds like yet another way to squeeze money out of the patient and into the medical insanity we call health care – for profit health care.  We’re supposed to get flu and pneumonia and shingles shots.  But not once – no every year.  This pumps chemicals into our bodies – what are these shots really made of?  Also the people who get these shots still get the flu – so what is the point?  I never get the shots and I rarely have flu issues.

We’re supposed to have all these tests – paps smear, mammogram, colonoscopy.  Yes they are important health checks – but do they really need to be so often?  We have a HUGE population over 50 if everyone over 50 is supposed to get these how much money does that make the doctors, hospitals, insurances, and so on.

What happened to a doctor actually taking the time to listen to their patient, address their questions, and showing concern and care for their patience.

I’ve been working with a rheumatologist for six months.  She asks a lot of questions, she’s run up a ton of bills for us in the way of blood tests and xrays and yet, I still don’t have a diagnosis, treatment plan, or relief from the pain I went to her with in the first place.  I’d ask her questions and get brushed off.  The attitude was – do what I say and don’t ask questions.  When I didn’t agree with her next test – which would have cost me even more money and asked for an alternative treatment – she told me no with no explanation.  When I objected, I was told I should find a different rheumatologist.  Yes, I will but it means being in pain for another six months while I wait for an appointment to get in to the new doctor.  Basically the last six months of visits, tests, and drugs has been a complete waste of time.

We need to put health care on the not for profit line.  We need to reign in the insurance companies, the profiteers of the drug companies, and stop the horrible practices currently going on in our medical community.  We need to start treating the individual.

At this stage I don’t trust any of my doctors enough to take their advice at face value.  I don’t believe in them or believe they have my best interest in mind.  I think they are showing up to fill their pockets and don’t care about my quality of life.  Until one of them proves otherwise, I’m going to be stubborn about saying no to everything until they can explain the options available, the reasons they are choosing this treatment over another, and offer me a say in my own treatment.

Scooter Update

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

When it comes to medical / health care stuff, I find myself annoyed, frustrated and distrusting.  Over the years, I’ve had doctors do stupid things which have adversely affected me.  However, I try to go into these situations with a positive attitude.

Two weeks ago, the insurance turned me down for a scooter.  I could fight it but it would take time.  My doctor said he would write me a letter so I could get a scooter if the insurance turned me down.  When I found out about the insurance, I immediately called his office.  He was on vacation.

Last Monday, I called talked to his triage nurse and gave her the information on which scooter I wanted to buy.  In order for DVR to pay for the scooter, this information has to be in there.

Starting last Wednesday, I called and left messages to see how long it would take to get a letter.  I’ve called every day since then.  I mean, really how long does it take to write a damn letter?  If he couldn’t get it done in a timely manner, I would have been happy to write it and send it to him for his damn signature.

I called this morning.  I was firm but polite.  Yesterday they said someone would call me as they put my message as a high priority.  Right.  That didn’t happen.  I spent twenty minutes on the phone, ten of which was before I even spoke to someone.  Once I got someone, they put me on hold.  Finally they came back to say my letter was ready.  I made sure my husband could pick it up.  He will hopefully get what I need and I’ll be able to move forward.

I’m relieved about finally getting the letter but to be honest, I’m nervous as hell about what the letter says and if it will satisfy what DVR needs it to say.  Ken won’t be home until this afternoon.  I’ll be working on editing until he comes home.  Once he’s home, I’ll scan the letter (if it says what it needs to) and send it off to the counselor at DVR.  I will at that point look for the three quotes she will need to approve the purchase.  I’m hoping it only takes her a couple days to approve.

The fact that it took ten days to get a simple letter is appalling to me.  It was a matter of one sentence – it is medically necessary for this patient to have this scooter.

The only blessing in all of this, I’m off work this week so my pain level is down to a reasonable level but starting on Monday I’m back at work and having to struggle with a manual wheelchair which will raise my pain level significantly again.

Five Vials of Blood

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

Five vials of blood – my rheumatology appointment got moved up to this week.  Of course she ordered blood tests and x-rays.  After seeing her, I went to have all this extra work done.  They took five vials of blood from me.  I asked the woman if she was leaving any which made her laugh.

I also got an Explanation of Benefits for the last set of blood tests (cholesterol, uric acid, sed rate) my regular doctor ordered.  Now my insurance premium went down this year – I knew it was going to be bad.  The insurance paid for $88 of labs.  I have to pay $130.  I can just imagine what the rheumatology screening is going to cost me.

I also had x-rays of my hands.  I’m sure these are going to be costly too.  The “savings” in premiums is not going to be a savings.  I had to pay a co-pay at the regular doctor and was supposed to pay one at the rheumatology doctor but their machine wasn’t working.  I’ll end up being billed for it.  Ken’s annual stuff is coming up and I’m sure we will have more expenses with his stuff.

I have good insurance through my work.  We pay through the nose for it.  Up until it was messed with last year by the Governor, it was worth the premium I was paying.  Now I’m not so sure.  All these added costs are going to be difficult.

I know I have it good with my insurance.  It could be so much worse.  However, I’ve not had a raise in at least three years and I keep losing benefits.  It’s frustrating when I’m doing everything possible to reduce costs.

Instead I’m racking up the costs because the doctors want to check for all sorts of things.  The fact is – I have arthritis which is painful.  They don’t know how or can’t treat it to make it less painful.  More money spent to tell me what I’ve known all my life.  I have arthritis and it is painful.

Rip Off

by eileentroemel, posted in Life
My daughter has no insurance.  She qualifies for none of the programs that help people with no insurance because she lives at home.  Maybe we should just kick her out?  I don’t think so.  Johnson and Johnson produces one of the medications – the very expensive medication – she takes.  They have a program which allows her to get assistance from them to get her medication.  For the last year, she has been getting this nearly $700 prescription for free because of Johnson and Johnson. 
She got a call from the doctor’s office to let her know Johnson and Johnson had sent them a form for the doctor to sign for her to continue to take this very expensive drug.  This is great news as we were just talking about seeing what we had to do to continue with their program.  However, the bad news (and you had to know there was some) came when the nurse told Vicki the doctor wouldn’t sign the form unless she came in for a visit. 
Now Vicki has no job, no insurance, no income.  If she goes to the doctor, I have to pay for it.  She was unhappy about a completely unnecessary visit to the doctors’ office as it cost $108.78 for a miniscule visit.  Literally they wanted us to pay that much money to get the doctor’s signature. 
Obviously we had to because we sure cannot afford the roughly $700 a month and this drug works wonderfully for her.  I feel we were robbed.  We had no choice but to pay the doctor for his signature.  Now I know the medical profession will say – we were paying for his expertise and he was being responsible about making sure she truly needs this drug. 
I say it is a maintenance drug and there was no need to review whether it was needed.  Nothing in her health has changed and all they did was rip us off.  Our health care field is broken and we need to fix it.  Maybe the politicians should be looking at that instead of being ridiculous about fiscal cliffs and other idiocy.

Estimate

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

While I’m stuck at home, I’m trying to stay on top of things.  I spent my morning calling about a medical bill.  Vicki went to the doctor and paid cash for her visit. Then I get a bill for her visit.  I’m floored as we paid for it in full when she went to the doctor.  I call and am told that what she paid was just an estimate.

This customer service person was rude and unhelpful.  I was told that what she paid at the time of service was just an estimate.  I responded with if I go to a mechanic to have work done, he can’t change his charges once I’ve left his facility. 

I also pointed out that this bill was higher than the one for her last appointment and nothing was done different.  She saw the doctor and nothing else – no tests were done but the bill was higher.  I asked about that and got told they had a rate increase in July.  I said when they gave the estimate it should have reflected the new prices.

The question becomes do I want to cause a problem with a credit rating over a $12 bill with an unethical medical billing procedure.  In all likelihood I will try to call one more time but won’t have a lot of success with the call.         

I know it isn’t a big bill but why should I pay a higher amount when nothing was done differently.  Additionally, I don’t know any business other than a medical facility that can change their prices randomly. 

In addition to Vicki’s bill, I have a bill for two office visits for me.  One I went to was strictly because the doctor’s office told me that if I wanted my allergy meds I had to come in to see the doctor because the insurance company required it.  Essentially I was required to go to the doctor and spend $150 in order get my prescriptions.  This is ridiculous especially since I’ve been taking allergy meds my entire adult life.  This means I have a bill simply because the doctor’s office seemed to want the money because nothing was done other than for the doctor to go on the computer and renew my prescriptions.  It took less than ten minutes for him to sit on the computer and quite frankly his time and mine could have been spent better.    

It is ridiculous how the medical business pulls in patients.  I was held over a barrel because I need my allergy meds.  It was a waste of money for the insurance company to pay and now for me to pay this additional amount.  It is a racket meant to soak the individuals for money.

Shots …

by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized
Today I got shots in my knees.  This is goo that goes in to help cushion the joint in an effort to replace the fluid that the arthritis has gotten rid of.  This is a three week treatment to help reduce the amount of pain I’m in.
It was painful getting the needle shoved into my knee but I am looking forward to the end result.  It will mean that I will be in less pain every day after the shots start.  Now if they would only come up with something for my ankle that has bone on bone.
Every Friday through the rest of April, I’ll be in the doctor’s office getting these shots.  I’m looking forward to May.  It will mean that I’ll be able to sleep better because my knees won’t be locking up and I’ll be able to manage life better.