Spiky Bugger
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 6,309
Her assistant asked what she should tell her I said. I said, “Tell her she‘s incompetent.” So maybe she’ll fire me. Let’s go with a metaphorical example.
Say you were walking funny in 2014, and an X-ray showed you had broken your left ankle. Things were mostly stable, but suddenly, in 2021, you started dragging that leg. And in 2022, there were TIMES when you could barely walk. So you go to your new doctor. Imaging is ordered. You get a letter stating, essentially that ”no action needs to be taken because no changes are revealed on the new X-ray.”
My response: Of course there is no action needed on non-existent changes. But action IS needed because the patient’s problem has not been addressed. The doctor COULD show some interest in why there are new PROBLEMS and maybe even seek a REASON for those problems. She might find that there’s a tumour in the hip! But she won’t find it if she won’t look.
AND THEN…her assistant says that the visit summary says “you were told to check with your insurance company to see what further testing might be covered.“
A few of you may have noticed that I’m not generally a delicate f’ing flower. I told the assistant that FIRST, I do not have an HMO, I do not need to ask my insurance for permission, and that it was presumptuous of the doctor to assume that I would limit my (actually my husband’s) medical care to only those services covered by insurance. And, for the record, I still have checks left so I must be able to afford whatever is needed. AARGH!
This is, of course, about MrSue’s brain. Imaging says no new bad things. But that doesn’t mean we don’t bother to figure out:
•WHY he tried to drive out of the garage with the SUV hatch door open. (Probably a couple grand in auto repair and a new garage door.).
•Instead of saying, “I’m having trouble reading the tv screen” (8-10 feet away), he’d just walk over to the television to have a better view. He cannot read prescription labels. I finally nagged him into an ophthalmologist visit. Cataract surgery is scheduled for February. But he just kept going blind until I noticed there were problems with his vision.
•We got new flooring in a bathroom and laundry room. We went to Dunn-Edwards. We studied paint chips, purchased about $50 worth of paint samples, tested areas on walls and made a decision. THEN, he decided to take a piece of flooring with him to purchase the paint but NOT TAKE a paint chip or the name of the paint we had selected. He came home with an ALTOGETHER TOO DARK paint that was not even close to what we had decided on. I asked him why he didn’t come back for the paint chip or call me for the name of the paint. He doesn’t know why.
•If he can’t “fix” whatever is wrong in one or two tries, he gives up. As in:
Him: I can’t get in to the VA website. My computer is not accepting my fingerprint.
Me: What have you done to resolve the issue?
Him: I stopped trying to sign in to anything.
•And on and on.
Say you were walking funny in 2014, and an X-ray showed you had broken your left ankle. Things were mostly stable, but suddenly, in 2021, you started dragging that leg. And in 2022, there were TIMES when you could barely walk. So you go to your new doctor. Imaging is ordered. You get a letter stating, essentially that ”no action needs to be taken because no changes are revealed on the new X-ray.”
My response: Of course there is no action needed on non-existent changes. But action IS needed because the patient’s problem has not been addressed. The doctor COULD show some interest in why there are new PROBLEMS and maybe even seek a REASON for those problems. She might find that there’s a tumour in the hip! But she won’t find it if she won’t look.
AND THEN…her assistant says that the visit summary says “you were told to check with your insurance company to see what further testing might be covered.“
A few of you may have noticed that I’m not generally a delicate f’ing flower. I told the assistant that FIRST, I do not have an HMO, I do not need to ask my insurance for permission, and that it was presumptuous of the doctor to assume that I would limit my (actually my husband’s) medical care to only those services covered by insurance. And, for the record, I still have checks left so I must be able to afford whatever is needed. AARGH!
This is, of course, about MrSue’s brain. Imaging says no new bad things. But that doesn’t mean we don’t bother to figure out:
•WHY he tried to drive out of the garage with the SUV hatch door open. (Probably a couple grand in auto repair and a new garage door.).
•Instead of saying, “I’m having trouble reading the tv screen” (8-10 feet away), he’d just walk over to the television to have a better view. He cannot read prescription labels. I finally nagged him into an ophthalmologist visit. Cataract surgery is scheduled for February. But he just kept going blind until I noticed there were problems with his vision.
•We got new flooring in a bathroom and laundry room. We went to Dunn-Edwards. We studied paint chips, purchased about $50 worth of paint samples, tested areas on walls and made a decision. THEN, he decided to take a piece of flooring with him to purchase the paint but NOT TAKE a paint chip or the name of the paint we had selected. He came home with an ALTOGETHER TOO DARK paint that was not even close to what we had decided on. I asked him why he didn’t come back for the paint chip or call me for the name of the paint. He doesn’t know why.
•If he can’t “fix” whatever is wrong in one or two tries, he gives up. As in:
Him: I can’t get in to the VA website. My computer is not accepting my fingerprint.
Me: What have you done to resolve the issue?
Him: I stopped trying to sign in to anything.
•And on and on.
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Wish it weren't so. While important to seek the appropriate diagnosis and treatment / suport for the patients, If I may, it is also important for caregivers to have support. It likely would be helpful to join a group or seek counseling. Wishing you the best.
