My DH’s Journey

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

From what people online are saying, this year the flu is particularly unpleasant. Are you guys wearing respirator masks when you go out? It does cut down on catching contagious diseases.

Yes. DH hasn't been around people other than in the hospital or doc's office, so ...

Doesn't seem to rain, does it. Just pours!

Hope you had a good night and WON, WON, WON!

YUP!
I won one game and the pot was $40, unfortunately 2 other folks yelled BINGO! at the same time that I did, so we split that Well, that paid for my evening of fun any ways.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Okay, wait a minute, let’s back this bus up!
NOW, DH has a toothache!

He woke up on Friday morning complaining that his tooth hurt.

"Alright, which one, describe to me what kind of pain" (I was a Board-Certified DA for many years when I was a young adult, that’s what I went to school for).
Without delay, I called to our Dentist to get him seen as soon as possible, what with the weekend coming on.

When I looked up our dental insurance claims, it seems that that tooth had been worked on a little more than a year ago –

He’s going to have to tough this out until next Tuesday

So, I gave him some more ibuprofen and broke out one of my “airline sized” Fireball Whiskey I had stashed away for one of Neighborhood Gal Pals who drinks the stuff.

“Here, this is an old wives tell to help with a toothache. Rinse the area with the Whiskey.”
WHAT?! It worked, for now.

I went up to the pharmacy, again, and got some Oragel to also help … so far so good, we made it through the day.

 

[taxlady]

Okay, wait a minute, let’s back this bus up!
NOW, DH has a toothache!

He woke up on Friday morning complaining that his tooth hurt.

"Alright, which one, describe to me what kind of pain" (I was a Board-Certified DA for many years when I was a young adult, that’s what I went to school for).
Without delay, I called to our Dentist to get him seen as soon as possible, what with the weekend coming on.

When I looked up our dental insurance claims, it seems that that tooth had been worked on a little more than a year ago –

He’s going to have to tough this out until next Tuesday

So, I gave him some more ibuprofen and broke out one of my “airline sized” Fireball Whiskey I had stashed away for one of Neighborhood Gal Pals who drinks the stuff.

“Here, this is an old wives tell to help with a toothache. Rinse the area with the I'Salsiccia Whiskey.”
WHAT?! It worked, for now.

I went up to the pharmacy, again, and got some Oragel to also help … so far so good, we made it through the day.

Well that sucks, but I'm glad to read that you seem to have the pain under control. My old wive's remedy for toothache is oil of cloves. It works. It must be used in moderation. I knew someone who used so much it damaged the "skin" of his gums.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

@taxlady , as a former dental assistant, I've seen that first hand.
ANd why I've warned DH to take it easy on both the Whiskey rinse and the Oragel.
I'm sure that @larry_stewart could advise better on that than myself.

 

[GotGarlic]

Can you tell if there's an infection? If so, I would contact his cardiologist and ask about him taking an antibiotic before Tuesday. After my hip replacement surgery, I was warned about the danger of mouth infections from dental work getting to the prosthesis through the bloodstream. With his status as a heart patient, you don't want to risk any possibility of an infection getting to his heart.

 

[taxlady]

Can you tell if there's an infection? If so, I would contact his cardiologist and ask about him taking an antibiotic before Tuesday. After my hip replacement surgery, I was warned about the danger of mouth infections from dental work getting to the prosthesis through the bloodstream. With his status as a heart patient, you don't want to risk any possibility of an infection getting to his heart.

Good point. I have a heart murmur and was told to always get "subacute endocarditis prophylaxis" before any dental extractions, in other words, antibiotics.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Well, we made it through the Root Canal with flying colors. Now we follow-up with the General DDS.

Yesterday we had a tele-med appointment with our team of medical warriors and after looking again at a report from the Home Monitor of DH’s ICD, he had only one VT event, self resolved and we all figured it was because he had been sick AND a toothache.
They were happy with that and are now “on the sidelines when you need us”.
We were told that we need to get on the schedule with DH’s local Cardiologist as soon as possible and have some more blood work and an EKG.

I was ahead of them!

I had already called the local Cardio guy’s office and in no uncertain terms made it crystal clear that we must be seen by Doctor ASAP!!!
I dropped a few names, such as the Cardio EP doc and the rest of our team, that seemed to have done the trick... amazing isn’t it?
This is the same front office gals that when I called back in August and asked to be seen because DH was having issues back then, I was simply told, “NOPE, he’s booked.”

We understand that our Cardio EP doc is World renowned, and everyone just says, “Ohhh, you’re with him? He’s the best!” YUP!! We both feel so very fortunate to have somehow, some way, been referred to our team and that they all took such great care of my DH.

 

[dragnlaw]

Isn't that just a marvelous Christmas Eve story, Kgirl? I'm so very happy for the two of you!

 

[Kathleen]

Can you tell if there's an infection? If so, I would contact his cardiologist and ask about him taking an antibiotic before Tuesday. After my hip replacement surgery, I was warned about the danger of mouth infections from dental work getting to the prosthesis through the bloodstream. With his status as a heart patient, you don't want to risk any possibility of an infection getting to his heart.

Ever since my neck surgery, I have to pre-medicate with an antibiotic prior to dental work. Checking in with his medical team is a very good suggestion!

Isn't that just a marvelous Christmas Eve story, Kgirl? I'm so very happy for the two of you!

Yanno, it kinda has a happy ending, so I can roll with it.

Seriously, I am also happy things are looking up for both.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Oh no no no my friends, this journey isn't over yet!

Stay tuned for our local Cardio Doc appointment next month ... this aught to be a doozy!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

So, some of the insurance claims are starting to trickle in. DH is covered by Medicare as well as the private insurance from our employer back home in Hawaii.

As I was falling asleep last night, I started wonder where are the claims for DH’s TWO ambulance rides? I’ve learned since moving to “The Mainland” to keep on top of medical and dental claims.

I pulled up both websites to check again, no claims. I mentioned this to the DH and he said that it has been a worry for him. “Are we covered for that?”

Let’s see.

I did a Live Chat online with Medicare and was assured that it is a benefit for either Ambulance or Medevac via Helicopter or Airline.
PHEW!
Our private insurance from Hawaii had told me a long time ago that whatever Medicare covers, they will too. YAY!

Once my Live Chat with Medicare was completed, I printed the conversation out for DH to read.
“WOW! How’d you do that? This is great! I’m keeping this in my file. I’m so relieved to know that we’re covered. Thank you for doing that.”

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

But wait, the journey continues!

My poor DH did something to his right hand/wrist/arm. He has used Silly Putty as an exercising tool ever since he blew out the bicep in his left arm back in 2019.
Just before New Year’s Eve he was exercising his right hand to keep equal muscle strength in both arms, and something went “POP” … not good.

I don’t normally hear my husband yelp quite loudly in pain.
I put some ice on it, gave him an NSAID and called the Doc... we couldn’t get an appointment until NOW! That was almost a month ago!!!

At the butt-crack of dawn today, I took him over 2 towns from us for his visit … x-rays, poking, prodding and the conclusion is that he blew out a tendon in his wrist. No surgery will be necessary as it was what Doctor called “a redundant tendon but stop doing that exercise anymore!”
Of course, after all that fussing with his wrist and hand, it’s swollen and soar again, dang it all!

But, this too we shall get past ...

 

[taxlady]

God bedring (good bettering) to your DH.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

You need a couple of good hugs, @Kaneohegirlinaz. As long as your DH doesn't have to use that tendon to give you a good squeeze, better grab yourself a hug or two. If he can't use that arm, a one-arm hug is nearly as good.

Hope he feels better soon.

 

[dragnlaw]

I agree CG. I'd also like to give you a good, feel better hug, so just close your eyes, wrap your arms around yourself and ... squeeze. that's me giving you a hug. My dragonettes are there flapping out good vibes with their wings, too.

Hope you both feel better!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Big Mahalo, Thanks guys.
I still didn't tell y'all about the local Cardio Doc ... stay tuned, life has been very chaotic!!! But I'll catch ...

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I can’t believe this, really!
The day before yesterday, my Dearest Husband got out of bed with a very loud “OH S---!”
I was up with a start and on the other side of the bed in a heart beat … “WHAT?”
He was in excruciating pain from his hip down his right leg.

Now, we both have had sciatica a number of times in our lives and I know how to deal with it, but this wasn’t working this time.

After two days, I finally convinced him to seek out a Chiropractor. Fortunately for him, his best buddy from his home town that he grew up with also lives in the area and highly recommended his guy.

DH gave the doctor’s office a call today and we got right in.
The diagnosis: Sacroiliitis, inflammation within the sacroiliac joint.
His first treatment relieved a good deal of his pain, along with an NSAID; we’re to ice the area 2-3 times per day.

My poor poor dear.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Aw geez, K-Girl, your poor DH is falling apart all over. Getting old can be a real pain, can't it? With each new pain I get, I keep telling myself that it's better than the alternative.

I hope he feels better soon.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I just realized that I did not give you guys the low down with our local general Cardio guy.

I make sure that we arrive for appointments at least ten minutes prior, just in case they want a stack of paperwork filled out.

We waited TWO HOURS for this character!!!

DH says to me, “Do you think if we had showed up 2 hours late they’d still see us?”

SO...

We got down to business.
Doc went over all the reports sent to his office from the EP Cardio Doc and he says, “Boy! It’s been a time for you, huh?”
YA THINK?!



He was quite impressed by the EP Cardio and the rest of Our Team with the depth of care DH was given.
We went over what needed to be done going forward and then we got into what had happened leading up to this point.
DH was going to leave that go, but when general Cardio doc asked me if I had questions, that’s when I spoke up.

I explained that DH had been having all these problems and we knew that he should have been seen way back in August, but that when I called his front office, I was rebuffed, “NOPE! He’s booked solid.”

You should have seen the look on Doc’s face. He looked like a forlorn puppy that I had said “NO!” while shaking my finger at him.

He apologized up one side and down the other, “This will not happen again, I promise you! Here is my personal cell phone number and email address. You contact me whenever you need to.”

WHAT?! What doctor does that?

When we were done, another hour later, Doc said, “I want to walk you out and make sure that the front office gals understand completely that you are now one of my priority patients.”

WHAT?!

Yeah, he wants to make sure that we don’t sue him. He’s damn lucky that everything turned out okay, or believe you me, I would have made a point of it.

 

[GotGarlic]

I just realized that I did not give you guys the low down with our local general Cardio guy.

I make sure that we arrive for appointments at least ten minutes prior, just in case they want a stack of paperwork filled out.

We waited TWO HOURS for this character!!!

?!
...
When we were done, another hour later, Doc said, “I want to walk you out and make sure that the front office gals understand completely that you are now one of my priority patients.”

I guess that explains why you waited two hours for him. Specialists who have patients with serious chronic illnesses often end up having longer consultations than they planned on.