My DH’s Journey

[larry_stewart]

Everyone should be a "Priority Patient". or at least treated like one.

Similar thing happened to me years back. I had some and of lump on my neck. It was big enough be visually noticeable. Smart me took a picture of it. I went to my Doc who referred me to a specialist. Tried to make an appt. but was given one 2 or 3 months later due to being booked up. By the time my appt. came around, the lump was gone. Luckily I had the pic to show him. His words to me were " Now that you have been here once, you are in the system. So if it comes back, we will get you right in." A lot of good that did me. Luckily , it never came back.

I understand that few medical visits are routine, and har hard to predict the duration. But there has to be a better way.

 

[GotGarlic]

I understand that few medical visits are routine, and har hard to predict the duration. But there has to be a better way.

The number of residency slots is the bottleneck - it hasn't increased enough to keep up with the number of people going to medical and DO school so there aren't enough doctors to meet the needs of the population. Especially the boomers who have been retiring in big numbers recently and tend to need more specialized health care. In the United States, medical/DO school graduates can't get jobs without graduating from an accredited residency program.

Here's more info if anyone is interested: Medical school enrollments grow, but residency slots haven’t kept pace

 

[taxlady]

Yeah, and some of those boomers who are retiring are in the medical field, so they are no longer working as doctors, etc.

 

[Kathleen]

Plus, with all of the red tape, some millennials are opting to do something else than be doctors. I have three nieces in aspects of the medical field. All three are actively considering other options as are the two husbands (one is just a fiance' atm) who are also in medical fields. My middle niece wanted to be a vet all her life. She hates it - not because of what she does, but because of all that she must do outside of caring for animals. My oldest niece decided to forego private practice and work as an ER doctor until her husband's (a PA that does vascular surgery) real estate business takes off. It is sad to me. But then, don't get me started on education which is not the field it used to be.....

 

[dragnlaw]

Well, it's a Catch 22 era - damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Plus, with all of the red tape, some millennials are opting to do something else than be doctors....My middle niece wanted to be a vet all her life. She hates it - not because of what she does, but because of all that she must do outside of caring for animals...

Not just millennials. When the ACA went into effect, our doctor complained to me that all of the paperwork could make him take away actually spent with his patients. Instead, he was taking that home and working on it until late at night. Every time I saw him, he threatened to quit. After about three years of these comments, we got letters telling us he was going and who the replacement doc was. When I went for my next appointment, I asked if he ever stopped by. They said no, since he up and moved to Canada. I would say that he was a little extreme about his reaction to all the paperwork, but his wife was a Montreal-born dual citizen.

 

[taxlady]

Not just millennials. When the ACA went into effect, our doctor complained to me that all of the paperwork could make him take away actually spent with his patients. Instead, he was taking that home and working on it until late at night. Every time I saw him, he threatened to quit. After about three years of these comments, we got letters telling us he was going and who the replacement doc was. When I went for my next appointment, I asked if he ever stopped by. They said no, since he up and moved to Canada. I would say that he was a little extreme about his reaction to all the paperwork, but his wife was a Montreal-born dual citizen.

Maybe the paperwork to get paid as a doctor in Canada isn't as bad?

 

[GotGarlic]

Not just millennials. When the ACA went into effect, our doctor complained to me that all of the paperwork could make him take away actually spent with his patients. Instead, he was taking that home and working on it until late at night. Every time I saw him, he threatened to quit. After about three years of these comments, we got letters telling us he was going and who the replacement doc was. When I went for my next appointment, I asked if he ever stopped by. They said no, since he up and moved to Canada. I would say that he was a little extreme about his reaction to all the paperwork, but his wife was a Montreal-born dual citizen.

The weird thing here is that the ACA was designed, in part, to reduce the amount of paperwork doctors had to do, by providing funds to replace paper systems with electronic systems. This would save lots of $$ by making it quicker and easier to look up patient records and to prevent dupiication of services - especially testing - by enabling doctors, practices and hospitals to easily share images and test results. It's more likely he didn't like switching over to an electronic system. Lots of older docs resisted that change.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

@taxlady, I think it was more of a case of him deciding to retire early.

@GotGarlic, he had already been using electronic records for years. I think MA's "Health Connector" was the model for the ACA system...which ultimately was not designed the same way and had issues. He mentioned to me that it seemed like he had to justify how much time he spent with each patient more than he did beforehand. It could be that he used that as an excuse/reason to pack up and move north? ?‍♀

 

[dragnlaw]

Sounds like he was just ready to retire. I hope his BP has come down and he is enjoying his retirement!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Well, tomorrow is DH's last PT appointment.
He's doing much better and "his guy" says that he can do his exercises at home.
He still has this HUGE lump on his shoulder and "his guy" said that hopefully that will lessen as time goes by.
NOW! If the weather cooperated tomorrow ... ?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Sounds good, @Kaneohegirlinaz!

 

[dragnlaw]

Great news Kgirl. Atta boy DH! you listen well!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

My poor Dear Husband.

The General Cario doc changed one of his meds, because we could no longer get the one the EP Carido doc sent him home with, but I told you all this already.

WELL!

We had about 2 weeks left of this new med and the pharmacist had told me to give him a good lead time before he needed more, so that he could ensure that we kept that constant flow going.

I picked up the refill the other day and didn’t look at it until today, when I got his second pill of the day.

Moi: Hmmm
DH: What?
Moi: Well, I don’t want to be alarmed, this is the same medication, it just looks different. Probably a different manufacture.
DH: Let me see

Moi: Hmmmm
DH: WHAT?!
Moi: It looks like a small turd
DH: Oh well that’s nice. Now I won’t be able to swallow it
BAHAHAHAHA!

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL, joining taxy with her "look like scat, purple fingerling potatoes?"

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

@dragnlaw right?!
My first thought was it looked like a mouse pooh!
I can't tell you how hard both of us laughed, really!
We haven't that good of a chuckle in a while ... felt good!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My first thought was "bug larvae". Either way, it doesn't exactly look appealing.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Sometimes my husband is not the most intelligent man.
Oh wait, was that a redundant statement?


We knew that we were going to have a goodly amount of snow on the ground when we woke up today.
It had been snowing, literally, all day yesterday and then it got for real.
The flakes got big and fat and started to lay; we had an inch of snow on the ground by 6pm.
DH: Shouldn’t we go out and shovel that?
Moi: It’ll be there in the morning and then some

I was enjoying my peaceful rest only to hear DH putting on his “snow gear” at O'Too Damn Early.

DANG IT ALL!!!
I wasn’t awake all the way yet, AND hadn’t had a cup of coffee yet

Probably within 15-30 minutes, he was back in the house, not doing well

Moi: Howya doin’?
DH: - no response - heavy breathing -
Moi: Did you do too much maybe?
DH: - nods his head – hand to his Pacemaker –
Moi: Breathe slowly, in through your nose, out through your mouth, slowly, you’re good

-under my breath -

This technique seems to work on him. I have a calm and soothing voice and it helps him.

Moi: there ya go, slowly. Now tell me what happened.

He admitted that he did too much, shoveling snow in the cold was not a great idea. (Ya think?)

DH: But I felt good doing it, up until now...

DUMB A$$ !!!
He was being “paced out”! But that’s what it’s there for, for when he acts STUPID!!
Both Cardio Doctors had told him to take physical excursion SLOWLY, build back up to a regular routine... BUT NO!

GEEZ!!!

 

[Andy M.]

I hope he's OK. Most people don't like to admit they can no longer do what they did when they were younger. He may have assumed the pacemaker would take care of any issues.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I hope he's OK. Most people don't like to admit they can no longer do what they did when they were younger. He may have assumed the pacemaker would take care of any issues.

@Andy M. that is exactly his mentality!
"But I use to ..."
Well guess what mister, that's done for, not the case any longer, get a grip, you're not 30 , you're not 40, you're not 50, you're not EVEN 60!!!
I just can't seem to drill into his head, STOP IT!!!!
"Oh, but if I could do XYZ, I'm fine."
It just doesn't work this way anymore bud, period.
You are fine, just not a kid any longer...
Life has changed, dramatically!!!
And thank you Mister EP Cario Doc who suggested that he have a dual ICD!!!