Official Rant Thread - Go for It

My wife suffers severe migraines. She went to our local pc with a bad headache. Who, according to my wife, is a real flirt. When she came out she told me that he said "you are only here looking for drugs." I have a short fuse and he had just lit it. I told the receptionist i wanted to talk with him. When we got back into the exam room I explained how my wife had suffered migraines since eight grade. Then proceeded to verbally lay him out. Lord that felt good.
He is also the one who came up behind my wife at the reception desk, a few months prior, and began massaging her neck.

Sorry about the typos in first post.

Post Edited (mr bill) : 5/16/2022 5:38:17 AM (GMT-6)

I had to wait 2 weeks for my post-HoLEP pathology review. At the end of the first week on the patient portal, it said “Pathology Report pending until 7 May” which is a Saturday. Why release it on a Saturday, I wonder.

So 7 May rolls around and it gets posted, pretty much good news, but there was a typo where the weight would be. I emailed the signing pathologist on Monday, and he told me the removed tissue was 92 grams.

Then on Wednesday on the portal it says an addendum is pending until the 14th of May. This is unexpected…what can it be? They found some sort of suspicious signs or something that needs more investigation? An extra week? What’s going on?

So Saturday the 14th comes and the addendum is finally posted. It says “weight of sample was 92 grams”

That’s it. That’s the addendum that was pending for almost a week.

Update on previous rant:

This evening, I got a call from someone at the Gastroenterologist office, and was informed that my test results haven't posted on the patient portal because the Dr. hasn't received them yet. The Endoscopy was on April 28, today is May 16. Seems like a LONG time.

I'm surely tired of seeing prostate, ED, male enhancement, and Peyronie's carrot commercials.

"She'll like it too." Wink, wink. 😐

I find myself cringing and covering my eyes much like a 10 year old boy might during "steamy" TV scenes.

Oh well, at least I'm still here to rant about it. 🙂

I agree with Matt some commercials are getting out of hand. When the grandkids are over and the ED commercials come on we have to change the channel quickly. The ones that make me take note say that they could result in death. Seems that would shy away a bunch of would be users. How about, “Don't take if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the drug. DUH!!! I also agree 81, they are getting out of hand with both the frequency and the content.
Jack

Post Edited (Jack64) : 5/18/2022 12:34:21 PM (GMT-6)

So i haven't seen my RO in 2 years, he's been limiting appointments and off loading a lot to his nurse practitioners, whom i've been meeting with via tele-visits. Last appointment, the NP suggested that since i haven't seen the Doc in 2 years, maybe the next appointment should be with him. I agreed. Not that there has been much to say, thank goodness, SO FAR. But i would still like to see him once in a while, if nothing else to discuss my persistently low testosterone.

So i went on the MSKCC Portal a month ago and saw that she did indeed set it up for June 6th, with bloodwork half an hour before the appointment. I needed to change that, because i prefer to get my bloodwrok done the day before, and not at the main location where i meet with him, but at a suburban location (same lab, blood is transported), near me. So i called today.

They tell me that the Dr wont be in the day of my appointment because of the Jewish Holiday of Shevuoth and they need to reschedule me either 2 months further out or hopefully sooner with the NP. Did they not know that it was a holiday sooner than 2 weeks before the appointment?

So if i didnt call, to change the lab appointment, what would happen? i would show up at the hospital, no small trip, and find that i didnt have an appointment? So annoying. Or maybe its me showing my age and resulting lack of patience for perceived incompetence.

Anyway, i chose a sooner appointment with the NP, the secretary said she would talk to the NP and either she or the NP would get back to me with a date before the end of the day.

Needless to say, i never heard back.
And this is a top medical institution.

Not really a rant, just bizarre astonishment.

I got a letter from a well known (remember Marlon Perkins) insurance company offering me life insurance. Included with the "many provisions I will enjoy" with the policy is this:

"Benefit paid to YOU at age 120"

I guess they aren't really rolling the probability dice on that one. I literally laughed out loud. How utterly ridiculous.

Everton, sorry to hear about your jaw problems. Any idea of what caused the infections, or did you have any dental procedures while on those medications that could have caused ONJ? Glad to hear that you are doing better.
Michael

I guess it could be worse, but I’ve known about a small inguinal hernia that showed up after RALP 4 years ago.

I saw a surgeon and he recommended watchful waiting. It started being a bit of an issue a month or two ago when I’d get back from a 6-mile run. It didn’t bother me on the run but while standing around afterwards it would start burning. I had an ultrasound and it confirmed the hernia and said it was a “fatty protrusion.” I just got back from 2-weeks in Italy on a university study abroad, looking at art, and there was lots of walking and standing. Several times a day I’d have to sit and press on that area for relief. When I got back I contacted my PCP and he referred me to surgery.

I called for the first appointment and they can’t get me in for over a month. And that’s just for the consultation.

The other night I went for a walk and at the 2-mile point I had to stop, lay down, and press the big bulge next to the pubic bone to get it to go away.

Not really a rant except that I have to wait so long. I am guessing that it will be well into the summer before I can have the surgery to get this thing fixed.

In the meantime, I ordered a truss/belt thing and will see how that works. Anyone try one of those?

Big toe pain?
Always want to rule out gout. That hurts like heck..
I had it once. I've also had uric acid kidney stones which may be related.

Glen

I was going to post a rant about my being on my second COVID isolation after Paxlovid rebound (going on day 14 of 22 days)--but your stories above make me feel grateful that that's all I have to complain about. Just thinking about the jaw stuff is causing me sympathetic pain.

Feel better everyone!!

Prato, I hear you, loud and clear. I was out with friends yesterday and, as it does with folks in our age group, the subject of healthcare came up. There was a consensus that we are all satisfied with the treatment received by our providers but have noticed a decline in service when it comes to the administrative part of the equation. This includes very long wait times on the phone to get an appointment, lack of contact with anyone after test results are completed, the shift from phone contact to messaging through a portal with a clumsy interface, and don’t even get us started when it comes to billing.

Regarding appointment scheduling, our local place got rid of the central scheduling and now each department does its own but to get to those department schedulers we still have to call the general number and get forwarded to the department. AFAIK, the people who answer the phone in the departments are the same ones who check your in when you arrive for your appointment so they are now doing extra duties.

My uro cut me loose a bit over a year ago and said that I just needed to have my PSA tested once a year and just have my PCP do it as part of my annual physical. My PCP retired and said he couldn’t give me a referral to a replacement and I’d just have to pick one on my own. I went through the web site and came up with a short list which I presented to one of my running partners who works in IT, training physicians on the use of the medical records software. She crossed a few off the list and I made my selection.

I called about 5 months prior to when I needed the appointment and said I wanted to schedule my annual physical with this new doc. The person on the phone decided that since I was a “new patient” I would get a new patient appointment, which is a short consult, not long enough for a physical. I did not know that at the time. I went to the appointment, it was short and sweet as he didn’t have time to examine me. I decided that all I wanted was an order for lab work to get my PSA number and have my regular prescriptions renewed. I also wanted to deal with this inguinal hernia and he said I’d have to call “Imaging” and schedule an appointment on my own.

I did get a letter from him reviewing my lab work (PSA undetectable and all other numbers were stellar). When I got the results of the ultrasound I had to contact him through the portal and ask “what now” and he said to call surgery for an appointment.

OK, so, what I have learned is that when it comes to healthcare these days, you really have to take charge as there will be no hand-holding. You have to be your own advocate to see that you get moved along in the system. You also have to constantly review your own medical records to make sure they are inclusive. Our place just went through a database upgrade and my records where missing one of my previous surgeries and a few other items.