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Posted 6/10/2005 4:42 AM (GMT 0)
misterie - you are forgiven for 'feeling bad for being here'...we all do! lol!

Teri and Kathlyn gave you good advice - to have it checked out, and I'm glad you have an appointment coming up so soon.

I have not had exactly the symptoms you describe - meaning that when I have chest pain it isn't changed one way or the other by breathing in, although my chest pain is often (not always) accompanied by shortness of breath. But breathing in doesn't make it worse...at least not for me. If the chest pain is bad enough - I do stop breathing (and everything else) for a minute though!

A few comments - first, I have no insurance either, and your concerns are certainly valid about creating a pre-existing condition. I am not insurable, unless through a large group (of which I'm not a part). Not having insurance is at the top of all my health risks - especially now.

My understanding is that (anybody, please correct me if this is wrong!) if you have pre-existing heart disease, there is - in most cases - going to be a 2 year exclusion for that - even with group insurance. (see how the ins. co's reduce their risk factors??? yep, two years is a looooong time, for active, symptomatic heart disease with little or no treatment)

On the other hand, if it is heart disease that you are experiencing now, the least of your worries is going to be what happens in August with your new insurance. I hate to say it, but you are somewhat between a rock and a hard place.

As a woman, of course, chances are (about 50/50?).....you'll be misdiagnosed and then you will be excluded for GERD, or something like that.

My advice is to worry about the primary concern - your health. Get checked out and let the chips fall where they may.

Let us know what happens after you're back from your appointment!

hugs,
Oona
Posted 6/10/2005 10:35 AM (GMT 0)
BTW, is by the way. Some of my online friends use TTYL and I'm always saying "I can't remember what that means!" I think I have that stuck in my brain now, the meaning.......talk to you later. I kept thinking it meant ta ta for now and I knew the letters didnt' match up. One acronym I need to stop using is LOL. But I can't. LOL.

Great advoce. Oona! I know how scary it is not to have insurance. Here in MI I've been told they cannot refuse you insurance. I couldn't get group insurance, but BCBS gave it to me. They gave me a six month exclusion on diabetis. I wonder what it would be for heart disease. There are so many people who fall through the cracks now. I keep thinking that I can't afford to continue to decide if I'm going to pay my house payment or insurance this month. I'm thinking itmight be better just to be destitute so I can get state insurance. Ackkk.
Posted 6/10/2005 4:55 PM (GMT 0)

Hey everyone !

Thank you so much for all your advice and input...it is so very valuable to me

Unfortunately the part that concerns me the most is the insurance issue...but, you are all so right in that I need to stay very alert to my symptoms...I only hope and pray it is something like gerd ....but, then that would be pre exist too !! oh well, I hear you about being destitute - thats what makes me so UG about this insurance thing...i am 49 years old...went to college for the first time...got a job in the health industry and am now waiting to FINALLY have insurance and they say ...perhaps NOT ...at least not for all the pre stuff...

do you think the doc i see next week can keep it quiet until august if i tell him all this stuff ??

worth a try

I will let you all know ! THANK YOU !!!

Posted 6/10/2005 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
Kathlyn

I am also on state insurance through Shands in Jacksonville a teaching hospital I donot like it  and  question their care on certain things but heck I have to take care of my husband on SSDi and beginings of dementia and he is on Medicare so i am thankful for waht I got.

When we both worked at Public we were on  AvMed and they were good too but I feel for people like me and oona on state Clinic crd  go see and get done what they want you to have done. well I ned to go now.

Heidi

Posted 6/10/2005 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
Interesting question misterie....for interesting times.

We are at the apex right now, of the most patient privacy we will EVER have, because the digital age is about to make hash out of our patient privacy rights. (please resist their efforts to do so, in any way you can!)

They are going to try to tempt us into this massive irreversible invasion of privacy by telling us that 'in the event of an emergency' an ER Doc anywhere will be able to tap into your records and save your life, or words to that effect....that we should do this 'for our own safety'. Don't believe it for a minute - they want access to your records so the insurance companies and medical providers can reduce their future risks. Just think of the access they already have to everything else about you. (sorry for the diversion...)

Sooooo, I would say, right now you can keep this week's visit and diagnosis private, if you pay cash for the visit (not kidding! lol), if you never see this Doctor again once you are on the insurance plan, and if you NEVER include anything about this ever happening or ever going to that Doctor or the diagnosis in anything that you fill out with your new insurance questionnaire. In fact, the Doc you see now may not be one of the listed Doc's you can see on the new plan anyway....

Kathlyn - It's more like an abyss than a crack, that you fall into. And there are more and more of us every day. The other day, I finally located my cardio from 27 years ago - still practicing not 10 miles from where I live. I called his office to ask for an appointment-consult....just to review testing that was already done. They will not take me as a patient even for that - with no insurance. Not even for cash payment up front. As I said earlier - not having insurance is at the top of all my health risks.

But as the rates go through the roof -more and more women, especially - are going to be forced to make this kind of decision - the house payment or the health insurance? The alarming thing about this, is that in the last decade, 14% of all ER's in the US have been closed (my only health option), and more are closing every day - to save MONEY (saving lives being secondary to that). I don't know what's going to happen in the near future as more and more of the baby-boomers start needing serious medical care....it's a pretty ominous situation that's developing.
Posted 6/14/2005 6:09 AM (GMT 0)
Facts about the Differences Between Men and Women

 

This has been around for a while, but definitely worth

reading!! yeah One of the facts is;

 

"Heart Disease – Heart disease kills 500,000 American women each year – over 50,000 more women than men – and strikes women, on average, 10 years later than men. Women are more likely than men to have a second heart attack within a year of the first one."

 

To read more, see the following; 

http://www.womenshealthresearch.org/hs/10diff.htm

Posted 6/14/2005 7:04 AM (GMT 0)
hi all,

re no insurance. i too was told i'd never qualify again, particularly as i am a 12 year breast cancer survivor and now a heart disease survivor too. but my very dear friend, who is a second dad to me AND my financial advisor, told me that although i'll never have "private insurance" again, and must count on group insurance, he also found something in the laws that said "we" (that's us here, ladies and gents) must have the right to be insured. Now i don't quite need it yet, but i have decided to quit my job in december (hope my boss doesn't find this thread as i haven't told him yet!) - and i will go on cobra for 18 months. but THEN i can apply and be accepted for, my "dad" says through some state insurance program. heidi, didn't you say that's what you're on too in florida? we have that in texas, and i feel it must be a national kind of program, via whatever state you live in. sorry to be less than full of info about this, but teri you always seem to know about these kinds of things, can you help fill in the blanks for famulus?

AND i forgot to mention that the monthly rates were almost what i'd call reasonable, all things considered, and considering the cost of NOT being covered...

libby
Posted 6/14/2005 7:42 AM (GMT 0)
There are several important considerations re women's heart disease and gynecological issues - and there is a surprising amount of indifference and misinformation (old, outdated info) by doctors to women heart patients - when, for example, giving a woman with heart disease the advice to have her ovaries removed (assuming there is no cancer or endo) in conjunction with a hysterectomy.

Here is an article that covers the major concerns regarding the ovaries issue and explains why all women (and those with heart disease, especially) regardless of whether menopausal or not - should keep their healthy ovaries:
Rationale for Ovarian Conservation by Donna Shoupe MD

The current studies show that neither HRT or ERT is recommended for women with active heart disease. One study was terminated prior to completion because it was already clearly shown by mid-study that the risk of stroke skyrocketed for high-risk women using HRT/ERT, and the risk of heart attack was also elevated.

Check out these 2001 stats for the leading causes of death in women:

    361,000 - heart disease
    100,000 - stroke
     66,000 - lung cancer
     63,000 - copd (a pulmonary disease)
     41,000 - breast cancer
     13,900 - ovarian cancer


And here is the site where the above stats came from: "Women's Heart Truth"

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/whatis/index.htm

Anemia caused by DUB (dysfunctional uterine bleeding) can cause heart failure. The symptoms of acute anemia and heart failure are very similar and easily confused. Acute anemia should not be allowed to continue on for extended periods of time.

Another particular concern for premenopausal women who may be on blood thinners (due to a stent or a mechanical valve) is that you would likely have to have emergency surgery or at least hospitalization if you had a fibroid, (as only one example) that caused extremely heavy bleeding, and in fact you could lose your life if this happened out of reach of help.

In heart valve replacement surgery - the choice of valve type needs to be made in consideration with whether pregnancy is planned in the future. Lifetime blood thinners are required for mechanical valves, but not for porcine (biological) type valves.

I have read about recent cases of women who tragically did not know, and were not told this at the time of their open-heart surgery - and had to have another open-heart surgery to replace the valve type so they could have children, because blood thinners are incompatible with pregnancy.

As women with heart disease, we have to be especially careful - and be very proactive in doing our own research so we have the information we need to make some very important decisions. We have to do this because the medical community tends to be very specialized and often does not connect the dots between GYN issues and women with active heart disease.
Posted 6/14/2005 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
I hope this helps!~and for others trying to find local state help, just Google or search ......(Your State's Name) State Insurance Program.  Hugs, Teri tongue

 

Insurance for Texans;

http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/

 

Insurance for Floridians;

http://myflorida.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/myflorida.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_lva=&p_li=&p_srch=&p_gridsort=&p_row_cnt=&p_group=&p_page=1&p_cat_lvl2=%7Eany%7E&p_cat_lvl1=46&p_search_text=State+Health+Insurance&p_new_search=1

Posted 6/15/2005 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
Teri - thanks for serving up that link - you are so good at that!!! I have found that I am not nearly poor enough, not old enough, nor totally and permanently disabled enough to qualify. I believe it's built with that in mind ( e x c l u s i o n ) just like it was for normal middle income parents trying to send their kids to college and not qualifying for gov't aid for that, but not at all being able to afford it because they made 'too much'.

A friend of mine is celebrating 5 years since her heart attack - without any reoccurrance of any kind. She's employed as a nurse by one of the fine hospitals here where I live. They tried their best to cancel her insurance, but she was able to keep it (still employed there) - at a rate of $880/month. She tells me that if she changed jobs, the new insuror would put on a 2 year exclusion for pre-existing.

Kathlyn, that's scary - keep your house!!! God willing, in '08 I'll vote for Hillary. What a shame her health plan bit the dust way back when....
Posted 6/15/2005 4:29 AM (GMT 0)

Oona, I wish there was something else I could help with... sad    We've never had that problem with insurance recently, but we have had the problem going on twice now, for our kids to go to college.  That's a whole nuther ballgame though-your health is so important and if you cannot get assistance, something is wrong.  I'm hoping someone else will come along from your state and give a few more ideas.

Hugs and Best Wishes, Teri xoxoxo

Posted 6/15/2005 4:52 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, there's definitely something wrong - with the whole system! I should either move to England (or Texas? lol!) or I should repatriate myself by taking a little boat trip and re-entering this great country on an inner tube...then I could qualify for all the healthcare I need or want.

I did take a good look at all the FL stuff, and the kids in the state are VERY well taken care of. Their parents are another matter - they are NOT taken care of. Wonder what the state budget is for orphanages?

Thank you so much for trying, but I think it's bigger than all of us - I'm one of gazillions that this happens to, all over this country. I'm afraid we're going to see much more of this as big corporations go 'bankrupt', pension funds aren't funded, health costs get passed completely onto the backs of employees, wages are hacked, jobs sent overseas....this is just the beginning, and the tip of the iceberg. One really has to wonder....

big hugs to you!
Oona

Post Edited (Famulus) : 6/14/2005 10:55:41 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/16/2005 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
Being obese and heavy smoking is not good for women. devil This article says being obese & smoking can accelerate your aging process!  I know we all knew these things weren't healthy for us and I've heard in the past that smoking can cause wrinkles...? 

 

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_25227.html

Posted 6/16/2005 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Eeeks, I deleted the post that I made about my financial stuff. I must have been in a snit that day. Anyway, I hope that you can find some help in your state. It is disgusting how some people fall through that huge abyss that you mentioned! Hugs, Kathy
Posted 6/17/2005 1:10 AM (GMT 0)

Hey all....I too live in Florida and yes, they do take care of our kids...but you have to be destitute before they will do anything for us...and even at that you have to practically bow your knees to them...its humilating...and frustrating...I have been there and never want to go there again...

Anyway...my insurance kicks in August 1st...someone told me that as long as I have not had insurance it would be very hard for them to track anything or anyone I have visited regarding my health ( not so if / when all our medical history goes online..then nothing will be hidden ! ) So that was good news to me ...maybe , just maybe I will get coverage , even for the crohns disease stuff...

But , i told you I'd write after my 1st visit to a GP on wednesday - he didnt "think" it was my heart...he'd say , you would feel a "crushing" pain, not a stabbing pain...but, i would say...well, there was a time when for MONTHS it WAS a crushing/pressure pain...just that last week and this week the few times I felt pain again it was more of a stabbing pain...hey, i hope he is right...id laugh even if the first one who told me my bra was too tight was right !!  BUT, I dont think I will go back to him...so my search for the perfect doc continues ( ha ha )

So, thats my story for now...in August I WILL have some tests done...I'll ask yall again what kind of tests I should be getting ...he said a stress test...but , the thing is , I dont get this pain when under exertion...its usually at rest that it happens??

thanks

Marie

Posted 6/17/2005 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
oops Oona, it was you who told me that ...did I understand it correctly?
about the insurance and not being able to track it?

you really did give me hope...now, i HOPE i got it right ! : - )))
Posted 6/17/2005 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
Misterie,

 

Much good luck and best wishes to you on your hunt for a new Dr.!  It is hard when you've had the abdominal problems that you've had with the crohns and now the different chest pains to get this pinpointed quickly.  I've been there, too, as I do have asthma and GERD and whenever I have any problem they always ask first about the asthma and GERD-of course, they are just ruling everything out, cuz no one wants to have heart disease.  Trust me. :)

 

An EKG, an echocardiogram, and a stress test are the basic starting steps to finding out if it could be your heart.  An upper GI to rule out GERD, esophageal spasms, or hiatal hernia as well.  That type of irritation can cause or mimic heart type symptoms as well.

 

Make sure though that when all is said and done, that you feel comfortable with your Dr. and the diagnosis you receive.  And remember, that Dr.'s are humans too and by you being in touch with your health and your body, along with educating yourself with these problems it's the best thing you can do for yourself!!

 

Best wishes and Big Hugs, Teri tongue

Posted 6/17/2005 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hi misterie - (yes, that was me talking about the insurance) You're probably already aware of this, but as women, we often have different symptoms than the squeezing, crushing, elephant standing on chest kind of pain that men report. We can have this kind, but we can also have very different symptoms, such as back or neck pain - or jaw pain, sometimes abdominal pain, sometimes radiating down either arm or across chest. It can be different every time and for every woman. It's kind of unfortunate that as a GP, he's still describing "classic" symptoms and doesn't seem to be aware of this. One way to tell if it's heart related is whether it's relieved by nitro. Sounds like he probably didn't give you a scrip for that, did he?
BTW, I would have clobbered the one who said your bra was too tight, LOL! But it's not even funny - it just burns me to hear that.
In the meantime - if you have any kind of pain that you think is heart related, I hope you won't waste any time getting to the ER and having it checked out. It helps to notice what you're doing (activity), how stressed you are, what position you are in when it starts, if it's resting - how long was it after an activity - anything you can think of to write down - and make notes, because you will forget!
Thanks for letting us know how your appt. went - Keep well!
Oona
Posted 6/17/2005 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
Good advice, Oona!! My Dr. also told me to take my Nitro when I had any type of chest pain, because even if it was asthma or the esophageal spasms from the reflux, the Nitro would help and at least I was being covered in case it was my heart.

Hugs, Teri :)
Posted 6/17/2005 3:14 AM (GMT 0)
Woops! I don't know how that got posted twice (???????) weird!
Teri - is that right? Nitro has no effect on gastro stuff does it? I think I remember reading that they use it as a diagnostic tool to rule out other causes.
It must be so hard to deal with this in combo with all those other things going on! It's hard enough for me - and my ONLY health problem is my heart.

Did I ever mention that in Jan. I went to the ER with chest pain, was admitted & tested for 3 days, treated on 'chest pain protocols' for all 3 days....and the idiot floor doc discharged me with a diagnosis of GERD??? I do not have that, and have never had it - and the first I heard of it was when I read it on the discharge sheet (which I refused to sign). Now I have THAT on my records to have to deal with in the future. So, even if you don't have it, it can still be a problem.
How he arrived at that, with my heart history, is just mind-blowing.

BTW, I always pass the thalium stress test w/no problem. And what I find also, is that the testing is heavily oriented to detecting CAD and only CAD, and so if you don't have that, you're 'fine' (despite 3 bad valves, history of rheumatic fever, CHF, etc.) I don't get it. I think the typical laundry list that they go down for WOMEN (who can't possibly have heart disease) is GERD, acid reflux, anxiety, hormonal issues, and I have even heard of women being accused of cocaine use.
Posted 6/17/2005 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
I'm laughing, cuz that's the first question they asked me in 1998 when I had my MI is if I was using cocaine. yeah Nope!  Had a heart attack none the lesss...

 

I have had esophageal spasms and they were helped a bit by the nitro...along with the asthma and bronchiole spasms...guess opening the blood flow does help in other areas at times...perhaps not with everyone though.

 

The stress test can give out false positives as well.  My husband had that problem and he is free and clear of heart problems.

On the other hand...I've had several chemical stress tests and walking treadmill stress tests and I've never failed one...yet I've had angioplasty, 2 stent placements, the 3rd was not place and instead I had emergency bypass.  confused

 

Hugs, Teri tongue

Posted 6/17/2005 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
I forgot to say that despite this diagnosis of "GERD", I was never tested or treated for it. It was never even mentioned. My testing during that stay was strictly heart-related...many EKG's - all abnormal, continuous monitor, O2, nitro patches, (and BP going thru floor) echo, thalium stress....all pointing to GERD????? LOL
(I wish!!!)

More...(we posted at the same time)

Sooooooo.....Cocaine? lol! and they asked you that FIRST? Miss Teri, what do you look like? lol! Or was it what you were wearing?

What did you mean about the stent - what happened to cause emergency?

Post Edited (Famulus) : 6/16/2005 9:39:16 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/17/2005 3:37 AM (GMT 0)
Well, I certainly wish you the best!! Hugs, Teri tongue
Posted 6/17/2005 4:02 AM (GMT 0)

teri,

how does the nitro help the GERD symptoms in any way?  i'm always curious about taking my nitro pills, as maybe i do the regimen of 3 each 5 minutes, and then at the third one no relief go to hospital.  but wouldn't you ALSO not get relief if it WAS gerd 

libby

Posted 6/17/2005 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
I didn't know that nitro helped GERD. I learn something new every day from this board. I'm glad I'm a part of it!
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