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Ok, ready for my story of yesterday? (This is why I hate the local hospital).
I got an appointment with my primary care physician. He was concerned, and kept asking "are you sure they didn't give you something to drink before your CT scan?" Nope, nothing to drink, not even water. He wanted me to get a contrast CT, so his nurse went to schedule it. Apparently, my insurance wouldn't cover it unless I was A) in the ER again, or B) if it was ordered by a surgeon. So, I get an appointment later that day with a surgeon. Another co-pay.
So, I go see the surgeon. He doesn't examine me, doesn't feel my side; he just sits down and asks why I'm there. I tell him the story and basically say all he needs to do is sign on the bottom line so I can get a contrast CT. He says "well, you had one done yesterday". Ummmm.....no I didn't. He showed me the ER report and it clearly states "Oral and IV contrast" which I did not get. I didn't get an IV until AFTER the CT was done. He said, basically calling me a liar, "Well, it's easy enough to see once I pull up the images"....(ummm....why didn't you do that before???) So, after 1/2 hr fighting with his ipad, going out to the main computer in the reception area (which had a broken mouse), he was FINALLY able to get the images to load. The first words out of his mouth were "oh, she's right....there's no contrast".
So, he gets on the phone with the ER and basically tells them off, then gets transferred to radiology to make an appointment for me for right then and there. I'm sent down with 2 bottles of that barium crap to chug in 2 hrs. NASTY stuff, especially warm. I got another CT scan and now have another appointment with the surgeon this morning to see what the issue is. Apparently, according to the radiologist that did the scan (the same one from Tuesday), they are checking my appendix, ovary and kidney for stones. I told him what happened and he said he thought it was strange he didn't have to give me an IV, but he was just following doctor's orders.
For the record, I'm getting a copy of the ER records and images along with today's records and images. Just in case. Because I have a feeling I'm going to be fighting with the business office about this.
I got an appointment with my primary care physician. He was concerned, and kept asking "are you sure they didn't give you something to drink before your CT scan?" Nope, nothing to drink, not even water. He wanted me to get a contrast CT, so his nurse went to schedule it. Apparently, my insurance wouldn't cover it unless I was A) in the ER again, or B) if it was ordered by a surgeon. So, I get an appointment later that day with a surgeon. Another co-pay.
So, I go see the surgeon. He doesn't examine me, doesn't feel my side; he just sits down and asks why I'm there. I tell him the story and basically say all he needs to do is sign on the bottom line so I can get a contrast CT. He says "well, you had one done yesterday". Ummmm.....no I didn't. He showed me the ER report and it clearly states "Oral and IV contrast" which I did not get. I didn't get an IV until AFTER the CT was done. He said, basically calling me a liar, "Well, it's easy enough to see once I pull up the images"....(ummm....why didn't you do that before???) So, after 1/2 hr fighting with his ipad, going out to the main computer in the reception area (which had a broken mouse), he was FINALLY able to get the images to load. The first words out of his mouth were "oh, she's right....there's no contrast".
So, he gets on the phone with the ER and basically tells them off, then gets transferred to radiology to make an appointment for me for right then and there. I'm sent down with 2 bottles of that barium crap to chug in 2 hrs. NASTY stuff, especially warm. I got another CT scan and now have another appointment with the surgeon this morning to see what the issue is. Apparently, according to the radiologist that did the scan (the same one from Tuesday), they are checking my appendix, ovary and kidney for stones. I told him what happened and he said he thought it was strange he didn't have to give me an IV, but he was just following doctor's orders.
For the record, I'm getting a copy of the ER records and images along with today's records and images. Just in case. Because I have a feeling I'm going to be fighting with the business office about this.
Wow Linda, I never even thought about back issues. Something else to ask them about.....When I was 15 and 16 years old I was getting intense pain deep in my lower right abdomen. It was incapacitating and I would end up in a fetal position because of the pain. My family doctor kept testing me for Appendicitis but the tests were always negative.
When I was 19 I was living in a small city in the north part of our Province, and I had one of these painful attacks and ended up in the hospital. When the doctor heard that I had been getting this pain since I was 15 or so, the first thing he did was a back xray. Turns out the pain wasn't from my appendix, it was from my spine!
It seems I was born with a benign form of spina bifida called "Spina Bifida Occulata". The spinal cord is inside the spinal column as it should be, but the bones around the edges, for the last 4 vertebrae didn't form together. So essentially I have what appears to be backward C's attached to my spine, instead of "O" shaped bones. Because there is a piece of bone missing on 4 vertebrae, it puts strain and causes pain.
The doctor at the time wanted to do surgery and put metal rods in the open spaces to complete the "O" shape. The percentage that I would walk or be paralyzed? 50%!!! I didn't like those odds.
He told me that I would be paralyzed in a wheelchair by the time I was 40!
Well, here I am 51 and no where near being paralyzed. Granted I do have horrid back pain at times, and when the pain is manageable I am still limited in what I can do because pain will flare up. But other than not being able to lift more than a bag of potatoes, or walk long distances, I still function pretty well. For vacuuming and dishes, I do have to sit in a chair to do tasks such as that and for shopping, depending on how my back feels, I may or may not need to use the store scooter.