Showing posts with label Health Insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Insurance. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Orthopedic Surgeon Visit

I saw the Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday afternoon.  After all the initial paperwork, she came in and explained that my insurance had a strange limitation in it.  Xrays have to be done by an xray specialist. Even though she has an xray machine in the office, it wouldn't be covered.  So she was going to write a referral and have me come back afterwards on another day.

So I asked what she would charge if I just paid her myself.  $50.  I actually laughed.  A second visit with her would generate another $40 copay, and the xray specialist gets one too.  Cheaper to just pay her myself and save 2 more trips!  So we did that on the spot.

She showed me the xray  It isn't the shoulder ball/socket joint that was separated.  There is a small bone that attached the clavicle/shoulder blade to the top of the ball/socket joint that detached.  It's not even "broken" just separated.  She recommended NOT repairing it surgically (unless I had a heavy work job or threw things professionally).  I can do all the gardening I want, lift paving stones, etc.

That explained a lot.  I WONDERED how I could be putting my weight on the walker with a separated ball/socket joint.  Plus, there is no pain and I have nearly complete mobility of my arm.  An operation would carry its own risks anyway.  

She further explained that, had I visited within a couple days of the fall, an operation would have been easier and with a higher likelihood of success.  Well Gee, I hadn't even gone to the hospital by "a couple of days"!  She said 3 weeks or 6 months doesn't make any difference now.  But, that if it ever starts to bother me (pain, redness, mobility problem), a repair operation could be done then just as successfully.

I have a follow-up visit in a month, and a referral to a physical therapist.  I will call the physical therapist to discuss what they can do that I can't do at home.  I don't want to travel to (and pay for) stuff I can do myself.  That would be like going to a gym club to do push-ups, LOL!  Plus I'll look this up online tomorrow.

I'm getting around with the walker more easily and can free-walk farther each day.  I will be walkinmg normally soon enough.  I can get up and down stairs without any great difficulty (still doing it sideways one step at a time, but I could BARELY do THAT last week).  

The Dr said I seem to be healing quite well and quickly (from what she read in the hospital report).  My ribs and shoulder aren't causing pain.  There are really only remaining problems.  My right leg/foot is a bit unsteady and hard to lift, though it bears weight well enough when I'm just standing still.  The right leg groin muscle hurts sometimes when I move carelessly or change positions in bed, but she says that will heal on it own.

The nasty-looking bruise on the shoulder is completely gone, and the REALLY nasty ones from hip to hip across the back have gone from solid deep plum purple to "paler pebbly", so they should be gone in a week.  I wish I could show the pictures, but modesty forbids.

I went downstairs to the basement yesterday in order to try doing my own laundry.  That worked fine.  I'm not ready to try getting on hands and knees to do the cat litter boxes yet, but I bet I will in a few days.  Wonderful Neighbor Deb was doing my laundry and litter box cleaning.  

I'm sure she will be pleased.  "Willing to do" and "wanting to do" are very different things, LOL!  

I bet I can drive by early next week.  I told Deb not to be surprised if she sees me driving the car in and out of the garage and up and down the driveway while I test my foot strength, pedal sensitivity, and reflexes.  And if that works 100%, up and down our dead end street.

Deb doesn't mention it often unless there is a timing conflict, but she is home all day because she teleworks (conflict management training).  And in spite of what she says about "liking to help people", I  am sure her generous help is interfering with her work and regular daily routine.

I have an appt with my actual primary care doctor on Thursday.  I am sure it will be mostly a "pro-forma" visit and a complete waste of time, but I suppose I have to go just in case something goes wrong in the future and the insurance company could point to any cancelled appt to disallow a claim.  *SIGH*

Lastly, I don't want to sound like I am disparaging doctors.  They are wonderful when there is something they can actual do.  The xrays/ctscan/mri have been useful.  Checking my vital signs has been informative.  But neither the hospital, primary care PA, or orthopedic surgeon have actually been able to quite FIX anything.  It's THOSE kinds of problems.  The healing of MY problems is more time-oriented than action-oriented.  Just my luck, no quick-fix, LOL!

On the other hand, I was lucky.  If I had hit the ground differently I could have died (and the vultures around here are hungry) or been consigned to a wheelchair the rest of my life.  I have sometimes been amazed at my general good luck (which bothers me because I know things SHOULD be rather random).    But it is a case of my being unlucky in small things and lucky in the big things.

In the small things, life is cruel to me.  If I am playing a game and my opponent needs an unlikely roll of the dice, they get it (and I don't).  But the large things matter more.  I've never broken a bone and I have done plenty of stupid things that deserved one.  I don't catch infectious diseases in spite of roommates and carpool members who were CONSTANTLY sick.  When in danger, I escape.  I was involved in an icy road car pileup once and I had the only undamaged car.  I had EXACTLY the right neighbor to help me this month.  The list goes on...

Well, that's it for today.  Things are improving steadily.  One day at a time and all that...

Monday, February 12, 2018

Oh Bother!

I was innocently eating dinner last night, and suddenly detected a lump in my mouth.  I won't go into details, but I found a tooth crown that had come loose.  I'm glad my tongue found it before my teeth did! 

I washed it off carefully, then put it in a shotglass of mouthwash to keep it overnight.  My dentist had an opening at 3 pm today, so off I went.  I was admitted promptly at 3 pm (be still my beating heart).   First thing they did was sterilize it of course (mouthwash or not - they were kind about that and admired my intent).  Then they examined the tooth for damage and it looking OK, they tried a test re-fit.

It fit so well, they actually had trouble getting it back off.  So they took it away and drilled off the old epoxy.  The dentist Himself came in and showed it to me.  The gold crown was so old it actually had a hole worn through the top.  Well, I had several crowns 40 years ago, so it lasted pretty well.

And I learned something about crowns.  I always thought gold crowns lasted the longest, but was wrong.  Porcelain lasts longest, followed by silver, followed by gold.  And the gold content is low.  But gold wears at about the same rate as tooth enamel, so the bite stays the same.  Silver is close and can easily be ground down to match the bite. 

Porcelain doesn't wear down.  You would think that would be perfect, but it means that the crown top becomes a high spot over decades and makes your jaw adjust and some annoying stuff like that.  It is mostly for cosmetic reasons.  Well, I seriously doubt anyone other than a dentist will ever see that back molar.

The old crown was replaced, but it is temporary (like a year or 3).  It still has that tiny hole in the top, and that will lead to caries someday.  But "tis enough, will serve"...

But it also meant he looked at my other teeth.  I knew there were 2 other teeth that had sharp tops, which meant damage.  I'd been avoiding it. 

But you have to get such things fixed eventually.  As the dentist said, "you can have them fixed now while I can still put a crown on them, or you can wait until they have to be removed entirely".  So I have an appointment in 2 weeks to start getting those 2 teeth crowned, and then the old (now temporary) one from today replaced over a series of visits. 

I hate dental visits.  Well, no one likes them, but mine are worse than average.  I have a small jaw (apparently genetic) and can't open it as far as most people can.  My cats can open theirs more than I can!  A kitten probably can...  I have the jaw of a 12 year old!  In general, I have great genes - other than my teeth.  I seem to owe that to Dad.  At my age, he had almost no tooth unfilled, uncrowned, and 2 partial bridges.  At least I'm not at that point yet.  Hurray for fluoridation and novocaine (and nitrous oxide on occasion during a root canal).

My jaw is so small, my wisdom teeth never even emerged, and even then my teeth are too crowded.  In my 20s, a dentist said I should have 4 teeth extracted; a left upper and lower; a right upper and lower, make proper room for the rest.  At the time, that seemed horrible!  He said it would be painful afterwards for days.  But now I wish I had had that done.  Nothing like hindsight...

As it turned out, I had to have 2 teeth extracted 4 years ago.  One planned because it had simply fallen apart, and one unplanned because the roots were entangled  in the first.  Fortunately, it didn't bother me.  But the thing that amazed me was that the procedure wasn't the least bit painful (as the old dentist suggested it would be).  It was however utterly boring (no pun intended).  Drilling, spitting, holding my head to resist pulls, etc.  Never hurt in the least during or after!

On the other hand, I have a limited number of teeth, so I would like to keep them as long as possible.  Anything good for 20 years is probably OK.

So I'm going on a journey of dental work, which should last until flu season is over.  Then to a doctor to start getting regular exams and a series of physical and virtual exams that my insurance rep says is covered these days as "preventative medicine".  I plan to get every "virtual" test they will allow, and possible some not covered. 

On sad fact is that I've never been to any one doctor for more than a few years, so my medical history is almost non-existent.  But I went through my age-old medical file today and discovered some valuable information. 

Things like a 1988 letter from Mom (in response to my questions) detailing some family and personal history, some old doctor visit bills - a few of which mentioned some blood test results - etc.  I'll make copies to bring to my new doctor (I chose a geriatric internist over a GP).

But the important thing is that I'm getting back on track for regular medical care after decades of assuming I was immortal.  I've treated my cats and maintained my car better than I have myself.

Time to get myself into the maintenance loop...




Friday, February 2, 2018

My Medical Insurance

You all know what it is like talking to you medical insurance company right?  Bad.

Wrong.  I just spent 90 minutes talking to mine and it was WONDERFUL.  Sharaya explained everything to me, told me about the things they covered and how to get fancy virtual tests covered and all that. 

I now have a primary care doctor (and I can change that easily if I want after a visit).  I can get a back specialist directly after one visit to my new primary care doctor and she says I can get virtual tests done with a simple co-pay in the network (and apparently all such specialists are covered) and my primary doctor will actually pay attention to those. 

She said that is the way their coverage is going; high-tech...  United health Care.

I haven't tested it yet, but she was so positive I nearly fell off my chair.  I will call one of the doctors she emailed me today about my back and a annual physical.

But she was so great I had to post this first...

Looking Up

 While I was outside with The Mews, I laid back and looked up.  I thought the tree branches and the clouds were kind of nice. Nothing import...