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That reminds me, I was going to email you but other things came up, as you can see from this thread. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by KBC
I still can't view the plans you sent me. It's so frustrating. It's like have Pandora's box but not even having the option of looking inside.
Next time you're up at 3 call me, I'll probably be up for my 10th trip to the bathroom. :( I have a tiny bladder, apparently it's the size of a lentil.
Is the blood red or dark?Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
Why a CT scan?
Red Wondergirl, and fee flowing, almost like you cut yourself and it's just gushing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
The CT scan is to check out my abdomen, see if there are any abnormalities. He's just covering all the bases. He also wants an ultrasound done, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy.
Well, it's better to have too many tests and rule out some options, than to decide against the one that could catch the problem because you don't think it's needed.
I know you posted it before, but where are you bleeding from? I missed it I think..,.
:eek: You're going to make me repeat it? It was hard enough to post it the first time. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell
I'm bleeding from my bum Bella. It's a bum bleed. Say that 5 times fast. ;)
This sounds like colon, and you are not an emergency?Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
I can't believe that either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
Ohhhhhhh sorry!!
Yikes a bum bleed. Um wow. How come you're not at emerg? Um a bum bleed. Wow.
During a visit to a mental institution, I asked the Director, 'How do you determine whether a patient should be institutionalized?'
'Well,' said the Director, 'we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon,a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.'
'Oh, I understand,' I said. 'A normal person would use the bucket because
It's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.'
'No.' said the Director, 'A normal person would pull the plug. Do u want a bed near the window?'
ARE YOU GOING TO PASS THIS ON, OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE?
I'll take the bed next to yours if it gets me out of work.
So, I guess it's a bad thing that I would roll up my pantlegs and splash the water out like a dog digging a hole?Quote:
Originally Posted by KBC
I've heard that one before. I'll take the bed next to yours. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by KBC
It's Canada WG. My doctor could set up my being in the hospital, but they'll likely not run any tests, they'll just do blood work, possibly prescribe iron (like my doctor did) and then set up appointments with specialists (like my doctor did). Unless I pass out, or my hemoglobin fails to rise from the iron pills, they won't do anything without a diagnosis. They don't diagnose, they treat. It's frustrating.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
The only time I ever got treatment in the hospital was when I miscarried, and that's only because I was hemorrhaging and passed out while they were leading me to a treatment room.
Even then, I was there for around 5 hours before they decided to do a D&C. They did ultrasounds first (to see if the fetus had passed) and when they realized it hadn't and that I was losing blood fast, I had the D & C. It's a long process.
There's nothing I can do. Sadly, there's also nothing my doctor can do, until I get a diagnosis, which he's doing his best to discover.
You are hemorrhaging now. The iron pills are only making your blood richer before it pours out of your body. Your doctor has no power to get you a colonoscopy, like, yesterday?Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
How long have you been bleeding?
I've been bleeding on and off since I was a teen. It's only gotten to be consistent in the last few years. Actually, since my miscarriage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
He can only request, he has no power over the specialists. It's first come first serve and the waiting list is usually around 6 months, unless you can dish out the $5000 + to get ahead of the line.
Here's the thing. The iron pills are raising my hemoglobin, keeping me alive, until I get a diagnosis. It's the first step. If it doesn't work, we go to the next step.
I've mentioned a transfusion to him, that's a last resort. There are many risks with a transfusion and most doctors only resort to it if there aren't any other options. His concern about the transfusion is that we don't know what's causing the anemia. It would be like putting a bandaid on an arterial wound. It may stench the bleeding, but it won't fix the wound, it will still kill you, only slower.
If nothing else works then I'll have to have a transfusion, but his hope is to find the source and fix that, instead of pouring water into a leaking pipe without looking for the hole.
That's where I'm at. I need to get in to the specialists, get a diagnosis and fix the leak. I'm hoping it's a simple leak.
The fact that I have an appointment for a CT scan on April 6, it's amazing. I know you all think it's so far away, but considering that most people have to wait 6 months or more, well, my doctor is pulling every string he can. He's doing the best working within a system that is set up to go against doctors and their patients.
I agree with ALL of this advice.
I also would like to point out that those of you in the US should contact your congressman with what Alty is going through and ask him/her NOT to vote for the health bill. THIS is why I hate nationalized medicine.
And all I can do right now is sit here and pray and worry my guts out for my sister Alty.
It's not that far off. It's what? 2-3 weeks? During that time you'll be taking the iron pills to stay as healthy as possible, and possibly even getting a little better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
It's only been this way for a few years Synn. It wasn't always this bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Synnen
We used to pay $18/month for health care and if you needed to go to a specialist, it was instant.
Then the powers that be decided to change it, make it a two tier system where the rich get in right away and the poor wait for an appointment, unless they can dish out the thousands to get in right away.
We no longer pay the $18/month, the government does, but if you need that $5000 CT scan and have to wait for 6 months, you really wish you could go back to paying that $18/month.
Exactly. I also have that full physical with my doctor on March 30.Quote:
Originally Posted by hheath541
Right now I just have to get my hemoglobin up (which the iron is slowly doing) so we can find out what's causing everything.
I do feel better. I do feel stronger. It's working. It's not a permanent solution but it will keep me alive until I find out what I'm dealing with.
Getting your hemoglobin level up has nothing to do with fixing what's bleeding.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
This is insane what a system. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
I would LOVE it if the US had a GOOD universal healthcare system. Right now a huge portion of the country just doesn't have healthcare. There's always the emergency room, but if you need to go to a specialist for something less than life threatening, or have an issue that requires more long-term or intensive care than the emergency room can give, you're SOL. If you're dying, they'll treat you. Otherwise, expect to be sent on your way with a bogus diagnosis and a prescription for meds you don't need.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
The little bit I know about england's healthcare system seems to work quite well. There are probably lots of issues I know nothing about, though.
No, it doesn't, but either would a blood transfusion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
Until we find the source, nothing will really work long term.
Iron pills are safer then a transfusion, so I'm on iron pills. If the iron pills don't work, it's step two. A transfusion is last on the list.
Why is a transfusion last on the list? Why isn't it safe? I had one in Sept. -- 3 units of blood. It's just a matter of matching blood types. And I got that after they found out why I was bleeding and started meds to heal it. Once I got home, I started taking iron once a day until my hemoglobin level was back to normal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
It sounds like they have the cart before the horse.
It is and it isn't Stringer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stringer
I can see both sides. I have a lot of friends in the US, if they didn't have health insurance, they wouldn't be able to afford to stay healthy.
It may take a while to see a specialist here, but it's not going to cost me my house, even if it is cancer.
Once I have a diagnosis, no time is wasted. If it is cancer I'll get treatment that same day and that will continue. Chemo, radiation, hospital stays, medication, specialists, all on the governments dime, unless I want a phone or a TV in my hospital room, then it will cost me $5 a day.
No system is perfect. I have to work with what I have because of where I live, as does my doctor. :)
If they screw all this up hon I am really going to beat some a$$! This is starting to pi$$ me off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
Just do what you can and get better... promise?Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
Yup. I'm ready to start a "Fly Alty to Mayo Clinic" fund.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stringer
WG, this isn't from my doctor, but here is some info on blood transfusion and anemia. It can explain the risks better then I can. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Wondergirl
I talked to Sneezy about this, he also explained why blood transfusions shouldn't be the first resort. He's glad that my doctor is going about this the way he is.Quote:
Doctors attempt to avoid blood transfusion in general, since multiple lines of evidence point to increased adverse patient clinical outcomes with more intensive transfusion strategies. The physiological principle that reduction of oxygen delivery associated with anemia leads to adverse clinical outcomes is balanced by the finding that transfusion does not necessarily mitigate these adverse clinical outcomes.
Transfusion of the stable but anemic hospitalized patient has been the subject of numerous clinical trials, and transfusion is emerging as a deleterious intervention.
Four randomized controlled clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate aggressive versus conservative transfusion strategies in critically ill patients. All four of these studies failed to find a benefit with more aggressive transfusion strategies.[
In addition, at least two retrospective studies have shown increases in adverse clinical outcomes with more aggressive transfusion strategies.
Stringer, I'm being cared for, really I am.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stringer
My doctor is doing what he can, all he can. If push comes to shove and I get worse, he'll knock down the specialists doors himself, that I know for a fact.
Trust me, I'm getting good care, I really am.
I must have been one sick puppy to be anemic and then to get a transfusion after my endogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
I'm just saying...Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
Like what -- unconscious? Dead?Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
I see everyone is riding you Alty to do this and that. But know they and the rest of us care. Your valued here on and off this board with the friends you have made. Like the rest I feel you should push for more. But I guess your hands are tied and you do the best you can do with what's handed to you. Just thinking if you and wishing you well tonight. Worried. Bleeding the way you are isn't good. I feel there should be more done.
I can't afford to NOT be healthy. I honestly think that's a huge part of why I just don't get sick.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altenweg
I know that you don't mean it this way however some aren't quite so lucky hon.Quote:
Originally Posted by hheath541
Oh, I know. And I'm thankful I don't get sick. The only problem is, when I do get sick, I usually just ignore it. I'd never notice something was seriously wrong until it was SERIOUSLY wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stringer
If I ended up with alty's symptoms, I'm not sure I'd go to the hospital until I had no other option. Even then, I'm not sure they'd do anything unless I was unconscious or comatose.
I understand everyone's concern and I share that concern. It's hard to describe the health care system here, at least without making it look bad. I appreciate the concern and I thank you all for caring so much about me. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by 88sunflower
Most of you, my friends in the states, have some health insurance, am I right? In other words, you can afford health care. I'm guessing that not everyone can.
Here, everyone has health care. Everyone can go to the doctor or the hospital and get treatment. It doesn't cost a dime.
There are pros and cons. Yes, I have to wait to see a specialist. Yes, I have to wait for a diagnosis, but, I will get one. They won't stop until they find out what's wrong and then I will get treated asap.
I can't push for more. It's not possible. My doctor also can't push for more. All he can do is stress to the specialists that he thinks I should be first in line. Sadly, those that are willing and able to pay for their tests are ahead, no matter what. It's not my doctors fault, it's the greed of the specialists. Have money, you're first, otherwise, you wait, like all the others that can't afford thousands of dollars to bud into line. My doctor isn't part of the system we have, he gets paid by the government for the patients he sees. He's not a specialist.
That's the fault with a two tier system. It's what I'm working with here, what my doctor is working with.
You are still young (enjoy that... K cause it will change someday) and vibrant and you can fight off things a bit easier. But you should never wait when something may be wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by hheath541
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