OT - Grumpy Old Man Thread

[FearlessF]

my doc suggested a multivitamin would be a good thing
I took one for a year or so.  I should probably get another bottle - wouldn't hurt me

[847badgerfan]

Cardiologist appointment at 11AM. Film at 11PM.

[Riffraft]

I have an annual physical with full work up.  Colonoscopy every 5 years (due this year). Take a multivitamin, 500 IU of Vitamin E and 1000mg of vitamin C every day.  I have a few chronic things, Gout (take a pill to help prevent flareups), Acid Reflex (take prescription priloec) and glaucoma (3 different eye drops at various time during the day, Lost almost no vision so far because it was caught very early).  But everything seems to be good every year, low PSA, etc.  But I have known too many people who don't get checkups and find out they are very ill or dying when if they had just had regular checkups it could have been caught before it became terminal.  Regular physicals aren't perfect but for a once a year hour or two quite worth it. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

As I mentioned once, I haven't had a checkup since before COVID. My company had sponsored an on-site health clinic which made it really convenient to schedule, since all I had to do was walk up two flights of stairs from my office. I really liked the doctor there; he was very thorough and would take the time to really sit with you--my annual checkup appts were typically a full hour. They even offered services like PT which was useful after I sprained my wrist in late 2015... But then COVID showed up, nobody was going to the office, and so it didn't make sense to continue with the clinic.

But I finally have the names of two doctors recommended, that are in network, so I'm going to call one of them today and try to establish as my new primary care doctor and get my checkup scheduled. 

[Cincydawg]

I went for many years with no checkup, no doctor visit for me at all.  I had a run in with our insurance, imagine that, with one of my kids' treatments.  Nobody at the insurance could explain why something wasn't covered when clearly it was listed to be covered.

So, in a bit of a pique I quit going.  I took my kids as needed, and didn't have any more bad run ins.  My wife can be a bit of a nag about stuff like this, imagine that, so when we moved here I found a pretty good MD I go to once a year.  Mostly I want to look at my blood numbers.  I'm reading oral health may be important for more than your teeth also.

I wish I could lose weight better than I am, it seems clingy.

[MikeDeTiger]

Get all you've had looked at looked at closer.  Might as well, you've dipped your toe in.  Shit, it's 2025, and they can't do better than "there's a mass on your kidney?"  Seems to me whatever found that is a waste of time and they should just start with whatever's next, for any kind of precision.

Anyway, I hope all is well.

Thanks.

It's an insurance thing, and I can't tell if it makes sense to me because it actually makes sense or because I used to go through all this for patients when I worked at a clinic.  I guess my wife would be much better equipped to answer the first part.  The insurance companies won't approve certain tests without certain conditions or until other tests have been done first.  What happened in this case was a CT of my chest caught just enough of down where my kidney is that the radiologist thought there might be something there to look closer at, but the CT was of the wrong area to really know for sure.  When that happens, a lot of times you have to do an ultrasound first, insurance won't just jump straight to paying for another CT.  If an ultrasound confirms a problem, a CT may be recommended to gather more information.

Given the vast differences in costs between various types of imaging tests, I guess I get it.  For example, we'd catch breast cancer like gangbusters and basically never miss if women had MRI's.  But, the reality is, mammograms are actually pretty good (just not as good as MRIs) and they're so much cheaper, and insurance won't pay for MRIs when mammograms are a thing.  

For my ethics presentation as part of my capstone, I did a presentation on AI in radiology.  In researching it I learned that soon AI could reduce time (and therefore cost) on MRIs to the point where they could become more financially feasible for more circumstances.  BUT....I'm not holding my breath, where business, profit, and especially medical guidelines are concerned, which are like trying to push on a glacier to make it move faster.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Of course grumpy old man time... So I haven't been to the doc in 6 years. 

My wife has been telling me for years now that I should go. But... She works in a medical office, and she has ideas on who I should or shouldn't go to since my previous PCP is no longer available. I got a recommendation from a retired coworker, and that doctor isn't accepting new patients. So I started doing my own research and sent my wife some of the names--this might have been as long as a year ago, and all I got back was "No" lol... So I told her--"okay, you pick". 

Which she finally did--she gave me three names about a week and a half ago, and I just started looking at it yesterday. After she'd chided me a few days ago about having done nothing with the names. 

So I narrow it down and pick one, telling her I'm going to call today about establishing as a new patient. And what I get back from my anxious wife is...

"Why are you on this so much all of a sudden? Are you ok?"

Ummm... 

[Cincydawg]

Yup.  

[MikeDeTiger]

...this might have been as long as a year ago...

Which she finally did--she gave me three names about a week and a half ago, and I just started looking at it yesterday. After she'd chided me a few days ago about having done nothing with the names. 

This checks out.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Of course, she gave me three names in order of her preference. I eliminated #2 because he didn't show up on my insurance website as in network--and his head shot made him look like a complete meathead. 

Called #1--he's not accepting new patients. GRR...

But got set up with #3, so I'll get to go in mid-August, get my check-up, and have him tell me that everything except my liver is in good working order. 

[847badgerfan]

Milk Thistle is a good friend for the liver.

[jgvol]

Milk Thistle is a good friend for the liver.

So is Knob Creek.

[betarhoalphadelta]

[Honestbuckeye]

My go to.  Nothing fancy but smooth and consistent.