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Well folks,
I have survived yet another hospital stay, and am now recovering from it. It’s a long story, but I will try to be as succinct as possible. As I previously posted, my local cardio is no longer under my insurance program, and I was unable to set up a working relationship between him and the specialist in Beverly Hills, and the Ins. Cardio’s were not working out, and the requested referral to another local cardio specialist in the plan died on somebody’s desk along with the request to be seen by a stroke specialist. (The MRI said something was amiss – but not another stroke thank goodness.)
Anyway, the BH Cardio said it was bad medicine to be treating me via phone (I concur). I would have gone to the hospital if I had a cardio I trusted to treat me (my out-of-pocket guy can’t) so I spent a week and a half trying to set up a working arrangement. I saw my cardio Monday and he gave me the name of a cardio in the plan who he said was good and he could work with. Tuesday I saw my Endocrinologist because my insurance won’t cover more then 9,000 units of any one insulin in a 90 day period. (I will now start a third type of insulin and am cleared for 250 units a day total for the three of them.) Tuesday afternoon I packed some cloths, ate an early dinner, and headed for the fourth hospital (where the new cardio works.) So much for background.
I was admitted through the ER, and a bunch of tests were set up. (The heavy swelling in my legs had by this time gone away to be replaced by a gurgling in both lungs – CHF.) I was put on a saline drip and given Lasix through the IV. Shortly thereafter my kidneys shut down and we were talking dialysis. By the way, it’s real scary to rely on an attending to prescribe meds when you know he has screwed up your regular drug regimen and you don’t know if the new changes are intended or not (had a bit of both). Anyway, the drip was going 24 hrs a day, and I was getting Lovenox (anticoagulant) shots in the abdomen plus Plavix. I had an almost unending nose bleed and my hemorrhoids also started bleeding. I refused further Plavix tablets and the bleeding stopped, however, my kidneys did begin functioning again – such as it is. I am now down to an eighteen to twenty percent function. I was able to get the creatinin level below five and avoided the dialysis, but I am relatively certain that it is an only temporary reprieve. (My creatinin level had gone to 6.1 and the BUN to 116 for those of you who know what that means.)
I was taken off all diuretics and the Potassium, and my legs are filling up again. My feet are rounding out to look more and more like sausages, but I think my lungs are still clear. With the many blood tests, and the insulin shots, and the Lovenox shots in the stomach, I have masses of bruises and look like I survived a train wreck and not a hospital stay – but they don’t hurt – however my stomach is starting to bother me like it did the last time.
I will see my endocrinologist one more time before he retires, and I’ll have to find a new one – but on the plus side, I think I will be able to set up a working arrangement for cardiological coverage, and my nephrologist and his associates came through like champs. On Monday I will see my PCP again, and will see if I can get her to move on the referral for the stroke specialist. I have my high risk caseworker all set to try to push it through, if she ever gets it, because it is for another out of plan doctor. (I was referred to an in-plan neurologist who said he was not a stroke specialist and could not help me – so there is a chance the authorization just might go through.
By the way, the stress test knocked the **** out of me, but it showed that my heart was doing well. The EKG’s and the Echo also showed that no new coronary arteries were blocked. (These fool silver linings get stuck in the darnedest places.) So I guess I’m back to haunt you guys again - - deal with it.
Burt
PS Happy Thanksgiving
I have survived yet another hospital stay, and am now recovering from it. It’s a long story, but I will try to be as succinct as possible. As I previously posted, my local cardio is no longer under my insurance program, and I was unable to set up a working relationship between him and the specialist in Beverly Hills, and the Ins. Cardio’s were not working out, and the requested referral to another local cardio specialist in the plan died on somebody’s desk along with the request to be seen by a stroke specialist. (The MRI said something was amiss – but not another stroke thank goodness.)
Anyway, the BH Cardio said it was bad medicine to be treating me via phone (I concur). I would have gone to the hospital if I had a cardio I trusted to treat me (my out-of-pocket guy can’t) so I spent a week and a half trying to set up a working arrangement. I saw my cardio Monday and he gave me the name of a cardio in the plan who he said was good and he could work with. Tuesday I saw my Endocrinologist because my insurance won’t cover more then 9,000 units of any one insulin in a 90 day period. (I will now start a third type of insulin and am cleared for 250 units a day total for the three of them.) Tuesday afternoon I packed some cloths, ate an early dinner, and headed for the fourth hospital (where the new cardio works.) So much for background.
I was admitted through the ER, and a bunch of tests were set up. (The heavy swelling in my legs had by this time gone away to be replaced by a gurgling in both lungs – CHF.) I was put on a saline drip and given Lasix through the IV. Shortly thereafter my kidneys shut down and we were talking dialysis. By the way, it’s real scary to rely on an attending to prescribe meds when you know he has screwed up your regular drug regimen and you don’t know if the new changes are intended or not (had a bit of both). Anyway, the drip was going 24 hrs a day, and I was getting Lovenox (anticoagulant) shots in the abdomen plus Plavix. I had an almost unending nose bleed and my hemorrhoids also started bleeding. I refused further Plavix tablets and the bleeding stopped, however, my kidneys did begin functioning again – such as it is. I am now down to an eighteen to twenty percent function. I was able to get the creatinin level below five and avoided the dialysis, but I am relatively certain that it is an only temporary reprieve. (My creatinin level had gone to 6.1 and the BUN to 116 for those of you who know what that means.)
I was taken off all diuretics and the Potassium, and my legs are filling up again. My feet are rounding out to look more and more like sausages, but I think my lungs are still clear. With the many blood tests, and the insulin shots, and the Lovenox shots in the stomach, I have masses of bruises and look like I survived a train wreck and not a hospital stay – but they don’t hurt – however my stomach is starting to bother me like it did the last time.
I will see my endocrinologist one more time before he retires, and I’ll have to find a new one – but on the plus side, I think I will be able to set up a working arrangement for cardiological coverage, and my nephrologist and his associates came through like champs. On Monday I will see my PCP again, and will see if I can get her to move on the referral for the stroke specialist. I have my high risk caseworker all set to try to push it through, if she ever gets it, because it is for another out of plan doctor. (I was referred to an in-plan neurologist who said he was not a stroke specialist and could not help me – so there is a chance the authorization just might go through.
By the way, the stress test knocked the **** out of me, but it showed that my heart was doing well. The EKG’s and the Echo also showed that no new coronary arteries were blocked. (These fool silver linings get stuck in the darnedest places.) So I guess I’m back to haunt you guys again - - deal with it.
Burt
PS Happy Thanksgiving
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