Hubs and I are in our mid 70s and we have managed to get this far with limited need for medical care. Though lately he has had issues with two lower back discs that are degenerative so he begrudgingly had to make an appointment with an ortho doc after going and getting an MRI at another office two weeks prior. The doc suggested a steroid…
Hubs and I are in our mid 70s and we have managed to get this far with limited need for medical care. Though lately he has had issues with two lower back discs that are degenerative so he begrudgingly had to make an appointment with an ortho doc after going and getting an MRI at another office two weeks prior. The doc suggested a steroid epidural that will have to be administered at another office - two weeks from now. A month of hurting and suffering with his sciatica and no real hope the steroid will help anyway. However, the day after the appointment the doc sent him a request for a star rating. The doc, who only prescribed a procedure that another doc will do, wants a good word on social media.
Unfortunately for the doc we don't do social media and amazingly we do just fine. I have to wonder what Hubs would say about this doc - he has a great smile? He makes great referrals?
Pretty sure social media is like mold in the walls that hides its evil intentions. The black kind that causes all sorts of ills.
A while back we shared a discussion on the benefits of supplements that help support our systems (including musculoskeletal systems - think supporting muscles, discs and ligaments for our skeletal structures, I had been using a commercial formulation which was helping. As a result of our discussion here, have obtained the discussed collagen formulation and started it. So far I seem to be a little more comfortable, but it takes time to build up its effect. In any event you might want to look into the possibilities as you're stuck waiting. Best of improvements to your hubby.
Thank you so much! We are indeed looking into all options, both normal and non. One of our daughters is urging acupuncture. She knows someone who has had great results from a local practitioner. Our oldest granddaughter is a PT and she has given Hubs some stretching exercises to do. As I sat in the waiting room Thursday when Hubs was being referred to another doctor and another waiting room 45 miles away, I noticed most of the patients were elders waiting their turns in the large, cheerful, friendly lit space. Most were moving only with the aid of a wheeled walker. I thought about the irony. Science has given us ways to prolong life, but not make it better. And certainly not cheaper. Us Boomers are aging out and now Social Security and Medicare is upside down and running out so those who are in charge want us old folks eliminated. Well, except for the old folks in Congress. :-)
I do PT recommended exercises daily. One needs to be sure the issues being treated are up to the intervention. if I miss a day or two, I do register on how beneficial the PT is. On the other hand my supplements do help as well. Frequently MDs and maybe DOs aren't fully up on (or agreeable to) the merits the right supplements may offer. Sounds like your family is well up on additional strategies. I qualify as a senior senior, so I appreciate the problems. Very Best of Progress with it!
We have to be proactive for ourselves, which is why we refused to take the clot shot even though we were sternly lectured by some of our own tribe. It's us elders against the world isn't it? This story is somewhat deeper and wider and, for me, exposes the next level of the iceberg that is the boat wrecker of modern healthcare. Hubs had this problem 10 years ago and he was able to find a doc who treated him A to Z and that has held all this time. When he felt the first twinge in early June he knew what he needed to do but the doc who did the good job was long retired. A few weeks passed with him doing nothing so I took it on myself to search out ortho docs in our area. I found a practice in a new multi-story building five miles from our house. Hubs called and was told he would have to get an MRI first and the guardian of the door said they could give him a referral to a place in Atlanta - fifty miles away. Hubs opted to find someone else. He made an appointment with what turned out to be a pill pusher. His experience at that office was having to stand out in the hall for nearly two hours, bad back and all, because the booking agency made appointments ten minutes apart thus filling the waiting room to over capacity. For his trouble he did get a pain med script and referral for an MRI though...wait for it...guess where! To an office in the building where the first contacted ortho is, the one who was going to send him to Atlanta instead of downstairs.
Conclusion: it's just business and the business is about commerce not health and wellbeing. I do know there are old school docs who still practice good medicine and are not just drug reps for Big Pharma. I fear these are fewer and fewer though.
Hubs and I are in our mid 70s and we have managed to get this far with limited need for medical care. Though lately he has had issues with two lower back discs that are degenerative so he begrudgingly had to make an appointment with an ortho doc after going and getting an MRI at another office two weeks prior. The doc suggested a steroid epidural that will have to be administered at another office - two weeks from now. A month of hurting and suffering with his sciatica and no real hope the steroid will help anyway. However, the day after the appointment the doc sent him a request for a star rating. The doc, who only prescribed a procedure that another doc will do, wants a good word on social media.
Unfortunately for the doc we don't do social media and amazingly we do just fine. I have to wonder what Hubs would say about this doc - he has a great smile? He makes great referrals?
Pretty sure social media is like mold in the walls that hides its evil intentions. The black kind that causes all sorts of ills.
A while back we shared a discussion on the benefits of supplements that help support our systems (including musculoskeletal systems - think supporting muscles, discs and ligaments for our skeletal structures, I had been using a commercial formulation which was helping. As a result of our discussion here, have obtained the discussed collagen formulation and started it. So far I seem to be a little more comfortable, but it takes time to build up its effect. In any event you might want to look into the possibilities as you're stuck waiting. Best of improvements to your hubby.
Thank you so much! We are indeed looking into all options, both normal and non. One of our daughters is urging acupuncture. She knows someone who has had great results from a local practitioner. Our oldest granddaughter is a PT and she has given Hubs some stretching exercises to do. As I sat in the waiting room Thursday when Hubs was being referred to another doctor and another waiting room 45 miles away, I noticed most of the patients were elders waiting their turns in the large, cheerful, friendly lit space. Most were moving only with the aid of a wheeled walker. I thought about the irony. Science has given us ways to prolong life, but not make it better. And certainly not cheaper. Us Boomers are aging out and now Social Security and Medicare is upside down and running out so those who are in charge want us old folks eliminated. Well, except for the old folks in Congress. :-)
I do PT recommended exercises daily. One needs to be sure the issues being treated are up to the intervention. if I miss a day or two, I do register on how beneficial the PT is. On the other hand my supplements do help as well. Frequently MDs and maybe DOs aren't fully up on (or agreeable to) the merits the right supplements may offer. Sounds like your family is well up on additional strategies. I qualify as a senior senior, so I appreciate the problems. Very Best of Progress with it!
We have to be proactive for ourselves, which is why we refused to take the clot shot even though we were sternly lectured by some of our own tribe. It's us elders against the world isn't it? This story is somewhat deeper and wider and, for me, exposes the next level of the iceberg that is the boat wrecker of modern healthcare. Hubs had this problem 10 years ago and he was able to find a doc who treated him A to Z and that has held all this time. When he felt the first twinge in early June he knew what he needed to do but the doc who did the good job was long retired. A few weeks passed with him doing nothing so I took it on myself to search out ortho docs in our area. I found a practice in a new multi-story building five miles from our house. Hubs called and was told he would have to get an MRI first and the guardian of the door said they could give him a referral to a place in Atlanta - fifty miles away. Hubs opted to find someone else. He made an appointment with what turned out to be a pill pusher. His experience at that office was having to stand out in the hall for nearly two hours, bad back and all, because the booking agency made appointments ten minutes apart thus filling the waiting room to over capacity. For his trouble he did get a pain med script and referral for an MRI though...wait for it...guess where! To an office in the building where the first contacted ortho is, the one who was going to send him to Atlanta instead of downstairs.
Conclusion: it's just business and the business is about commerce not health and wellbeing. I do know there are old school docs who still practice good medicine and are not just drug reps for Big Pharma. I fear these are fewer and fewer though.