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The hospital emergency room.

#141
spade2you said:
Again, there are outreach programs and clinics. If my town has them, most probably would. Waiting until Friday at 11pm doesn't help.

I'm well aware that problems can happen after hours. I once had an urgent plumbing issue after hours and paid the price.
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I don't doubt you, but still uninsured people are told to go to the ER. By just about everyone. That's what they know. If you have no insurance you do what you can to get by. Right or wrong, people on the bottom rung tend not to care about the cost efficiency of the upper rungs. That's not a opinion endorsing anything, just an observation.
 
#142
electracoyote said:
...in general, this is not true for many...
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According to my sister who spent 15 years in the ER as an RN before obtaining her PA license, people using the ER as their primary care because they can't afford anything else is (tragically) the rule rather than the exception.

She was a member of the traveling nurses corps so she saw this in many many places across America. It was in fact her frustration with totally dysfunctional ER operations which prompted her to change her position in the medical field.
 
#143
blue4 said:
I don't doubt you, but still uninsured people are told to go to the ER. By just about everyone. That's what they know. If you have no insurance you do what you can to get by. Right or wrong, people on the bottom rung tend not to care about the cost efficiency of the upper rungs. That's not a opinion endorsing anything, just an observation.
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The fact that this is all they know is a heck of a problem. Not sure what my hospital does with folks like this since I don't work down there as much any more. Education on better alternatives would be a start since a meal or OTC is a ~$10 problem that turned into an ~$800 problem.

Taking better care of themselves and not waiting until things get bad would be another.

Either way, we're basically screwed since the US has become blame oriented and not solution oriented.
 
#144
DwaynieAD said:
she sees a family doctor, neurologist, physical therapist, pain management specialist, surgeon, and has previously seen another surgeon, another therapist, and a chiropractor. when she can't get a refill on her meds for 3 more days, is severely dehydrated from constant vomiting, and has been like this for 3 days what would you suggest she do? I'm deferring to your obviously superior knowledge on this subject.
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Sounds like withdrawl. Just my opinion but since you asked and it's a beautiful day in the hood.
 
#145
BawanaRik said:
Sounds like withdrawl. Just my opinion but since you asked and it's a beautiful day in the hood.
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Probably more a rebound effect, technically.

Do we know the migraine triggers? If the doc doesn't know them by now, definitely time to find a better doc with superior problem solving skills.

Only MSG and sulfites can give migraines, which aren't too hard for me to avoid.
 
#146
I realize that a great many of you live in large cities with multiple clinics and hospitals and indeed have access to outreach services.

However some of us live in small towns 100 miles away from any big city with one clinic and one hospital and a handfull of doctors most of whom wont even accept medicaid or medicare.

Theres a lot of small towns out there with even less and unless you live in the same county as those outreach centers you are out of luck.
 
#147
Nev375 said:
However some of us live in small towns 100 miles away from any big city with one clinic and one hospital and a handfull of doctors most of whom wont even accept medicaid or medicare.
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I'm gonna need to see proof of this. Contrary to what people might believe reimbursement with Medicaid tends to be as good as most insurance companies. Sometimes there is more paperwork and hoops to jump through. Private insurance can also mean paperwork and jumping through hoops.
 
#148
DwaynieAD said:
has your wife tried doing a valium regiment? my wife did one for a month and was great. she's finally found a physical therapist that wanted to do CT's and Xrays before they started wrenching on her. We finally (after 5+ years) seem to be making some headway in that her migraines may be muscle related.
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I also had chronic migraines from the time I was very young. I missed school quite a bit because of them, along with lots of other issues that I'm sure you're familiar with.
For me, accupuncture truely helped. I spent years with many doctors never finding a real reason for mine. Went on different medicines, which usually were just there for helping with the pain once it was there... not how I wanted to go about life. Last resort, I tried accupuncture. After 9 months of it, I stopped getting migraines daily. After 12 months, I stopped getting them all together. Every once in a great while I get one now, but the past two years have been the best I can remember. It may have been placebo and pure luck/timing that I got "fixed" the same time I was doing accupuncture, but whatever it was, I'm better now :). Can't hurt to try!
 
#149
spade2you said:
I'm gonna need to see proof of this. Contrary to what people might believe reimbursement with Medicaid tends to be as good as most insurance companies. Sometimes there is more paperwork and hoops to jump through. Private insurance can also mean paperwork and jumping through hoops.
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As I understand it, it gives them the right to deny service to certain people and cater to a more specific demographic.
 
#150
BawanaRik said:
I find most flu respond well to acetaminophen. I bought a jug for next to nothing years ago and it still works.

Pain is part of life. To get a handle check out the US consumption of oxycodone. The API in many popular pain meds.
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Watch out, it's a liver toxin. A friend of mine got seriously messed up using Tylenol regularly.
 
#152
Nev375 said:
As I understand it, it gives them the right to deny service to certain people and cater to a more specific demographic.
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Back in the day, Medicaid and Medicare used to make MDs jump through a lot of hoops because of all the people caught attempting Medicaid fraud. (Un)fortunately, private insurance companies make them jump through just as many hoops and don't always reimburse as well. Private insurance realized they could behave similarly to Medicaid. No reason not to.
 
#158
Nev375 said:
True. Suicide is always an option.
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I'll bet I can other more positive options.

It's my opinion that hyper drama, polemics and somewhat snarky remarks such as this do not make the world a better place.

I have to wonder how many people reading your post were lead to believe that was their only option.

Let's leave the drama etc at home.

After all we're saving the world here!
 
#159
MJ5150 said:
I had the privilege of spending five or so hours in my local hospital Monday night into Tuesday morning. My father complained of chest pain, slurred speech, and difficulty walking, so I drove him in. My father is old school, and absolutely, positively, demanded no 911 or ambulance ride.

Upon arrival, I found it so very interesting how people define a medical emergency in 2013. We sat around people who didn't "feel good". A young lady near us thought she might have the flu. One lady was there with her four kids, and she was having knee pain. Another man hurt his finger in the car door when he closed it. I overheard a woman talking to her daughter about a vaginal infection. In came a woman who had a sore back. Later in the evening a couple came in who wanted someone to clean their ears out since it was hard for them to hear. One guy thought he had gall bladder problems and wanted an operation to fix them. Maybe it's just me, and I don't get what a medical emergency is. Maybe I was just hyper sensitive because of the condition of my father.

-Mike
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You don't need to be in a dire emergency to visit the emergency room. If there is a non-severe medical issue and your doctor can't see you, then you are advised to go to the emergency room. Nowadays, you can go to private medical facilities, like Patient First, that provide emergency room-ish services where the severity of the medical issue is not severe, e.g. flu, minor cuts, sore throat, headache, pain, etc.
 

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