Referral for Pulmonologist

@igm
Welcome to Mayo Connect.

How frustrating that when you advocate for the best care, you hit a roadblock.
Does your husband have the ability to self-refer? Is there a specific pulmonologist you wish to see?

Not knowing your location, but if it's near a large medical center, maybe you can call and ask to make an appointment. I know Mayo does both provider and self-referrals.

If interested in an appointment at Mayo, you can start the process at:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/appointments
Do you care to share where you are located? Maybe members will have suggestions for a pulmonologist they recommend?

Since your husband is a veteran, is there a VA clinic where he can be seen?

@igm Since you mentioned Agent Orange, is your husband going to the VA for his care? If not, please try them. If he is, and the doctor isn't forthcoming with a referral, contact the patient advocate there. They are good at getting things moving.

@sueinmn Thank you for replying. Yes, we called VA
patient advocate and was told there was nothing they could do. I did find out doctor will schedule chest CT in 6 months. I don't know whether to be worried or not.

@roch Thank you for your reply. We live in Northern Michigan. His healthcare is the VA and he has Community Care. We wanted a pulmonologist to make sure it is safe to wait so long. But patient advocate said there was nothing they can do. He cannot self-refer. The VA does not allow it. We did find out VA clinic doctor will schedule chest CT scan in 6 months. I don't understand this with his medical history that I gave in my original message here. He hasn't a choice but wait.

May not same as your situation, but this discussion is related to VA.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/va-assistance/
@johnbishop , do you have any advice?

Thanks for the tag @roch. @igm have you seen this information that allows Veterans to self schedule care with community providers? It might be worth a try.
-- Enhancement allows Veterans to Self-Schedule care with community providers
https://news.va.gov/92163/online-scheduling-manage-community-care-appointments-online-at-the-click-of-a-button/
More information here if you haven't seen the site - https://www.va.gov/COMMUNITYCARE/providers/Care-Coordination.asp

@igm Find your local veterans support organization, run through your state. They were great in cutting red tape for several vets we know - in 3 different states.

Thank you for the suggestion.

@johnbishop Thank you. This is very helpful for future. It can be a frustrating waiting for scheduling between VA and community providers to connect. It took a month for one scan to schedule. It doesn't help in this problem because we can't override primary physician's refusal of request for pulmonology.

Hello @igm

I am sorry to hear of all the problems your husband is having. It sounds frustrating. You mentioned in your first post that his doctor says that he is getting appropriate treatment. What type of treatment is he getting right now? Is he taking inhalers or other medications?