Dealing with never-ending doctor visits

Posted by scottbeammeup @scottbeammeup, Jan 21 2:20pm

In short, I am SICK of endless doctor visits. It seems my entire life has become gym, work, time off work to go to some doctor or other, work into the night to make up time lost to doctor visits.

I thought that with the end of my treatment I'd only have three month follow ups but, while my PSA is good and my testosterone is returning, my red and white blood cell counts have dropped a lot. My GP feels it's a late side effect of radiation. Oncologist is a bit more squirrely about it.

Regardless, I ended up in the hospital over the long weekend, completely ruining it, because I went into Afib which wouldn't stop, and which apparently can be triggered by anemia. So, now they scheduled me to see a hematologist, a cardiologist, a cardiology nurse for a stress test, a cardiac electrophysiologist, and they want me to take a heart medication that, of course, requires liver tests every three months and is likely to trigger something else that will require yet another doctor. My GP also wants to rerun bloodwork plus I'm due soon for another post-PC PSA test and now the eye doctor and dentist are calling for my normal visits.

Anyway, not really asking anything here, just going on a bit of a rant. Maybe I can add in a psychiatrist to get some meds to calm me down about all the other doctor visits?

I envisioned getting older as peacefully sitting under a tree reading a book, taking the time to cook a nice meal to share with family and friends, while birds chirped outside my window and neighbors waved as they walked by. I guess it's not really going to be like that.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

@bluegill

Google "the cat in the hat on aging"

Think of all the good we do by stimulating the medical economy.

I just got a call from my hospital's business office, and apparently I had two outstanding bills from last year. The total was about $50. I was so happy it was such a small amount that I paid it over the phone right then and there and told the lady to have a nice day. I cannot for the life of me figure out all the billing paperwork.

Every time I get a PSA I get a bill weeks later for $3.18 ??

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Oh $3.18?? That’s for the alcohol wipe used to clean your arm before the blood draw.
Insurance companies did a study and found that there is no “patient benefit” to having a sterile surface on your arm where the needle punctures the skin so now the patient has to pay for it…
Yeah, I made that up just now but it’s ridiculous things like that which make my blood boil - AND add billions of dollars to their bottom line.

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@heavyphil

Oh $3.18?? That’s for the alcohol wipe used to clean your arm before the blood draw.
Insurance companies did a study and found that there is no “patient benefit” to having a sterile surface on your arm where the needle punctures the skin so now the patient has to pay for it…
Yeah, I made that up just now but it’s ridiculous things like that which make my blood boil - AND add billions of dollars to their bottom line.

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Insurance is just so random. I was terrified of what my bill would be for my cancer treatment: radiation, cardiology appointments, psychologist appointments, ADT, etc. and my out of pocket was $1,000. Just a couple years ago I sliced the tip of my finger off and went to the ER for stitches, which a NURSE did, and the bill was $3,500 out of pocket. $2,000 of that was for a hand surgeon which, I assume, was the doctor who popped his head in the door and said "is everything alright in here?" I challenged that part of the bill and they dropped it.

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@scottbeammeup

Insurance is just so random. I was terrified of what my bill would be for my cancer treatment: radiation, cardiology appointments, psychologist appointments, ADT, etc. and my out of pocket was $1,000. Just a couple years ago I sliced the tip of my finger off and went to the ER for stitches, which a NURSE did, and the bill was $3,500 out of pocket. $2,000 of that was for a hand surgeon which, I assume, was the doctor who popped his head in the door and said "is everything alright in here?" I challenged that part of the bill and they dropped it.

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Scheisters increase daily exponentially

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