Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I have massive chronic pain due to a dislodged/herniated disc with "hints" of possible arthritic advances or what not. Recently had surgery 6 months ago, no dice(along with several epidurals). Recently have been sent to a PM office. Was put on a relatively new drug Nucynta(made around 08 or 09 I believe). Had a horrible two days, Finally broke down and had my wife call my doc after feeling anxious, in pain, sick, ill, etc etc. Just wanted some bedside manner relief. She Called around 620pm last night. Not too late...but the doc would have been "off the clock"(even though a doc would be on call). She first had to go through an answering service."Is this an emergency?" They ask. My wife went on to say what was wrong, how she was scared, etc etc. Finally a doc called back, and didn't seem too happy."First of all, use this line ONLY for emergencies. Tell him to stop taking the drug and I'll have his PA call him tomorrow." If it was a "true" emergency. If I was having a heart attack, I think I'd call 911...not some answering service to get permission to call 911. I kinda felt like shit that I broke down and called the doc after experiencing so many side effects, but it did feel like an emergency for me...Any fellow stories you'd like to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf and Statler Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I once experienced Testicular torsion. It was the most painful thing I've experienced and didn't pinpoint until it was almost too late. The following weeks were damn painful as well. I've fortunately have never had anything else that's serious, besides fake teeth and having to go through all of those procedures like root canal and shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I once experienced Testicular torsion. It was the most painful thing I've experienced and didn't pinpoint until it was almost too late. The following weeks were damn painful as well. I've fortunately have never had anything else that's serious, besides fake teeth and having to go through all of those procedures like root canal and shit. Man, when ever my balls hurt I always worry about twisting them...hope I never go threw that. Giving me chills right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf and Statler Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 The pain was so big that I thought I had a really bad stomach ache but couldnt barf/dry heaved until I eventually pin-pointed the pain. So my recommendation is whenever you have a pain as such feel your testies. If one of them is in major pain, go to the hospital immediately as it needs to be fixed relatively quick, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturnine Tenshi Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Ouch. My left lung has collapsed (partially) twice now. It was a spontaneous pneumothorax, so they apparently can't really pinpoint the cause. And thanks to the obscene cost of health care in the States (not that I'd expect it to be free, just not an extreme effort in ripping me off) I haven't really been checked out in too long. I do still have trouble breathing or taking full breaths at times, but nothing as serious as before. Supposedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Ouch. My left lung has collapsed (partially) twice now. It was a spontaneous pneumothorax, so they apparently can't really pinpoint the cause. And thanks to the obscene cost of health care in the States (not that I'd expect it to be free, just not an extreme effort in ripping me off) I haven't really been checked out in too long. I do still have trouble breathing or taking full breaths at times, but nothing as serious as before. Supposedly. That's really fucked up. Have you read the Times article about health care costs here in the States? There really needs to be something done about the drastic leaps in health care costs across the country... Kinda scary you haven't had it investigated further. Hopefully it doesn't happen again/you'll be able to look into it further down the road... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Could be worse. You could have socialized medicine where you have to wait weeks to see the doctor, and the doctor doesn't even need to be good or give the best of care. Most of my doctor visits have been good. Where I have the most problems is visiting the PA. Those guys know a little bit, but don't know enough. To make matters worse, in CA there have been a rash of bills lately that the state has rejected as law. These bills want to "to expand scope of practice for non-physician practitioners -- physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, optometrists and pharmacists." The reason none of these bills pass is that every knows that using voodoo in place of medicine is the dumbest thing you can do (LOOKING AT YOU MIDWIVES!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturnine Tenshi Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Well, I can think of several nations where socialized medicine is on par or better than what the States have. And I can think of a few where it's far less expensive and on par. It's just the nature of the beast. The States aren't the best at many things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 The States aren't the best at many things. Like PAs. Them fuckers don't know shit and are about as good as widwives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturnine Tenshi Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I'm not sure if my knowledge on physician assistants is entirely correct, but are they, like, non-doctors that practice medicine on a basic level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Pretty much. Tylenol and ibuprofen seem to be their medicines of choice for all that ails you. And, if you have many medical issues like my dad does, these guys are useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Where the hell did you hear that doctors in nations with socialised health care don't have to give even good healthcare? And I'm literally around the corner from a walk-in, you pop in, sit around for maybe an hour tops depending on how busy it is, and hey get to see a doctor. Also lol at Midwives being voodoo magic (which is making my doubt if you were being serious or not on the previous parts...). You maybe thinking of homeopaths (which NHS is currently dealing with trying to reject)? It'd be pretty weird to be happy to let someone look after your wife and child from pre-natal through to post-natal and thinking they're "voodoo magic" all that time. I'm kinda bummed I'm not ill often/at all. Kinda feel I'm wasting the NHS. Also that I'm likely to end up with something real bad when I'm older to make up for all this good health (minus the overweight n vision part) in my youth. Though have noted recently that I seem to have an issue with gait/leg length. An old PE teacher of mine had noted donkeys years back that I don't run properly but it was never expanded upon as moved school not long after and it was never brought up again. Just noticed a rather severe difference in wear on the soles of my shoes recently that's brought it up again. Just unsure if it's something worth seeing a doctor for though friends have noted could point to back issue in future and I know my mum has pretty bad issues with that to not want to deal with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 From what I've read (and no, I can't cite sources), studies have found that US healthcare really is the best in the world for those who can afford to pay, see specialists, etc, but for those who can't it's really horrible compared to the rest of the developed world. It also costs way more for a given level of care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Widwives are fine with normal child births. However, any complications, and widwives are useless, and care must be given by a obstetrician or perinatologist. So, there is some seriousness to my comment of "voodoo magic", but more of humor as a catalyst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf and Statler Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 @TME: No doubt that more money = better healthcare. Even over here's there's still private healthcare so if you can splash the cash you can get swanky rooms and machines that go "ping". For the average joe (and even us below-average joes) it's nice to have a fallback. Hear way too many horror stories of folks trying home methods first, ending up in massive debt, or just putting up with illness in the US. @Revan: Specialists generally always useful if anything goes tits up, birth or not. Still going to want midwives along for the rest of the ride. A lack of ability to deal with more specialised issues in birthing doesn't put them in the similar groups of homeopaths and other such quackery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Oh right, I wasn't trying to defend our healthcare system at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Pretty much. Tylenol and ibuprofen seem to be their medicines of choice for all that ails you. And, if you have many medical issues like my dad does, these guys are useless. Well...my PA gives me Norco....quite a bit stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Norco has tylenlol (acetaminophen) in it, but with some hydrocodone to really just mask pain. Masking pain isn't necessarily good, but it is necessary, as pain management is necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Norco has tylenlol (acetaminophen) in it, but with some hydrocodone to really just mask pain. Masking pain isn't necessarily good, but it is necessary, as pain management is necessary. I don't mean to be dense...but I guess I just assumed your dad had pain issues. I guess he doesn't and PAs aren't really helpful for cases other that Rx writing? And, yes, you are right. You have to balance the pros with the cons with pain. The chances of me getting addicting is pretty flipping close to 100%...but it increases my quality of life by a fuckton in the mean time. As far as PAs go...I have been pretty happy with my experiences. I suppose "midwife" may be an accurate description...but I don't really see that as too much of a negative...but I haven't dealt with a PA when it involve something major...like..surgery/some major emergency. I probably just rambled a bit too much(thank you Norco!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I've had some misdiagnose from PAs, as had my mom & dad. My dad has kidney, liver, diabetes, high blood pressure, some other shit, and my mom nagging him. Poor guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I've had some misdiagnose from PAs, as had my mom & dad. My dad has kidney, liver, diabetes, high blood pressure, some other shit, and my mom nagging him. Poor guy! I'd probably feel the same way towards PAs if that happened to me or a family member. Did the PA not have a collaboration with a doctor? I assumed that was a the case(as it is with my PA...the Doc even comes in the room with her after that talk.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 So we have this thread now... so yeah, I am sick but from some unknown. From the details I gave, it might be intestinal and be isolated within it since blood test shown my white blood cell count to be normal. If it was body wide, it would be elevated. I have a feeling that they are close to the cause but I suppose it make sense if it is what I think it is, my white blood cells should be elevated. Either way, got to get back to normal and then pin down why it happened. It might reveal some stuff. Oh my hidden medical history is quite the thing. Only I know the complete history (I feel like GRRM). I know it isn't the smartest thing to keep medical stuff to yourself but when you know at a young age that medical bills are expensive and that your folks had little means to pay for it... you kind of keep it to yourself. When I was younger, it worked since the body of a teen can bounce back from tons of stuff. I can still do it for quite a while but I'm throwing in the towel for this first hiccup. Age wise, I'm in my prime so now or never to fix these shit. Anyways, yeah a PA should consult a full doc. I had it happened in my recent visit but then again I showed a weird combo of symptoms and some of the details I gave made them do some extra checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted July 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 I know it isn't the smartest thing to keep medical stuff to yourself but when you know at a young age that medical bills are expensive and that your folks had little means to pay for it... you kind of keep it to yourself. When I was younger, it worked since the body of a teen can bounce back from tons of stuff. I can still do it for quite a while but I'm throwing in the towel for this first hiccup. Age wise, I'm in my prime so now or never to fix these shit. I know what you mean. Did the same when I was younger....docs will do a shit ton of tests "just to be safe" ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorgiShinobi Posted July 14, 2013 Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) Didn't think I would be posting in this thread, but as of today I've decided that I've been getting too many tonsil stones as of late. If you don't know what they are, Tonsillolith (Or remember that episode of Game Grumps?) Tonight I just removed two; one I knew I had for over a week, and the other I just found tonight. Both the size of a pea, left and right. Usually people cough 'em up or swallow them without realizing it. However, I've begun to feel these and it makes swallowing uncomfortable. My sister told me how to get rid of them myself, and there is a noticeable difference when they're gone. It's like I wish I could tell my 5 year-old self to go ahead with removing my tonsils, but at that age having a doctor remove a part of you was beyond scary. I would have gotten ice cream and a toy, but that wasn't enough. I'm not sure what would have been enough. Edited July 14, 2013 by Atomsk88 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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