Health Care 2021

[504RP]

Had a health care screening by Arkansas heart hospital, will be 2 years ago this November.

They had a special program called " Don't skip a beat " screening for a $ 100 going on that friends of mine had done and insisted that i should have done.

So i did. They done several test including something like a MRI. Everytime a nurse would finish a test like taking my blood pressure they would comment like on my blood pressure for instance. Nurse said it was perfect, really good. At the end of the screening a nurse comes out to go over your results. The first thing the nurse said was I need to see my cardiologist immediately, that I have narrowing of the arteries ?

Felt I was in great shape before that. Weighed 220 lbs, 5 ft 11 in. Never smoked, never. Seldom drink a beer. Active all the time.

Didn't have a cardiologist, nor a primary care doctor. Use too up until 6 years ago, had regular scheduled physicals, colonoscopy, etc..., stayed on top of taking care of my Health. That all for the most part changed when they started the 2 to 3 month wait time to see a doctor. And started forcing you to see either a nurse practioneer or personal assistant. If you wanted or needed to get in sooner.

I tried beating this new norm by looking for a doctor who i could get in to see when i have something serious going on. Talked to several, told them I was looking for a primary care doctor whom I can get into see without waiting 2 to 3 months when i have something urgent unexpected happen. Most would say they could see me in cases like that but turned out they wouldn't.

For example my doctor of 30 years that I fired due to the first time i needed him due to an emergency and they were going to make me wait 3 months in order to see him or see a NP instead.

I had tore my bicep tendon lose where it attached to my fore arm. And they were not going to see me after having been a patient there for 30 years. But after talking to the office administrator over the clinic who knew me well due to coming there for 30 years. She got me in to see that horse's ass that I called a doctor.

It was enough of an emergency that my right arm and shoulder was in traction for 3 months after having two seperate surgeries, was off work 4 months before i was able to convince the surgeon to release me to go back to work. Which was against his advice. He wanted me to be off a minimum of 6 months if not more. I would have lost my job if that would have happened.

Anyway, ended up seeing a recommended cardiologist the heart screening nurse referred me to. The cardiologist put me on blood pressure medication even though my blood pressure was perfect. He said the narrowing of the arteries was called harden of the arteries and was happens to alot of people my age. And this blood pressure med " Valsarten " would relax my blood vessels and if i were to ever have a heart attack my chances of surviving it would be better and have a better out come. Said he takes it. So i did.

Went to a NP, couldn't see a doctor until 6 weeks at the earliest. Have been having mussel cramps and other issues. Had a bad episode baleing hay in July. Wanted to try to find out what's going on. The NP order all kinds of test, never heard nothing except for the bills that came in the mail.

Went to my old clinic and was surprised to have got into see a doctor the next day. Couldn't beleave that. They done same thing as the NP order more test, signed a release so the doctor could get the test results from the NP too.

Same thing, get bills in the mail. Pay the bill's, never hear anything from the Doctors visit. Call and make another appointment with the doctor to discuss my test results, they set me up an appointment. Go in for the appointment. Desk says the don't have me in their computer showing i have an appointment. I show them the notice saying the time,date and where i acknowledged I got the notice and would be there ? They didn't know what to say.

Went home couple hours later a nurse from the same clinic called to tell me the results of a colonoscopy I had done a week earlier. Told her i really appreciated her calling and wished the rest of the clinic was as professional as her department was, she ask what I ment. Told her what happened.
She said I can check your test results for you, I said I would appreciate that. She did, results showed I have severe renal failure !!!

Call that office administrator, tell her what all has happened, she says she couldn't promise nothing but would try to get me in next Monday at 1 p.m ? This was on a Thursday. Do you know what it's like having been told that and worring for nearly 5 days.

Monday see the doctor, said she was off all last week, was sick ? Nobody called me to cancel the appointment. Just decide to tell me and I guess anyone else who had appointments they didn't show to have an appointment ? I showed them where i had got and confirmed the appointment over the phone.


Told that doctor all of what happened. She acts like all of it was no big deal. The severe renal failure results that came back according to the doctor is no big deal either ? I am fine, says my blood pressure being low is the problem and I need to switch blood pressure meds.

Ask how low my blood pressure is. Never got around to answering that question. Tried getting back to getting an answering that. Ended up getting a prescription for a blood pressure machine along with the new blood pressure med script.

Checked my blood pressure last night several times . Averaged 128 over 76 ? Checked it this morning 145 over 83 ?

Anyone else exsperineing health care like what I have described ?
Also the first question the nurse ask what was I was there to see the doctor about. And if i was wanting to establish this doctor as my primary care doctor ? Said maybe, wanted to talk to her first.

Learned later while being prepped for the colonoscopy from a nurse that the doctor whom I saw and who's nurse asked if i was wanting to use as my primary care doctor. Well is leaving for another hospital ? So why ask if i want to establish her as my doctor ?

 

[shaz]

What medical professionals are actually good at is invoicing. You might not get any decent advice or treatment but you will get the biggest bill for the least work on their part.

 

[sstterry]

I know your post is about the care you received, but what jumps out at me are the test results.

What time of day do you take the Valsartan or do you take it twice a day? It is not just a BP medicine, it works by relaxing the vessels as you said. It is not just for BP but also to help prevent congestive heart failure and allow more blood flow through the arteries. It serves two purposes. Don't stop it without a Dr. monitoring you. BP is one thing, the narrowing is another.

Did they tell you what your labs were for the diagnosis of renal failure? Bun? Creatinine? If you are taking a potassium supplement or using a salt substitute that can interact with the Valsartan and cause a rise in your Creatinine levels which could be the reason they thought renal failure.

BP is highest in the morning and normally drops somewhat throughout the day. What is it normally in the morning? Was the MRI thing you mentioned called a Cardiac Calcium Scan? If those numbers are high, it indicates the narrowing of the arteries you mentioned.

 

[504RP]

I know your post is about the care you received, but what jumps out at me are the test results.

What time of day do you take the Valsartan or do you take it twice a day? It is not just a BP medicine, it works by relaxing the vessels as you said. It is not just for BP but also to help prevent congestive heart failure and allow more blood flow through the arteries. It serves two purposes. Don't stop it without a Dr. monitoring you. BP is one thing, the narrowing is another.

Did they tell you what your labs were for the diagnosis of renal failure? Bun? Creatinine? If you are taking a potassium supplement or using a salt substitute that can interact with the Valsartan and cause a rise in your Creatinine levels which could be the reason they thought renal failure.

BP is highest in the morning and normally drops somewhat throughout the day. What is it normally in the morning? Was the MRI thing you mentioned called a Cardiac Calcium Scan? If those numbers are high, it indicates the narrowing of the arteries you mentioned.

Yes it was a Cardic Calcium Scan. When i went in and talked with the new doctor the first time i met with her. She wanted me to stop taking the Valsarten based on my blood pressure only. Before any test at all had been done. She didn't mention switching to another BP med, only to stop taking the Valsarten.

Told her i didn't want to stop it until I talked to my cardiologist. Which i tried setting up an appointment with later that day after leaving that doctor's office.

The cardiologist works at different hospitals and was going to have to either drive over 100 miles to see him almost 2 weeks later or wait almost 3 weeks for an apointment 50 miles away.

At that time other than the mussel cramps in my legs, and not handling the heat very well, and lower back pain which isn't caused from my kidneys.

I have had and passed kidney stones so I know the difference between a possible bulging disc or arthritis and pain in my kidneys.

I felt I could wait to discuss wether or not to stop the Valsarten which I take at night before i go to bed.

I haven't been monitoring my BP never have. The first time I was told it was low and the nurse didn't say how low even then. Was the last week of July when i visited the nurse practitioner.

When i saw the doctor a week or so after that the first time i don't remember them saying what my BP was either.

This last time i saw the doctor yesterday. I ask what my blood pressure was and before i got an answer her nurse started talking. The doctor then started telling me she was going to order an ultrasound on my kidneys and was going to do something else.

So i mentioned that maybe I should start monitoring my BP myself. And ask what kind of BP cuff should I get. The nurse suggest letting them write a prescription for a BP cuff along with the BP medication they want me to take. Which they did.

Last night I checked my BP 3 or 4 times to get familiar on taking my BP which averaged around 127 over 78 ? Which i didn't think was that low. Instructions that came with the machine said your supposed to check BP in the morning after you get up. So i did this morning. It was 147 over 80 ? To me doesn't seem that bad either ?

Googled Valsarten side affects and renal failure is one of the affects listed.

Didn't switch to the new BP medication yet. Have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 13th. Thinking about waiting to see him before switching meds ?

I don't think I have severe renal failure. Still urinating pretty much normal. Urine color looks normal, mostly clear faint yellow, strong stream first thing every morning, little weak and fairly frequent through the day.

Really don't know what to do. Been on the Valsarten for about a year and a half now. About 180 mg dose once a day. Was like 40 or 60 mg the first year. He doubled the dosage last visit over 6 months ago and said he would see me a year from now ?

 

[D2Cat]

504RP, I'd suggest finding a specialist, a nephrologist. This Dr. will get a blood test and urine test to determine exactly how your kidneys are functioning. What can be real important is to develop a baseline (or starting point) so going forward he can look back and see what is changing.

If you have any kidney disease you can do a lot with diet, exercise and meds to put a stop to any further damage.

 

[504RP]

504RP, I'd suggest finding a specialist, a nephrologist. This Dr. will get a blood test and urine test to determine exactly how your kidneys are functioning. What can be real important is to develop a baseline (or starting point) so going forward he can look back and see what is changing.

If you have any kidney disease you can do a lot with diet, exercise and meds to put a stop to any further damage.

I thank you for the advice and I am keeping it in mind. But the biggest problem with getting any kind of medical help with anything is getting in to see any kind of doctor, specialist or any other type of physician.

I don't run to the doctor everytime I scrape my knee. So if i need to see a doctor it's something serious. Not something that I can wait to see a doctor from a month or two months out like most clinics and hospitals exspect of people this day and time.

Instead they want you to see a nurse practioneer or personal assistant. Which i have nothing against, my Mother was an RN, sister in law an LPN. Even when they were still around there were knowledgeable in alot of things. But even they themselfs would set me a doctor's appointment for things they were not trained to handle. They were very knowledgeable about medicine but weren't doctors.

I am not wanting to be a ginnie pig for some nurse practitioner or personal assistant to learn on. So that hospitals can prosper more and insurance companies can make more money from what i pay them for the insurance.

Up until about 8 years ago. It was possible to set up doctor's appointments in a reasonable amount of time. You could get professional help if you needed it. Not now though.

 

[sstterry]

Yes it was a Cardic Calcium Scan. When i went in and talked with the new doctor the first time i met with her. She wanted me to stop taking the Valsarten based on my blood pressure only. Before any test at all had been done. She didn't mention switching to another BP med, only to stop taking the Valsarten.

Told her i didn't want to stop it until I talked to my cardiologist. Which i tried setting up an appointment with later that day after leaving that doctor's office.

The cardiologist works at different hospitals and was going to have to either drive over 100 miles to see him almost 2 weeks later or wait almost 3 weeks for an apointment 50 miles away.

At that time other than the mussel cramps in my legs, and not handling the heat very well, and lower back pain which isn't caused from my kidneys.

I have had and passed kidney stones so I know the difference between a possible bulging disc or arthritis and pain in my kidneys.

I felt I could wait to discuss wether or not to stop the Valsarten which I take at night before i go to bed.

I haven't been monitoring my BP never have. The first time I was told it was low and the nurse didn't say how low even then. Was the last week of July when i visited the nurse practitioner.

When i saw the doctor a week or so after that the first time i don't remember them saying what my BP was either.

This last time i saw the doctor yesterday. I ask what my blood pressure was and before i got an answer her nurse started talking. The doctor then started telling me she was going to order an ultrasound on my kidneys and was going to do something else.

So i mentioned that maybe I should start monitoring my BP myself. And ask what kind of BP cuff should I get. The nurse suggest letting them write a prescription for a BP cuff along with the BP medication they want me to take. Which they did.

Last night I checked my BP 3 or 4 times to get familiar on taking my BP which averaged around 127 over 78 ? Which i didn't think was that low. Instructions that came with the machine said your supposed to check BP in the morning after you get up. So i did this morning. It was 147 over 80 ? To me doesn't seem that bad either ?

Googled Valsarten side affects and renal failure is one of the affects listed.

Didn't switch to the new BP medication yet. Have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 13th. Thinking about waiting to see him before switching meds ?

I don't think I have severe renal failure. Still urinating pretty much normal. Urine color looks normal, mostly clear faint yellow, strong stream first thing every morning, little weak and fairly frequent through the day.

Really don't know what to do. Been on the Valsarten for about a year and a half now. About 180 mg dose once a day. Was like 40 or 60 mg the first year. He doubled the dosage last visit over 6 months ago and said he would see me a year from now ?

Don't rely on the urine stream or color. That is not an indication of how the kidneys are functioning. Talk to the cardiologist before stopping the Valsartan. They probably saw something on the calcium scan that made them prescribe it. So it may be important to keep those vessels relaxed. But if he says it is ok, listen to him, lisinopril is the normal first BP med of choice but have the Cardio guy coordinate with the GP, or I should say have your GP coordinate with the Cardio doc (specialists don't like to say the need to consult a lowly GP...lol). The 145/83 is not terrible for first thing in the morning,

 

[TCRanch]

My husband called for an eye appointment yesterday and the first available appointment was . . . . December!!!

Good advise from D2 & Sstterry. Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[504RP]

Don't rely on the urine stream or color. That is not an indication of how the kidneys are functioning. Talk to the cardiologist before stopping the Valsartan. They probably saw something on the calcium scan that made them prescribe it. So it may be important to keep those vessels relaxed. But if he says it is ok, listen to him, lisinopril is the normal first BP med of choice but have the Cardio guy coordinate with the GP, or I should say have your GP coordinate with the Cardio doc (specialists don't like to say the need to consult a lowly GP...lol). The 145/83 is not terrible for first thing in the morning,

I think I am going to agree with you sstterry and wait until I see the cardiologist.

 

[wbvs58]

We have pretty good health care here though appointments with my doctor are pushing out to over a week now. I do have issues that he doesn't want to take responsibility for anything, just wants to send you off to a specialist to get fixed and he doesn't seem to read the reports sent back to him as he has no clue on what's going on, I have to tell him what drugs I need prescriptions for. The computer programme they have seems to have a useless search engine or he is hopeless at driving it as he has to scroll through everything to find an xray that was taken a couple of years ago and then charges me overtime for going over in a consultation.
I do sympathise with you 504, seems you have to look after yourself and make sure they are on the same page as you. God help us when the brain stops working as it has been.

Ken

 

[504RP]

The day that i showed up for the appointment but they didn't show the appointment in there computer, eventhough i had the text their webite had sent to me a reminder to confirm the appointment. And i showed that to the desk clerk proving I did have the appointment scheduled for that time and day.

The weirdest thing happened. Usually they have about 6 clerks sitting behind the counter to check people in and out, answer the phones etc... usally have someone at the door to take your temperature, and the covid questioner, make sure your wearing a mask etc...,

No body at the time was there behind the desk except that one clerk talking on the phone.

I stopped at the desk beside the front door because of it. She waved for me to come up to the desk anyway.


After finding out they screwed up on my appointment. I asked to speak to the office manager who I have known for over thirty years of going there. Thinking she might know what had happened with the screw up.

So the girl gets on the phone, makes 2or 3 calls and I guess nobody answers ? I have my back to her looking at all the mounted animals they have in the lobby. Grizzly bear, Moose, Wolf, Doll sheep etc...,

When i turn around to see what's going on. The girl has her head still on the phone looking down like she is hiding her face ? Then I hear her whimpering ? So i ask her if something is wrong. She slowly looks up and I see tears rolling down her face. Ask her what is a matter and she says it's nothing ? I said something is wrong and ask if i had said something to upset her and she says no, it's not you, you didn't do nothing said I am just this way ? Then just breaks out balling big time !!!

So i know damn well something is wrong, don't know what it is but something. I tell her whatever it is, isn't worth being up set over. She tells me again it doesn't have nothing to do with me. That she will be ok.

I look down this hall way and see the woman that draws blood and urine samples, who i also have known for over 30 years walk out of one room cross the hall way into another room.

Thought about walking back there to get her to come check on the girl that's crying but thought I had better not go back there. So girl kind of gathers herself up and quits crying ?

She reassures me she is ok ? So i go on my way. Bad day all the way arround. Don't have a clue as to what was wrong with her ?

 

[sstterry]

I think I am going to agree with you sstterry and wait until I see the cardiologist.

One last thing, if you are not satisfied with the coordination of your care, speak up. When different doctors are prescribing different drugs, bad things can happen if it is not being overseen. Also, use only one pharmacist! Your pharmacist can keep tabs on what you are taking and question combinations of drugs you are taking and the dose (now they have computer programs that do that, as long as you are using the same pharmacist).

 

[D2Cat]

You can get a lot of helpful information on the net. Here's a link that may help. https://kidneysmart.edmeasures.com/modules/content/?action=showslidedeck&slide=4uO2Cz0DKD1T

Since you have the blood pressure meter, I'd suggest you make a log of your readings. Have the date, time, blood pressure and pulse. This provides some history for your Dr. Many folks give higher reading while in the Dr. office and this lets them see what happens at home. You can also benefit from this by faxing the info to the Dr. and saving time when considering med changes.

 

[D2Cat]

I don't know where you live, but if you're in a climate that has been HOT lately and you work outside and perspire heavily you can get a couple of reading that are unusual and indicate a problem that may not be. That is one benefit of a specialist, knowing the idiosyncrasies of the disease.

 

[504RP]

I don't know where you live, but if you're in a climate that has been HOT lately and you work outside and perspire heavily you can get a couple of reading that are unusual and indicate a problem that may not be. That is one benefit of a specialist, knowing the idiosyncrasies of the disease.

I live in NorthWest Arkansas and it has been one merisble hot summer. I was wondering if maybe being out in the heat might could have had something to do with my test results.

Thank you for mentioning that.

 

[504RP]

504RP, I'd suggest finding a specialist, a nephrologist. This Dr. will get a blood test and urine test to determine exactly how your kidneys are functioning. What can be real important is to develop a baseline (or starting point) so going forward he can look back and see what is changing.

If you have any kidney disease you can do a lot with diet, exercise and meds to put a stop to any further damage.

Wonder if you have to have a doctor's referral in order to see a nephrologist ?

 

[D2Cat]

Perhaps, but the best way to get the correct answer would be to look one up and call them and ask. You can probably get a referral from you general practitioner dr. or heart dr.

 

[Ky hills]

I'm sorry to hear that you are having those health issues. The healthcare system is screwed up, has been for a long time and don't see it getting any better.
ssterry is right, different drs. prescribing medicines can be problematic.

 

[D2Cat]

If one stays within a hospital system they usually have a patient portal that allows the patient to see all labs, appointments, diagnosis, and can use to ask questions or fill prescriptions on their computer. It also lets all the doctors dealing with a patient see what they diagnosed/prescribed. Helps to keep everyone focused and not overlapping

 

[chaded]

If one stays within a hospital system they usually have a patient portal that allows the patient to see all labs, appointments, diagnosis, and can use to ask questions or fill prescriptions on their computer. It also lets all the doctors dealing with a patient see what they diagnosed/prescribed. Helps to keep everyone focused and not overlapping

That's how it is here and we are in a rural area.

The hospital here has been pretty overwhelmed here lately and it seems that the nursing and office staff is being affected maybe the most. My wife can usually get her patients into the office in a week or so but she booked out a month or more for doing people's surgeries. If it's an emergency, you go to the ER.