Finally, MRI Results!!

[CrazyCatWom]

I expected to hear from my Neurologist Saturday. Weird, I know. But my neurologist is so crazy busy, he always uses weekends and holidays to catch up on paperwork and phone calls. And Saturday was a holiday on a weekend day, right?

But no call!

So, yesterday I called the Neuroscience Center's scheduling line to schedule a follow up appointment with my neurologist. And for the second time in as many weeks, I was told the Neuroscience Center was NOT scheduling any appointments currently because of COVID 19., but I was on a list and would be called as soon as things opened up. ::Groan::

Okay, so I called my neurologist's office next, all to ask if my neurologist had authorized the barium swallowing test the speech pathologist needed. I was told by the "agent" in the office (even the nurses are working from home) that my neurologist had not even received the message. Well, during our conversation about that authorization, I'd mentuioned that I hadn't gotten a call from the doctor with the results of my spinal MRI and that I hoped he was on vacation because he really deserved some time off. The agent confirmed my neurologist was on vacation, but he would leave a message for him.

Well, less than an hour later, I got a phone call. It was my neurologist wanting to talk about my MRI results!

Dang! I appologized for bothering him on his vacation. He said, "Oh, I'm not on vacation now. I WAS all last week."

Anyway . . . He said he didn't see any real changes on this spinal MRI than from the one done in 2018, except in one small area. But he didn't think that one was concerning and I shouldn't be experiencing much of anything from it right now. So he said my MRI looked really good! He felt most of the issues we talked about in June was the heat aggitating previously existing symptoms. I agreed with him. There was only one NEW symptom--the one where if I bend over to pick something up, when I straighten, then my legs will suddenly feel like they are going to give out.

So he just wanted me to stay out of the heat when possible, and we'd see how things progress in our appointment in . . .

That's when I told I told him I was unable to schedule that appointment because of the Neuroscience Center's COVID policy.

Boy, that set my neurologist off!

And there, too, I agreed. Why couldn't more video appointments be scheduled, then? He told me to keep trying to schedule and he'd contact the therapist.

So my neurologist was NOT deathly ill with COVID 19, like my partner speculated. He was just getting a much needed break.

Now, I've got to continue chasing my primary care doctor down to get two meds rrefilled. And ya know how you might have a few meds beyond your DMT that you know WHAT those meds are for, but you kinda get to wondering if those meds really do anything for you? Well, I can tell ya--be off those meds for 5 days, you might suddenly discover that YEAH!Those meds really DO something for you! In my case, one is to keep my mouth from filling with stomach acid (and no, no otc deals with that the way my prescription med does!) And the second one is one that might keep me from going to the ER to get catherized so I could completely empty my bladder!

[Jesmcd2 CommunityAmbassador]

Hiya CrazyCatWom umm, yea, not taking your meds? Not a good idea!🤣 So happy to hear about your MRI!!! That's always good news! 🎉 🤗💕🌠

[CrazyCatWom in reply to Jesmcd2]

Oh! I'm taking them I'm just out of 2of mine. Ran into problems refilling them when my pharmacy said they had no record of me taking those two (though I have taken them for over 2 years!). Tried then to refill them through my pc's patient portal where there, too, only one of the meds was listed. Tried, then, to "Add a Medication". Filled in all the info, but there was no SUBMIT biutton! So that meant calling my pc's office to get her to write a prescription for them. I was told my pc should get back to me in 48 hours. Umm, that was Thursday! And she hasn't gotten back to me.

[CrazyCatWom in reply to CrazyCatWom]

So I'm back to chasing her down, today. I hope she, too, is having a great vacation, but . . .

[bxrmom in reply to CrazyCatWom]

Keep calling until you are able to talk to her or her nurse to get your meds refilled. Sorry you are going through this. Hope you are able to get a hold of your dr and get your rxs ordered asap.

Great news on the MRI!

[daveh121]

Sounds extremely frustrating.

[Violonchelo]

👍

[ahrogers]

Do you take Tamsulosin for the bladder? I found out I still had 8 ounces of urine in my bladder after I voided normally and the doctor offered me Tamsulosin. We decided I could just continue to put more effort into emptying more since I don't have any other symptoms at this time (such as frequent urination, urgency or leaking). She said Tamsulosin works about 50% of the time in women.

Glad your MRI looked good!

[CrazyCatWom in reply to ahrogers]

When I was in a rehab hospital in 2018 and getting cathed twice a day every day, I was put on Bethanechol before I was released. But thank you for mentioning Tamsulosin. I'm going to call my neurologist today to see if he can help with my prescription issues. And if he can't prescribe the Bethanchol, I'll ask him about Tamsulosin. Thanks!

[mm1527mm]

Great news on mri!

[mrsmike9]

No wonder you have "Crazy" in your name! It sounds like the doctors are making you that way! Remind those doctors they vowed to do no harm, and by not refilling your prescription they are doing just that! Good luck on that front. The flip side of all this is the wonderful news of the MRI!! Yeah you!!!

[CrazyCatWom in reply to mrsmike9]

I kept pestering my pc's staff, but first task this morning was to call my neurologist's office. I told the nurse I knew Dr. ---- didn't originally prescribe this med, but I can't get a response from my pc, and I'm going on day 7 now and things are getting really uncomfortable . . .

By 4pm, I got a call from my neurologist's nurse,telling me my Dr. called the prescription in to my pharmasist!

On the other hand, I finally got a call from my pc's assisstant who told me the reason why that med wasn't listed on the patient portal. My pc had only authorized refills for one year. She would not authorize any more refills untill we can talk about it in August!

[mrsmike9 in reply to CrazyCatWom]

That's stupid. If she needed to talk to you prior to refilling, she should have scheduled with you to talk BEFORE you ran out! Some people...

I'm glad you kept pestering. I firmly believe the squeaky wheel gets the grease and I know how to squeak! You do too!!

[CrazyCatWom in reply to mrsmike9]

I don't know why she couldn't have waited until after my appointment in August when we could "talk" about this med and maybe go with something else! But it was the straw that broke the camel's back! There were a few other issues I had with her, but I was willing to overlook them--like refusing to order a test my pulmonologist needed, so I never got to see him again before he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, (and he was a really, really good doctor!) , her obsession with the meds my cardiologist and neurologist proscribed, while ignoring the meds she was responsible for (the most recent one is just one of many she's refused to authorize refillIs for. So I called my insurance co. and asked for a list of pc docs they cover. They found one right away who was accepting new patients. Now I will see her in August, but really only because we'd already scheduled this appointment and I want to hear WHY she was dodging all of my calls and no explaination as to why she wouldn't authorize a refill?!?!?!?!?

[mrsmike9 in reply to CrazyCatWom]

Good for you! I think you should tell her why you're firing her. Hopefully that will teach her how to do better for the next patient.