No doctors...

[Ccrowlu]

My mom called every Rheumatologist in the state and none take patients under eighteen years old so I have to wait even longer until we move to the next job to get in if that state has doctors that do take minors.

[Mandy8175]

Since we are both in the States, if you pm me your city I can ask my rheumatologist to find you someone there, but that's up to you! You can also run a search for rheumatologist that treats minors through the local hospital and Google

[nomoreheels in reply to Mandy8175]

Mandy, is that right that in the US all of the Rheumatologists in a whole state can choose to treat adults only? How can that be? Who treats the children with JIA?

[Mandy8175 in reply to nomoreheels]

Unfortunately they can, but there are specific pediatric rheumatologist they are hard to find and most insurance is unwilling to cover it! The hospitals have to have one on staff, but they generally are not listed for a private practice. That's why I suggested calling the hospitals

[Mandy8175 in reply to Mandy8175]

My rheumatologist treats all ages, but her office partner only treats adults!

[nomoreheels in reply to Mandy8175]

That's crazy mad, why are children any less in need of medical assistance that insurance is unwilling to cover them?! I suppose it's the difference in our two systems, we should count ourselves very fortunate. At 16 in the UK generally children move up to adult Rheumatology so here Ccrowlu wouldn't have an issue.

[AgedCrone in reply to nomoreheels]

You haven't lived until you have been involved in getting medical treatment in USA.

Half the time I didn't understand the Question p...let alone provide an answer!

[nomoreheels in reply to AgedCrone]

So it would seem, neither would I wish to. Obviously we hear things over here like they check you've got a credit card before they'll treat you but you don't think that children who live there may not be getting necessary treatment. So it's quite possible there are children that are in agony with inflamed joints & damage, in what seems is a third world country led by a man with a dead ginger cat on 'is 'ead. Nice.

[AgedCrone in reply to nomoreheels]

The credit card problem usually arises if you go to a Private hospital instead of a Public hospital...also when I was in a car accident the ambulance paramedic asked which hospital I wanted to go too...most tourists wouldn't have a clue, but should ask to go to a Public hospital because some travel insurance policies state you are not covered for Private hospitals.

That said I was taken into hospital & spent five days waving my credit card & my insurance card & they didn't take the details until I left.

But it is a minefield. Everyone should check what type of clinic/hospital they are covered for.

However in Italy I was hardly through the door & they wouldn't even discuss the type of doctor I needed to see until they had my EHIC& my private travel insurance!

Go Figure eh?

[nomoreheels in reply to AgedCrone]

Good advice for anyone travelling to the US, thanks Kathy.

I've heard that about Italy, thankfully we've not needed medical attention but have been prepared.

[AgedCrone in reply to nomoreheels]

It opens your eyes seeing health services abroad. In Italy I had injured my shoulder & was treated with short wave diathermy.....which settled the shoulder in a couple of weeks with 30 minutes of treatment every other day.

When I returned to UK I was telling a physio friend how effective it was. He said it had been trialled in the NHS, but although it was agreed it was great...it was deemed too time intensive hence too expensive.

I bet the treatment used here takes a hell of a lot longer to discharge a patient ....hence the cost is probably the same!

Live & Learn eh nmh?

[nomoreheels in reply to AgedCrone]

I could say the same for Spain. The differences are unreal, we've said since we came back that they treat the patient, whatever is best that's what's given be it medication, treatment or op. I would guess the health system in Italy is along the same lines, the employer takes part of employees wage to pay for social security/healthcare so it's free at the point of delivery, PAYE basically. Certainly it sounds as though the treatment you received was superior, in a similar vein to the treatments we received. Hmmm.

[AgedCrone in reply to nomoreheels]

My friend who still lives in Italy....she's 74....just had a hip replacement & the Italian health service SEND A PHYSIO OUT TO HER!!!

Where I live my GP told me I could self refer for physio prior to having spinal surgery...the date for the surgery arrived before I got a physio date! I ended up paying for both privately!

We paid so called NI contributions from age 18 to 60, now we pay all over again.

Did we miss something somewhere?

[nomoreheels in reply to AgedCrone]

Haha, yes, certainly did!

[Lucy11 in reply to nomoreheels]

Ha! Not my president!

The U.S health care system is....well, messed up. However, no one can be denied treatment in the ER so for a long time before ACA (Obamacare) anyone who didn’t hold insurance or undocumented folks would just go to the emergency room-for everything. That gets very costly as some didn’t have money to pay but were not turned away as perhaps you were led to believe. ACA came along , so in theory, everyone could get affordable heath care and help take the burden off of the ER and other things all the while not being denied access even with a pre existing condition. You have to realize that the majority of Americans get healthcare through their employees-of course-some are better than others. I had better insurance in the US when I was living there than in Switzerland which has a great healthcare system.

Children who are on Medicaid (government assisted health care have better access than adults on Medicaid. So even though Ccrowlu has insurance through her fathers work if she didn’t she would still have Medicaid- pre-existing condition or not and being a minor would essentially have better care)

It has loads and loads of problems and depending on your situation can be difficult to jump through hoops and navigate your way around but it also (believe it or not) can be very good. Like not waiting 6 months to a year to get an appointment and having pharmaceuticals more easily available. What you don’t want is to be stuck in a crack and right now there’s too many cracks in the system for my liking.

[nomoreheels in reply to Lucy11]

I don't know how he got in, I've not spoken to any American who voted for him... or has a good word to say about him. It's good to hear about the health system from one who's experienced it & knows how it's run, for good & bad. Thanks Lucy.

[Lucy11 in reply to nomoreheels]

Hi NMH

At the moment, this young lady lives in Ohio which has excellent care and does indeed have doctors that treat JIA. It actually has an incredible hospital that people from all over the country travel to for Care with branches all over the state. (as a side note-Tiger Woods could have gone anywhere in the world for back and eye surgery and he chose to go there—ok, he’s not a teenager with JIA-but it’s a very competent hospital with a large pediatric division). I imagine they can help direct her to an outside branch—at least I would hope so.

Lucy.

[nomoreheels in reply to Lucy11]

So why do you think Ccrowlu 's mum's been unable to track one down? Where is she going wrong do you think?

[Lucy11 in reply to nomoreheels]

I really don’t know. My sisters husband is an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and I asked her if it really is that difficult for children to be treated for JIA in Ohio. She is a Physical Therapist and has treated young adults for various musculoskeletal issues. Her thought is that if this young lady lives in Ohio it shouldn’t be an issue at all and recommends she give CC a call for guidance but that there are other hospitals and clinics all over Ohio that surely can help.

Perhaps her mother has called smaller local Rheumatologists offices very close to her and maybe it’s better to reach out to larger pediatric clinics/hospitals to be pointed in the right direction, but I really don’t know why she’s running into issues.

[nomoreheels in reply to Lucy11]

I do hope so Lucy & it would be great if that's possible & is able to, that would be very kind of her. Of course we don't know how far her mum cast the net & could well be as you say so I hope this helps either way. Thanks for that. 😗

[Mandy8175 in reply to Mandy8175]

Call the arthritis association too. They have lists of all rheumatologist in the U.S.

[Ccrowlu in reply to Mandy8175]

I am in Ohio currently but we move every few months.

[helixhelix]

Well at least your mum (UK translation for mom.... ) is trying. So well done her for a start. another suggestion would be to call a local pediatrician and ask where they refer their child patients with arthritis. It's not that common, but there must be someone!

[Jj01994]

That sucks, sadly that can happen. Until I turned 18 I had to travle out of provence to a childrens hospital to be seen by a doctor. 6 hour drive every 2 months or so from 12 till 18. At 18 got a new doctor in my tiny town and she said she would take me even thou I was still considered a minor.

[AgedCrone]

Did she call children's hospitals too? Some paediatricians are trained to treat juvenile arthritis.

[Ccrowlu in reply to AgedCrone]

I am considered too old for children’s hospitals since I am sixteen

[Lucy11 in reply to Ccrowlu]

Sweetheart, I’m not sure where you got that information but most children’s hospitals treat from birth to 18 years of age and sometimes that extends further. Keep looking! You’re too important not to get help. You could also enroll in school just for a short time to utilize the counseling and health services they provide. There would be more people there to help you navigate the system. Use those resources while you can! I know you move a lot but by law you have the right to change schools all the time.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi...

[AgedCrone in reply to Ccrowlu]

I don't know age regulations in Ohio, but any children's hospital would give advice to a mother with a sick child looking for a doctor to treat her. Tell your Mom to take you to a Family Practitioner who will make a referral to a doctor who will treat a Juvrnile with sytptoms of a Rheumatic Disease......as you haven't yet been diagnosed with anything you might not even need a rheumatologist.

Tell your Mum nicely, all the advice you are reading here.

If she still can't manage to find a doctor, call Children's Services & they will help you. You can't continue in pain like this just because your Mom can't find the right doctor.if you really do havevRA you need to start treatment as soon as possible.

[Ccrowlu in reply to AgedCrone]

I have been diagnosed with RA. that is why I am here

[AgedCrone in reply to Ccrowlu]

Well then that's the answer, your Mom should telephone the office of the Doctor who gave you the diagnosis , tell them where you are now living & that Doctor will definitely have a contact number of a colleague in Ohio. or as Mandy says call the arthritis association ...they have contacts all over the US.

If you have an aggressive type of RA every day you are missing out on treatment is very serious. You are a young woman now at 16, & will soon have to start making these apointments yourself, so try to get your Mom to realise how important it is that you find a doctor very soon.

Has your Mom called the Clevland Clinic as suggested by Lucy? That sounds is if it would be a good place to get advice.

So get on that phone!

[Lucy11 in reply to Ccrowlu]

Cc-I may sound like a mean old step mother but I care about you. I want you to call the Cleveland Clinic today or another children’s hospital before you do more research on making your unbelievably cute dog Molli a service dog. Promise us you’ll make a few calls. It’s tediously hard work and oh so boring but if you get medical treatment perhaps Molli can be a regular dog you throw a ball too or even take on walks or runs in the park! You really are resourceful and honestly sound so very smart! So please make some calls 🙂—pretty please?

[Ccrowlu in reply to Lucy11]

I certainly will. Thank you for your advice. But I wasn’t planning on making mollie a service dog. She needs too much attention to be able to go into public and stay focused on her job lol

[Lucy11 in reply to Ccrowlu]

Aha! Ok so Mollie will be eagerly waiting for you to get better so you can take her on some fun walks! Thanks for making those calls!

[ITYFIALMCTT in reply to Lucy11]

Lucy11 To me, you and the other commenting members are sounding more like, "Wise, been there, done that, desperately-want-you-to-avoid-as-many-of-the-bad-bits-as -feasible" supportive forumites

[Lucy11]

The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio is world renowned. Have a look at the link and give them a call. They have a pediatric division and even if you don’t live close to the hospital they can direct you to branches close to you or give you ideas on where you can go.

You sound like a very resourceful and smart young cookie. Your mom is helping which is awesome but you can also help your mom by making some calls—she would probably really appreciate it! Ohio has very good quality care you just may have to drive a bit to get there.

my.clevelandclinic.org/ccf/...

I wish you the best

Lucy.

[BerOGrady]

I feel for you Ccrowlu that is not easy on you having to move house every few months when just moving your body can be such a challenge with arthritis. Very best wishes for your ongoing care

[Hidden]

I' m sorry to read this. Here are a few phone numbers for rhematologist that accept children in Ohio. I don't know what city you live in, but surely one of these phone numbers can direct you.

1. Cincinnati Children's Hospital - Rheumatology phone: [phone]

3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA

2. Akron Children's Hospital: Rheumatology Phone: [phone]

1 Perkins Square, Akron, OH 44302, USA

3. Charles H. Spencer, MD phone: [phone]

700 Children's Dr, Columbus, OH 43205, USA