My Heart

pyscodog

Active member
My Primary care Dr makes me do blood work twice a year. Not sure why but it keeps him happy. A few months ago I had the work done and his female apprentice asked me to come in and talk about it. Before I leave he runs a sonogram (I think its called) and gets really wound up. Says I have an aneurysm on my aorta artery. I ask if I do nothing what happens? He said you die! Not exactly the answer I was looking for. So...he lines me up with a heart Dr in Tulsa. I go to see him and my first test was an EKG. then a couple weeks later I get a CT scan, a few more weeks go by and I go in for a echo/carotid test. Then a week or two pass and I go in for a chemical induced stress test. All this time that started in the middle of May and I haven't heard results of any of these tests. I'm a bundle of nerves and the stress is driving me nuts. A week ago today, I was drinking my first cup of coffee and my phone rings and its the Dr's office. It was one of the nurses. She ask if anyone had contacted me about my tests. I said no one. She said well.....we can't find any sign of an aneurysm on your heart. No way! But the Dr want to run one more test. He wants to do an angiogram/left heart catheterization. So I wait another week and go in this morning, get to my room. A cute little nurse comes in and tells me she's going to shave my groin. Well....OK. Then they jab me in the arm and insert a huge needle and feed me some happy pills!! About an hour or so later they are pulling all the cords off me and the needles that are stuck in me and telling me in an hour or so I can go home. Turns out they found nothing serious enough to worry about at this time. FINALLY the two months of stress and worrying are over. And I'm gonna live a while longer to.
 
good to hear there are no real concerns. you should celebrate and buy another firearm.
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Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotgood to hear there are no real concerns. you should celebrate and buy another firearm.
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That's a good idea! I just might do that. LOL
Sure was a long two months waiting to find out. Got a lot more gray hair from it.
 
Originally Posted By: tnshootistI think I would look for another primary Dr.


Funny, your not the first I've heard that from. Been two months of stress and worrying and find out for nothing. Well other than I don't have any serious issues. I guess something good did come out of it.
 
Originally Posted By: tnshootistI think I would look for another primary Dr.

Yep, been there, done that. Exact same initial diagnosis, went for 2nd opinion before all the xtra tests; that's been 20 years ago or more.

Glad you're OK!

Regards,
hm
 
Glad you are ok, that's the good news. The medical industry is the third leading cause of death in the country. The medical and insurance machines in the US are gigantic frauds and need a massive overhaul.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogMy Primary care Dr makes me do blood work twice a year. Not sure why but it keeps him happy. A few months ago I had the work done and his female apprentice asked me to come in and talk about it. Before I leave he runs a sonogram (I think its called) and gets really wound up. Says I have an aneurysm on my aorta artery. I ask if I do nothing what happens? He said you die! Not exactly the answer I was looking for. So...he lines me up with a heart Dr in Tulsa. I go to see him and my first test was an EKG. then a couple weeks later I get a CT scan, a few more weeks go by and I go in for a echo/carotid test. Then a week or two pass and I go in for a chemical induced stress test. All this time that started in the middle of May and I haven't heard results of any of these tests. I'm a bundle of nerves and the stress is driving me nuts. A week ago today, I was drinking my first cup of coffee and my phone rings and its the Dr's office. It was one of the nurses. She ask if anyone had contacted me about my tests. I said no one. She said well.....we can't find any sign of an aneurysm on your heart. No way! But the Dr want to run one more test. He wants to do an angiogram/left heart catheterization. So I wait another week and go in this morning, get to my room. A cute little nurse comes in and tells me she's going to shave my groin. Well....OK. Then they jab me in the arm and insert a huge needle and feed me some happy pills!! About an hour or so later they are pulling all the cords off me and the needles that are stuck in me and telling me in an hour or so I can go home. Turns out they found nothing serious enough to worry about at this time. FINALLY the two months of stress and worrying are over. And I'm gonna live a while longer to.

Best wishes to you.

I've had a similar experience 2yrs ago. I was due for a Steroid shot in my lumbar(I have Sciatica). Anesthesiologist wanted an up to date MRI, prior to him giving me a shot. So after I had one taken. My personal Doc told me he thinks I might have bone cancer? So after 13-14? Tests later & 4 Doc's reading all of my testing findings. None of them could say 100% fact. IF...I had bone cancer or not. So in the meanwhile, back at the ranch. I live in limbo, as to whether I have bone cancer or not.

I'm not all that surprised with well trained "experts" & their views. Point being, I do not live in fear or stress. But rather I forge ahead.
 
Originally Posted By: tnshootistI think I would look for another primary Dr.

My thoughts exactly. They love to eat that insurance up! It's no wonder why premiums are so high.
I had a similar event 6 yrs ago. I was told "without a doubt" I had Cancer. After a bunch of tests, including withdraw of bone marrow, they concluded I had no cancer. Kinda makes it hard to take them at their word after that.

Btw, why a chemical induced stress test? They walked me for 10 minuts to get my heart rate up! I said walk, I was practically running for 4 minuts of that. Haven't stopped since either! I got lazy after the military & at my age its harder to get back in shape.

Good luck to ya.
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1
My thoughts exactly. They love to eat that insurance up! It's no wonder why premiums are so high.


part of that is from the insurance companies themselves though too...

there are so many hoops dr's have to jump through these days to get procedures approved. they have to do A, then B, then C, then D.... to get to R your result they wanted to begin with.


for example - my dad needs both knees replaced. he's bone on bone. theres no cartlidge left in either one. one was repaired ... 20 years ago. they have all the x-rays and mri's and CT scans showing he needs two new knees.

first they had to try a topical pain relief med, biofreeze to be exact. come see me in 6-8 weeks. then they had to have him try OTC pills like Tylenol and Motrin. come see me in 6-8 weeks. then they had to try a RX painkiller. come see me in 6-8 weeks. then they had to do cortisone injections. come see me in 6-8 weeks. half a dozen of those spread out over a year or more. then they had to try some synthetic silicon based gel like stuff that would act in place of the cartilage. needed 3x doses of that to get 6-9 months relief, each injection (if i recall) 6-8 weeks apart. he's been through 3 or 4 courses of that stuff. and while it helped, of course, you cant fix destroyed cartilage and what years of bone on bone does to a knee. plus all the bloodwork to make sure nothing is reacting with his heart meds, yadda yadda yadda

so now.... 4+ years later, he's got his knee surgery approved, but after all the F*&^around they ran him thru, hes not even sure if he wants to do the surgery because they want him to do both at the same time. he's worried about the recovery and not being able to move around independently for weeks/months afterward, even though they say he'll be walking with a cane/walker within something like 7-10 days post surgery.

when they should have been able to say - this guy needs knee surgery, get him to an ortheopedic surgeon ASAP. and save >$50,000 worth of wasted insurance payments to various docs and hospital groups. even his doc's are frustrated.

welcome to Medicaid
 
I'm on medacre + I have insurance & its seems now its more of a matter "of what" your insurance will cover. I also believe your primary care gets a kick back from referrals! so even if they know nothing's going be done, they will send ya for all the testing B.S.

It's a dirty game for sure.
 
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