Achievement(s) unlocked…

Posted on by November 7, 2015

Thanks to my therapist, I finally got a decent night’s sleep last night…

She was able to get my back to unkink to the point that I actually didn’t wake up every time I rolled over. You just don’t realize how badly you screw up your back when you’re compensating for a bum leg…

AND, I was able to actually lift the leg high enough to get in the shower without having to crawl in like a two-year old…

Two other things, ice is your friend after therapy, and keeping the leg elevated after a workout actually helps reduce the swelling…

And then there was this little set to Friday afternoon while waiting at the doc’s office for therapy…

Snerk… At the therapist, waiting and a discussion of insurance rates get started. One woman is saying this is ‘normal’ inflation. A couple of us disputes that, and she goes “no, your policies would be this high anyway”. Discussion gets a bit more pointed, turns out she works for administration in healthcare. Older gent ( not me) finally says, very politely, “you’re so full of it, no wonder your hair is brown.” She sputters and guppies for about 30 seconds, and gets up and stomps out!!!

The doctor actually was around the corner and was laughing, but ‘reminded’ us to please be polite to the other patients. We reminded him ‘we’ didn’t start it… Turns out the old gent is a retired Marine… I’m amazed he was that ‘polite’,,, 🙂

 

Comments

Achievement(s) unlocked… — 24 Comments

  1. Yep. The positive part of PT is seeing results.

    Marines. I saw an older gent wearing a Marine Corps ball cap in the line behind my wife and I. I asked when he had been in the Marine Corps and he said 42-45. He commented on my Forrestal ball cap and said that one of the carriers near Okinawa burned badly when he was there.

    I hope I am somewhere near as spry, and mentally with it as he is when I get near his age.

  2. She was a true believer. Something like a starry eyed lemming, mindlessly accepting and following the diktat.
    God bless the Marine Corps.

  3. Glad that the knee and back are much better. It’s rough work getting better but worth it in the long run. Less pain puts less stress on the rest of your body.
    Speaking of less stress, my weight is now less than 220 lbs. I slept last night without the CPAP machine for the first time in about seven years. Voluntarily slept without, didn’t have power a couple of times. Slept great, didn’t have to fight with the hose or mask, didn’t wake the wife with the noises.
    As for your huffy patient, she must have had a heaping helpful of the ACA Kool-Aid. No sane person could accept this plan. And I’m really waiting to see what happens with the Cadillac Plan tax: With the Dems pushing to kill the tax, will the ‘Pubs decide to roll over and abolish the tax, or say “No” and make the administration that created the tax Eat It.

  4. I’m not convinced she was 100% wrong. Even before O’care, premiums were going up faster than other purchases. O’care, however, has thrown a HUGE wrench into the works. The problem with the insurance-based system we have is that the patient is not the customer:the insurance company is. Consequently I cannot get an estimate of the cost of an annual health check from my doc. The office knows what is included but doesn’t know what they charge my insurance, their billing group doesn’t know what additional services might be included so won’t estimate a cost and the docs office can’t tell them, only send them the bill post event. And my insurance company takes three calls to track down the right person who tells me she cannot tell me due to privacy issues!
    If I want LASIK the optician has a price list. If I take my car for service, the dealership has a price list for the work and advises me ahead of time on additional work based on general model and my cars’ specific service history.
    If I were the customer and not the commodity the Doc would absolutely tell me the cost of service….oh wait. When I used to get an FAA annual medical there it was not covered by insurance and they DID tell me EXACTLY what it would cost…and that cost was not inflated 400% by the doc so that the insurance company’s reduction meant he got enough to cover his costs. Ain’t market forces grand?

  8. Good to hear you’re making progress!

    I also admire that old Devil dog’s restraint, good story.

  9. John- That it is, and agreed!

    Roger- Agreed on both!

    WN- That’s great news! Glad to hear it! And I don’t know what is going to happen…

    Chris- You raise some excellent points! And I believe you’re exactly right, WE are the commodity…

    Ed- Good point too!

    WSF- I will.

    Heath- Thanks!

  10. When I was a kid we lived next door to a retired Marine. One night my mother was complaining to my father about the language he used.

    Dad replied, “Marines are very blunt. The call a spade a spade.”

    Mom said,”No they don’t. They call it a f**king shovel!”

  13. You don’t appreciate health until it’s broken. Then you miss it. The bright side for you is that once you’re through all of this misery, you’ll be able to kick ass again.

  15. Hi Jim, Guess I missed the post about having the knee replacement! I had a visiting nurse come once a week for both of mine. She would give me a whole lot of excersises to do, then the next week I was expected to perform them for her while she critiqued and then she would chew my ass while handing out harder ones to do for the next week! JEEZ, it was like being back in boot camp again!

    Hang in there guy, it does get easier.

  16. Yea!!! on the knee and the back and being able to get (safely) into the shower!! Plus since you got a good night’s sleep, your pain will be improved (as in less)…speaking of which, yes, ice and elevation are your friends. I tell my patients if your butt’s in the chair, put your feet in the air. 🙂

    Congrats to WN…that is huge progress! says the diabetes nurse educator/home care nurse.

    And Chris is right about not being able to get a firm estimate from any MD office unless you tell them you have no insurance and are paying cash. That’s because each insurance company negotiates with each medical practice as to how much can be charged/or will be reimbursed for each procedure/visit. This is a practice which has been going on long before ACA, all ACA did was muddy the waters even more. The entire health insurance mess wont change until enough of us yell, scream and stamp our feet…maybe not even then. I do know that billing offices hate it as much as the rest of us as it complicates their lives to no end. What I find most telling is how many physicians are bailing out of the entire mess, either by becoming concierge practices, or just flat out getting out of medical practice.

    Suz

  17. I now work in the “bean counting” side of healthcare. I can’t go into details, but you are correct; so was the person who made the comment on hair color.

  18. Ev- LOL, I have to go visit mine, but I’m getting the SAME treatment… sigh…

    Suz- Thanks! And you’re correct.

    Odysseus- Thanks for the ‘confirmation’ of what we thought… dammit…

  19. Obamacare. Phooey. The only way it could get worse would be if the government was actually providing it, rather than “just” making sure it was there.

    And it was quite the revelation to realize how all the stuff works together, not to mention how having one bit not work leads to other bits not working…

    …Good thing the VA says there’s nothing wrong with me!

  20. Thanks for the tip about the ice. Doing some PT for the ankle and plantar fascitis (facist? 🙂 ) and I’m notably more sore after doing my exercises.

  21. I’m glad you’re doing better. Nothing like being able to get a little sleep, isn’t there?

    Your story reminds me of what happened to me this morning. I need a dermatologist, and so got a recommendation from a friend. I call, and when I finally get through the nurse informs me that the good doctor doesn’t accept my insurance (no reason given). Being sort of desperate, I offer to pay cash.

    “We don’t accept cash patients here. We won’t take anyone without insurance.”

    I think I’ll try a little gin, see if that helps.

  22. Yes, our first instinct is to put heat on a sore back. But that is counterproductive…it inflames the tissue around the nerves and makes it worse. Ice is your friend…