Re: My second rheummy visit was a bust!!

[Guest guest]

What a mess, sorry you are having to deal with all this. I wonder why good

RA docs are so hard to find.

Joy

aclavern33@... wrote:

The first visit with the rheummy went like this: she said I think

there is

nothing wrong with you. We will run some blood work. Come back in 1-2

months and we will inject your hips and give you the results. At the end of the

appnt I was given a letter saying she was leaving the clinic. So once again I

had no doc. The really irritating part is that I waited over 6 months to

even see her. She was the coldest most uncaring doctor I have ever seen. I

left feeling like a piece of meat that had been inspected to see if it was fit

to eat! I was soo pissed.

So yesterday after a 2 month wait I get to see the Nurse Practioner to go

over my lab work, get my hips injected and hopefully get something more than

Lodine. She goes over ALL my labs and says I am fine...nothing unusual except

that my Hepititis screening was positive. I tell her I have been vaccinated

with the Hep B series vaccine now two times in my life and that I worked in

healthcare for almost 10 yrs. They were looking at an old test from when I

worked for this medical center. They were testing to make sure my titer was

high enough and that I did not need another series of shots.

So I got injections, a script for Ultram but they refused to write a script

for Darvocet. As I was told fibromyalgia is not a rheumatologic

problem...its a chronic pain problem and we refer to pain management or your

family doc

for pain meds. She said at this point I have gone from diagnosed back to

undiagnosed, because they feel the RA DX is wrong. She thinks I have joint

hyper-mobility. the nodules on certain joints she would not comment on. She did

order a set of knee Xrays....but I really wished she would have Xrayed my

hands too. she did MORE blood work for the HEP B to see if I have some sort of

other viral disease.

And the kicker....since they say they do not know what is going on. they

REFUSED to sign my long term disability paperwork. So now I have NO income!!!

I was suppose to get my check yesterday, but they stopped it because they

were waiting on the paperwork from the doc. Then she tells me she sees stable

diagnosed RA patients....so I am being " punted " back to the doc. The clinic

is now down to one doc. So because of that it will be a LONG time before I

can get in to see the other doc. Translation, my next appnt is in May 2007!!!

Oh and my papework. They do not fill out work ability paperwork. you have

to go to occupational health for that. So she did write me a referral and I

am waiting to see how long it takes to get an appnt for eval and to hopefully

get my paperwork filled out.

I called back my LTD case manager. She is working on finding someone for me

to see. She did go ahead and release my payment for this month...but now

its month at a time. Which means I will not find out if I am getting paid

until the last minute.

I plan to call my crappy insurance CIGNA and see if they can let me see an

out-of-network doc so I can get rheumy care and hopefully at least my

paperwork filled out before I am in the dark and homeless!

Toni

[Guest guest]

WOW!! I'm so sorry your appointment went that badly that's a cryin' shame.

If the doc insisted there was nothing wrong with you, why is she injecting

something & giving meds if there's no problem? That sounds fishy to me, she

realizes something was wrong and was being too lazy to treat it, and these auto

immune problems do take a little work to treat, and godforbid she would do so. I

want to know how some of these docs keep their practices~! Anyway, please hang

in there, fight fight fight and I will be thinking about you, hoping you get the

help you need!

Whitney

aclavern33@... wrote:

The first visit with the rheummy went like this: she said I think

there is

nothing wrong with you. We will run some blood work. Come back in 1-2

months and we will inject your hips and give you the results. At the end of the

appnt I was given a letter saying she was leaving the clinic. So once again I

had no doc. The really irritating part is that I waited over 6 months to

even see her. She was the coldest most uncaring doctor I have ever seen. I

left feeling like a piece of meat that had been inspected to see if it was fit

to eat! I was soo pissed.

So yesterday after a 2 month wait I get to see the Nurse Practioner to go

over my lab work, get my hips injected and hopefully get something more than

Lodine. She goes over ALL my labs and says I am fine...nothing unusual except

that my Hepititis screening was positive. I tell her I have been vaccinated

with the Hep B series vaccine now two times in my life and that I worked in

healthcare for almost 10 yrs. They were looking at an old test from when I

worked for this medical center. They were testing to make sure my titer was

high enough and that I did not need another series of shots.

So I got injections, a script for Ultram but they refused to write a script

for Darvocet. As I was told fibromyalgia is not a rheumatologic

problem...its a chronic pain problem and we refer to pain management or your

family doc

for pain meds. She said at this point I have gone from diagnosed back to

undiagnosed, because they feel the RA DX is wrong. She thinks I have joint

hyper-mobility. the nodules on certain joints she would not comment on. She did

order a set of knee Xrays....but I really wished she would have Xrayed my

hands too. she did MORE blood work for the HEP B to see if I have some sort of

other viral disease.

And the kicker....since they say they do not know what is going on. they

REFUSED to sign my long term disability paperwork. So now I have NO income!!!

I was suppose to get my check yesterday, but they stopped it because they

were waiting on the paperwork from the doc. Then she tells me she sees stable

diagnosed RA patients....so I am being " punted " back to the doc. The clinic

is now down to one doc. So because of that it will be a LONG time before I

can get in to see the other doc. Translation, my next appnt is in May 2007!!!

Oh and my papework. They do not fill out work ability paperwork. you have

to go to occupational health for that. So she did write me a referral and I

am waiting to see how long it takes to get an appnt for eval and to hopefully

get my paperwork filled out.

I called back my LTD case manager. She is working on finding someone for me

to see. She did go ahead and release my payment for this month...but now

its month at a time. Which means I will not find out if I am getting paid

until the last minute.

I plan to call my crappy insurance CIGNA and see if they can let me see an

out-of-network doc so I can get rheumy care and hopefully at least my

paperwork filled out before I am in the dark and homeless!

Toni

[Guest guest]

Dear Toni- If you have been RA positive in the past and can find those records, bring them to the cigna care providers. It sounds like you are falling through the cracks here. You need a decent RD to diagnose you with RA and if you already HAVE been diagnosed then you need to bring those records to a Disability Lawyer. Sue for disability regardless of what the new people say. Long Term Insurance is your way of not being on disability but if they are not going to sign your paperwork, then you have to get mean with them. I feel for you. Hugs, Deborah

On 2/9/07, aclavern33@... <aclavern33@...> wrote:

The first visit with the rheummy went like this: she said I think there is nothing wrong with you. We will run some blood work. Come back in 1-2 months and we will inject your hips and give you the results. At the end of the appnt I was given a letter saying she was leaving the clinic. So once again I had no doc. The really irritating part is that I waited over 6 months to even see her. She was the coldest most uncaring doctor I have ever seen. I left feeling like a piece of meat that had been inspected to see if it was fit to eat! I was soo pissed.

So yesterday after a 2 month wait I get to see the Nurse Practioner to go over my lab work, get my hips injected and hopefully get something more than Lodine. She goes over ALL my labs and says I am fine...nothing unusual except that my Hepititis screening was positive. I tell her I have been vaccinated with the Hep B series vaccine now two times in my life and that I worked in healthcare for almost 10 yrs. They were looking at an old test from when I worked for this medical center. They were testing to make sure my titer was high enough and that I did not need another series of shots.

So I got injections, a script for Ultram but they refused to write a script for Darvocet. As I was told fibromyalgia is not a rheumatologic problem...its a chronic pain problem and we refer to pain management or your family doc for pain meds. She said at this point I have gone from diagnosed back to undiagnosed, because they feel the RA DX is wrong. She thinks I have joint hyper-mobility. the nodules on certain joints she would not comment on. She did order a set of knee Xrays....but I really wished she would have Xrayed my hands too. she did MORE blood work for the HEP B to see if I have some sort of other viral disease.

And the kicker....since they say they do not know what is going on. they REFUSED to sign my long term disability paperwork. So now I have NO income!!! I was suppose to get my check yesterday, but they stopped it because they were waiting on the paperwork from the doc. Then she tells me she sees stable diagnosed RA patients....so I am being " punted " back to the doc. The clinic is now down to one doc. So because of that it will be a LONG time before I can get in to see the other doc. Translation, my next appnt is in May 2007!!!

Oh and my papework. They do not fill out work ability paperwork. you have to go to occupational health for that. So she did write me a referral and I am waiting to see how long it takes to get an appnt for eval and to hopefully get my paperwork filled out.

I called back my LTD case manager. She is working on finding someone for me to see. She did go ahead and release my payment for this month...but now its month at a time. Which means I will not find out if I am getting paid until the last minute.

I plan to call my crappy insurance CIGNA and see if they can let me see an out-of-network doc so I can get rheumy care and hopefully at least my paperwork filled out before I am in the dark and homeless!

Toni

[Guest guest]

That is terrible! .

My daughter is in motion to request a medical retirement. Just as she was all

set to go her most recent doctor apt. said they would reevaluate her in 6

months. So that puts it on hold for 6 more months. It has been over 6 months

since she has worked.

Because of all the complications in the process she had contacted an attorney to

handle it for her. After talking to others she concluded that was her best way

to go. But now she is on hold again. Fortunately she had only contacted an

attorney but had not yet hired him.

Thankfully she can live without the income. But being on hold again is not

great but it does give her more options.

I hope you can work this out.

Betty

[Guest guest]

I am so

sorry. I have gone thru similar doctor problems. One did not write what I said

was hurting on my records and wrote that I had pain in my shoulders and hips (which

I have never had) and wrote a letter to the rheumy( that I insisted on seeing)saying

he thought it was a case of “ no exercise at all at all”. This made

me mad. I had five little kids, and had just moved into a two story house,

working full time. I did not write those doctors down on my disability

report at all. Both were rude, didn’t listen and figured I was an

overweight slob.

I finally found a kind rheumatologist who

listened to me and experienced with kenolog injections. This helps me so much,

he knew my problem was inflammatory even though my blood work was fairly normal

at the time.

He says my RA is palindromic and that is

why I am sero negative. I take plaquenil, sulfphasalazine and relefan, get a

shot every three months and I have not felt better in my life.

He does think I also have fibromyalgia, as

well as RA. I stick with him. KEEP LOOKING UNTIL YOU FIND SOMEONE WHO

WILL LISTEN WITH AN OPEN MIND. Tana

I am curious,are your “hip

injections” steroids?

-----Original Message-----

From: Rheumatoid Arthritis

[mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On

Behalf Of aclavern33@...

Sent: Friday,

February 09, 2007 11:04 AM

;

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject: My

second rheummy visit was a bust!!

The

first visit with the rheummy went like this: she said I think there is

nothing wrong with you. We will run some blood work. Come back in

1-2 months and we will inject your hips and give you the results. At the

end of the appnt I was given a letter saying she was leaving the clinic.

So once again I had no doc. The really irritating part is that I waited

over 6 months to even see her. She was the coldest most uncaring doctor I

have ever seen. I left feeling like a piece of meat that had been inspected

to see if it was fit to eat! I was soo pissed.

So

yesterday after a 2 month wait I get to see the Nurse Practioner to go over my

lab work, get my hips injected and hopefully get something more than

Lodine. She goes over ALL my labs and says I am fine...nothing unusual

except that my Hepititis screening was positive. I tell her I have been

vaccinated with the Hep B series vaccine now two times in my life and that I

worked in healthcare for almost 10 yrs. They were looking at an old test

from when I worked for this medical center. They were testing to make

sure my titer was high enough and that I did not need another series of

shots.

So I got

injections, a script for Ultram but they refused to write a script for

Darvocet. As I was told fibromyalgia is not a rheumatologic problem...its

a chronic pain problem and we refer to pain management or your family doc for

pain meds. She said at this point I have gone from diagnosed back to

undiagnosed, because they feel the RA DX is wrong. She thinks I have

joint hyper-mobility. the nodules on certain joints she would not comment

on. She did order a set of knee Xrays....but I really wished she would

have Xrayed my hands too. she did MORE blood work for the HEP B to see if

I have some sort of other viral disease.

And the

kicker....since they say they do not know what is going on. they REFUSED

to sign my long term disability paperwork. So now I have NO

income!!! I was suppose to get my check yesterday, but they stopped it

because they were waiting on the paperwork from the doc. Then she tells

me she sees stable diagnosed RA patients....so I am being

" punted " back to the doc. The clinic is now down to one

doc. So because of that it will be a LONG time before I can get in to see

the other doc. Translation, my next appnt is in May 2007!!!

Oh and

my papework. They do not fill out work ability paperwork. you have to go

to occupational health for that. So she did write me a referral and I am

waiting to see how long it takes to get an appnt for eval and to hopefully get

my paperwork filled out.

I called

back my LTD case manager. She is working on finding someone for me to

see. She did go ahead and release my payment for this month...but now its

month at a time. Which means I will not find out if I am getting paid

until the last minute.

I plan

to call my crappy insurance CIGNA and see if they can let me see an

out-of-network doc so I can get rheumy care and hopefully at least my paperwork

filled out before I am in the dark and homeless!

Toni

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[Guest guest]

The hip injections of steriods and lidocaine for pain. Usually the work almost immediately. So far my right hip feels much better. The left one is achy and very sore. Maybe it will take a few days for it to take affect.

Toni