So.... Went to the doctors today. (I hate my life)

[Fly_On_Wall]

Okay so I went and seen the doctor today I finaly got in. Asked him about the twitch in my neck.... which his now in my neck my shoulder area and now my left arm started today. (makes it hard to draw at work)

Now I'm being sent to a Nurologist to be checked out for Epilepsie. my doctor thinks I've been haveing constant seisures for close to a month now, but said they aren't anything serious yet. I just look like a fucking idiot when they happen... (ever 2-3 mins) and people stair at the twitching idiot.

my blood preasure was also 169 over 90 (real bad) but not acurate casue I kept twitching which threw off reading.


Now I have to play the waiting game. It's going to be about 2 months before I can even get into a nurologist.

sit and sit and sit. and I can't even do anything about it cause they can't give me any drugs till they are sure of what I have.

and things were just getting better for me..... now this has to happen. Goddamnit.

 

[Kalyn]

I'm sorry Fly, There is no to get into the specialist's office sooner???

 

[KillerMuffin]

Twitch? Is it like shaking or just a momentary twitch?

Do you have deja vu? Do you ever walk into someplace you've been in a million times before and feel like you've never been there? Do people complain about repeating themselves to you, but you don't remember them asking the question or making the statement in the first place?

Speaking from experience, Epilepsy isn't all that bad as far as being fucked up goes.

www.efa.org

 

[princess4u]

so sorry to hear that fly - but it's always best to get these things checked out and even though things seem bleak right now, they will eventually come to a conclusion - maybe the neurologist will have a cancellation and will be able to see you sooner

 

[YogiBare]

Fly, you really can't afford to wait two months. The symptoms have been getting worse, and the fact is that the doc really isn't sure what's causing them. Whatever the cause is , you need treatment.

I assure you that you can be seen earlier if the right buttons are pushed in the medical establishment. Here's what you do:

Call the office of the doc you saw today. Speak only to the nurse, not a receptionist. Explain your situation, emphasizing that your symptoms are getting worse and that Dr.___________ could not make a clear diagnoses. State that, given your symptoms and the fact that they are progressing, you do not believe that it is SAFE for you to wait two months to be seen for an initial consultation by the neurologist.

Tell the nurse that you would like Dr.____________ to call the neurologist today, explain your situation, and request a prompt appointment. Tell her that if the neurologist cannot see you within two weeks that you would like Dr.______________to refer you to a different neurologist who will see you promptly.

This almost always works. It worked for me recently when I was told that I would have to wait 14 weeks to see a specialist at Johns Hopkins. I called my doctor and he got me in to see the chief of the service in two weeks. Good luck, Fly. Please let me know what happens.

 

[nasty]

So sorry to hear about that, Fly. I hope everything goes well. Hnag in their, buddy.

 

[Sillyman]

Sorry Fly. Hopefully is IS epilepsy, and you aren't going to have to keep going back and forth to specialists all over the place for months to figure out what it is.

 

[Nigel]

Fly:

I have to agree with Yogi - get in to see a neurologist as soon as possible. Follow Yogi's advice.....you can't wait two months....if things get worse.....well...not good.

Take care of yourself....you'll be in my thoughts and prayers, buddy....

Nigel

 

[Silverluna]

ah...Gods Fly...yes listen to Yogi....
They might put you on valproic acid...it prevents seziures...i was on it for my manic depression..but its original purpose was to treat sezures....
~Always~
silver

 

[Shaq]

Damn....

that sucks fly...I hope it isn't epilepsy...there's still a chance it isn't...be positive...

 

[juicylips]

Fly..what fucking bullshit about waiting!!!

I guess I just have to come up there and straighten this out for you.

JL

 

[sch00lteacher]

Hang in there dude, you've been through worse. You know you'll get through this. Hell it will just be another pill to worry about.

Just keep thinking about that job and promotion.

You know that I know what you're going through. It ain't easy but you can do it. I got some interesting news myself last week. I also got some good news, they came and picked up my wheelchair yesterday. Don't need the sucker any longer!

Let me know if I can help.


http://www.emailcard.com/cards/small/ENCG2S.jpg

 

[zantac666]

Hang in there and keep happy thoughts.

I know what you are going thru i have been going to doctors since 87 and it's frustrating they take blood x-rays and everything else.

Every 3 months they take blood now they are sending me o a specialist because i do not have enough vitamin d.

I have had things shoved up my ass down my throat poked and proded jst to tell me i have arthritis and chrones.

Now i tak 8 different meds. 3 of which are pain meds. 3 blood presure my blod presure sometimes 190 ov 101

So hang in there i'm not going to let my probems stop me.

 

[Fly_On_Wall]

thanks for the info and suport.

yogi I'd try what you said but can't, the nurse is the doctors husband, it's a small family practice. and she is the one booking the apointment for me.

however I can get a second doctor to say I need to see the specialist. and If my blood preasure rockets up i'll be an imergency case.

so there are chances of getting in faster, 2 months was just the first aproximate.

as for seeing another nurologist, I asked to see this one specificly. I could have seen a diff one in say a week, but the guy is 80, he's retireing this year he is forin so you can't understand him. yes I know it would be a doctor but I doubt i'd get a good diagnosis.

I think Juciy should come hold my hand

 

[BlondGirl]

Fly,

Call the neuro's office and ask if there are any cancellations today. If not, ask to be put on the cancellation list. Be as sweet as possible. (Do this around 9:30--giving people enough time to call in and cancel appmts for that day.)

If you don't get a call within a week, do it again, being remembered as that sweet patient who needs to be seen quickly can make all the difference.

Also, look up your insurance physician referral list online. Determine what neurologists are on your plan in the area. Find out if you are on an IPA. If you are, that limits your ability incredibly, if not--call every one and see if any of them has any openings sooner.

If you are on an HMO or POS plan, you must have a referral from your regular doctor. (The referral is documentated authorization from the ins company.) If your plan is a PPO, you can see whoever you want when ever you want (as long as the person is on your plan).

I help to arrange things like this for my patients (along with a zillion other duties). If you feel comfortable with it and want a bit of assistance, PM me and I will give you my e-mail address to discuss this privately.

Good luck.

 

[YogiBare]

Fly, I would try it, even though the nurse is his wife. It should work regardless.

First, I doubt that the doc intended for you to have to wait. This is a potentially serious set of symptoms that could have serious consequences if left untreated. By calling, you are not critisizing the first doc, but seeking help to get his order carried out. It's good medicine. His wife should want to help. This is not an uncommon or extraordinary request. Doctors do this kind of thing all of the time. They do favors for one another, especially 1)when the patient's symptoms are serious enough to warrant it, 2)when the condition is getting worse over time, and 3)when the doc requesting the favor is a good and regular source of referrals. It's really normal "customer service."

Second, there is a potential liability problem for the first doc if he refuses to help you. If it is epilepsy, what if a seizure caused you to have a serious car accident, or some other serious accident? If it's not epilepsy, what if a worsening condition allowed to deteriorate through delaying treatment caused some kind of permanent damage, or a worse prognosis than if you were treated promptly? Fly, they will help you!

Blondgirl also gave you excellent advice. Try all angles. The insurance company should also want to see you treated promptly, before your condition becomes worse, and potentially more expensive to treat. You really do have some leverage here.

I'm also, like Blondgirl, happy to help you to get this done. Feel free to PM me and I will help in any way that I can.

 

[Georgia Girl]

Sorry to hear about whats going on Fly but like KM said, epilepsy is not so bad. The waiting is bad though because most likely it raises your stress level which raises your blood pressure which makes the twitching worse.

In the meantime start paying really close attention to anything and everything before it starts. The more you know the more it will help the Doc when you get in to see him. You might also check with the Epilespy Foundation and see if you could get any information on seizure specialist in your surrounding area. If you have a really bad bad day of it go to the emergency room and explain that they think it may be seizures. First off they will do an EEG and second you will get an immediate referral to the Neurologist who is on-call. (At least thats the way it works in GA.)

Try noticing if there is something in particular you smell or taste right before, is it worse when you are sleep deprived, and if you lose muscle control. These are just a very few little things to pay attention to but every little thing helps.

Good luck. Trust me epilepsy is not so bad.

Dawn

 

[Fly_On_Wall]

Blond Girl Yogi thanks for the ideas. I am going to call tomarrow (my doctors office is closed on wed) and try to talk to someone on the phone abut getting in faster. my entire left arm went fucking nuts today I got mabey 1/4th of my work done at work today. my arm for 4 hours just shook and shook and shook so I couldn't type proper nore hold my calculator. or even a peice of papper. arm just lifts right up off the table suddenly shakes back and forth for about 40 seconds then drops to rest a few seconds, back up again. belive me this was fucking anoying. lol it joust started again as i type so i'm doing most of this one handed.

so tomarrow I am definetly calling. as for all your sugestion blond girl. I'm in canada so don't need to do any of that. I can see any doctor at any time for any reason, 100% paid. BUT, i have to be refured, can't just call up a specialist (I know this for a fact i've tryed on a few ocations.) they tell you have your family doctor or a clinic doctor send us a refural.... fucking snobs.

and Thanks Georgia. I know it's not that bad, I actualy don't care what it is, I'll get along. It's just the not knowing for sure as you said.

 

[T.H. Oughts]

my arm for 4 hours just shook and shook and shook so I couldn't type proper nore hold my calculator. or even a peice of papper. arm just lifts right up off the table suddenly shakes back and forth for about 40 seconds then drops to rest a few seconds, back up again. belive me this was fucking anoying. lol it joust started again as i type so i'm doing most of this one handed.

Damn it boy, forget the doctor and head to your neartest A&E and show them what is happening... they will do tests right away..... you need to get this checked Now !!!
The trick is if you can't get to your doctor..... go to the A&E... trust me I've done that before.....

I was going to have to wait two months once to have a scan done... the pain was real bad... I went to the A&E they did a scan within a few hours of me waiting there and I was in hospital having surgery within a week.... it was a life threatening matter, so I was glad I went to the A&E....

Try all options....

 

[YogiBare]

Fly, I'm so glad that you're going to get yourself taken care of.

Please let us know what happens.

I wish you the very best.

 

[BlondGirl]

Gee T.H., I thought A&E was a TV station. I did not know you could go there and have tests done.

Fly,

I understand that you need a referral to SEE a specialist. You do not need a referral to CALL a specialist and ask if they have openings. You also do not need that referral to call your PCP and and then ask for a referral to the other specialist.

If you really want to be seen sooner, you will be.


Something else that may be helpful, I try to call my neuro's (and other specialists) and ask what tests they want on the patient or intend to order based on the tentative diagnosis. We then order those and have the results/films ready and already reviewed by that doc by the time the patient sets foot at the first appointment.

I don't know if you would be needed an EMG or CT or MR or whatever they do for epilepsy as far as testing, but call and ask if you could possibly do any potential testing before you see the specialist. (These do take time too, so it might take all that time to get in to see the specialist.)

Just as an FYI, there are certain specialities that are always overloaded with patients.
Here in the Houston metroplex, neurology is one of those. There is ONE single one that we like to use. Wait time for a new patient is 6 weeks.
There is another that patients have begun to complain about wierd behavior from. We do try to avoid that one.
There is another that is a 45 minute drive from here.
There is another that is an hour from here.
There is the medical center in downtown and another in Galveston. Each of those is impossible to get a patient into the system any faster than the above.

A little story about our fave neurology doc: We had a messed up patient. She had some wierd stuff going on. We were clueless about the causes and seemed unable to get anywhere. We were really going above and beyond the call of duty on this patient. (Doc was taking her chart home at night going over stuff on several occassions, I had given her my cell number for when I could not reach her during regular business hours, each specialist was saying that something was wrong with her but it was not related to what they could do, etc.)
We set her up with our fave doc. The one who is so overloaded that she sees her patients on a time schedule and has to stick to it to see that volume. (I did not mention that in this time, the patient had 3 insurance changes AND changed her name.) On a lucky moment, I called over to that neuros office and the receptionist had a cancellation just before my call for the next morning. I told her not to fill it, that my patient wanted it and I would call to confirm. I called the patient at home. No answer. I called at work, unable to reach her. I called her husband, he said he would call her at work and call me right back. I waited 15 minutes and then called him again, he said she wanted the appointment and would be there in the am. (I had other patient's waiting on me at this time, patients who were there in my clinic in person, but they were waiting for this phone business I was up to. It was sooooo nice that I had to call him back when he knew I was waiting, right?)
I called the neuro office to confirm. The patient's charts were already there and tagged and the neuro had already reviewed them. Everything was set.
One hour before the appointment the next morning, I called the patient to remind her. She told me she was not going because she did not have a ride. I asked her if she had called to cancel. Nope. I offered to call for her. She told me no, that she would do it then. Okay, I went about my business.
At lunch time, I got a fax from the doctor written in fat marker that the patient noshowed. I called the office and and receptionist told me the doc was really pissed since 1: she had already invested time and effort in that ungrateful patient and 2: someone else had to wait because of this inconsiderate patient.
We put that fax in the patient's chart and redirected her to the other neurologist.
And now, months later, we are still on the shit list for our fave neurologist. We don't get patients in very quickly no matter what. We had really pestered them to get that one patient in and she ruined it. I suppose that if we had a really really serious case that we could get it done much quicker, but it would have to be plainly serious.
Frusterating. But it is the nature of the beast.

Sometimes there are more aspects to getting that referral for a specialist consult than the patient can ever know.

 

[bluespoke]

Gee T.H., I thought A&E was a TV station. I did not know you could go there and have tests done.

And in NZ and the UK, we thought that ER was indecision. errrrrrrr!

 

[weed]

A little advice to add to the good stuff you've already gotten, Fly. Make sure they take your bp in your unaffected arm and take a few good breaths before they check it. And stop any caffeine.

If they truly thinks its seizures find out if they can order an EEG for you.

Keep an open mind, healthcare isn't perfect and it might not what it first seems to be.

Good luck

 

[T.H. Oughts]

And in NZ and the UK, we thought that ER was indecision. errrrrrrr!

lol

Accident and Emergancy for those that don't know

 

[YogiBare]

lol

Accident and Emergancy for those that don't know

So it's not Ambulances and Embolisms, huh?