Health and Wellness Chit-Chat: Your Primary Care Topic

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

According to the DMV website the best way to apply is to submit a scanned copy of the filled out form online and pay the 5 dollar fee. But then it takes a week for them to process it! Otherwise if you go in to the office they will accept your application but I don't know if that means they'll give you the placard on the spot. It might but you still have to make an appointment and that can be days in the future anyway.

Do both.
We could make virtual bets on the winner. Like for "fun"? 😉

And send a follow-up MyCare message saying:

• Thank you for agreeing to expedite the doctor's signature on my DMV Placard form for handicapped parking: https://portal.ct.gov/dmv/-/media/dmv/20/29/b225ppdf.pdf 
  I'm attaching a copy of it for your convenience. 
  I'm also attaching pictures demonstrating my need.
  [Non-MD therapist's name] is treating me with the leg wraps seen in the attached pictures.

Then attach the form and attach the 2 pictures you posted here attached.

One way to fill out your portion of the form without PDF editing software is to take a screenshot of it and put it into a Word or other doc so it fills the page, then type over it.
But I think you said you have a printer?
So you could print it, hand-write in the Part A boxes, and then either scan it with your printer, or take a picture of it with your phone.
Do you have an iPhone or an Android? 

Edited March 26 by shapeshifter

[athousandclowns]

14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Thank you. I wish I could walk into a DMV but here in CT we can't do that. We have to make an appointment online first and it can take a while to get one. I was just reading their website and it says that we still need to provide medical certification to get handicapped parking even if we apply online. So it looks like until I can get that certification I'm out of luck and my therapist is not a doctor so she can't do it. I suppose I can call the office again but I've already done that twice! I will do it though.

Speaking of my therapist, she called out of office today and of course I was already half way through unwrapping myself when I found out so I am now completely unwrapped and putting on compression hose. I am wondering if she's just as burned out as she seems to be or whether she like me has a touch of diarrhea. We both have been wearing masks in our sessions so I'm just speculating. I will make sure that an extra session is added at the end of my month. BTW I think my issue is probably from eating some leftovers that might have been in the fridge a day or so too long. As you can imagine I haven't been up to cooking like I normally do and have been ordering in, making sandwiches and frozen dinners and making some compromises. My husband could have eaten what I ate with no trouble so maybe it's just me or a virus but I don't feel so bad so I have no idea. It is very rare for me to have any stomach issues like that.

Anyway my stellar luck continues. I just hope my therapist is OK. I've grown to like her a lot. Any advice right now is very much appreciated.

I picked up a note from my friends doctor required and a couple days later I took him to a AAA office where he sat and got the temporary signage .theres got to be a easier way to get what is detrimental for you now. Good thoughts coming your way  

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Tragically, all too believable.  Across so many sectors. 

How much money do you have?  If you're willing to pay, there are "concierge" doctors who will actually tend to your needs.  It used to be only megabuck people who could afford it, but prices have come down as more doctors are doing it.  Probably in the range of a couple thousand bucks a month. 

That's not an insignificant amount, but you already have relatively cheap insurance with Medicare and a supplement--before I got on Medicare, my health insurance was $1,000 a month, and Mr. Outlier, at 57 years old, is right at $1,000 a month already, with 8 years to go before Medicare.

Unfortunately, I can't think of any concierge DMV service providers.  But give it time.  Eventually almost everything can be solved by creating a separate experience for rich people.

Interesting, I'd think about it if I could afford it, but would you believe my husband just tallied up what we spent out of pocket for medical coverage and expenses last year for our tax preparer and it came to something insane like $12,000 a year for the both of us? Of course that includes about $3,000 in dental work my husband had done that insurance didn't pay for (we do have stand alone dental insurance through Cigna). So you can take that down to $9,000. That includes premiums, deductibles, medical procedures and medications not covered by Medicare and our supplemental plan premiums. Of course my husband's boss pays our premiums but it's still a shocking amount. It makes me wonder if going on one of those Advantage plans is a better idea if and when we have to pay our own premiums. Based on what friends have told us they are not so good in this area so we have hesitated.

And speaking of my husband's boss, he and his family have a doctor on salary at their disposal 24/7. Just like my husband is on salary as their chauffer. We think they are secret billionaires. Their name doesn't show up on the list of billionaires in the state but we think their assets are cleverly split up among different family members and countries.

But speaking of concierge services, I see a lot of elderly and disabled people showing up at this physical therapy facility with either private/insurance paid nurses who advocate for them or social workers as the case may be. I hear them on the phone on benches outside the facility talking to their bosses or agencies.

 

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Do both.
We could make virtual bets on the winner. Like for "fun"? 😉

And send a follow-up MyCare message saying:

• Thank you for agreeing to expedite the doctor's signature on my DMV Placard form for handicapped parking: https://portal.ct.gov/dmv/-/media/dmv/20/29/b225ppdf.pdf 
  I'm attaching a copy of it for your convenience. 
  I'm also attaching pictures demonstrating my need.
  [Non-MD therapist's name] is treating me with the leg wraps seen in the attached pictures.

Then attach the form and attach the 2 pictures you posted here attached.

One way to fill out your portion of the form without PDF editing software is to take a screenshot of it and put it into a Word or other doc so it fills the page, then type over it.
But I think you said you have a printer?
So you could print it, hand-write in the Part A boxes, and then either scan it with your printer, or take a picture of it with your phone.
Do you have an iPhone or an Android? 

Thanks. I like the "do both" idea but there's a catch with that. I'll explain in a minute.

I guess escalating this to management worked because this afternoon I had a message in "MyChart" that the doctor had signed the form and it was waiting for me at the reception desk. It turns out that she was out of office last week but is back this week. Whatever. I was getting ready to go out anyway since my therapist had canceled today so I went right over there and got it. It was the actual DMV form with the doctor's signature on it. So that's why the doctors have the forms. They fill it out for you and sign it.

Later on when I went home after grocery shopping (I took advantage of not being bandaged) I got online and tried to make an appointment with the DMV. It looked pretty straightforward so I went through the steps of answering questions about what I wanted to do and instead of bringing me to a page where I could schedule a time and date it shunted me over to an online form to submit with a scanned copy of the signed DMV form, a scan of my driver's license and online payment for the fee. I was very hungry at that point and didn't feel like scanning so I figured I'd eat and then do it, but I fell asleep on the couch in front of "The Connors" and here I am now. So I'll do it first thing in the morning. I might just show up at the DMV if I feel like it. It's not even that local either. It's about 13 miles away if you can believe that. There's another one about 15 miles away but it's always a fiasco and people in the know avoid it if at all possible.

And guess what? My therapist called in again and won't be in tomorrow (Thursday) either. When I asked if she was OK they said she was and would be in on Friday. Yeah, well they told me she'd be in on Thursday yesterday so we'll see about that. I asked if the missed appointments would be rescheduled and they told me my therapist would work that out with me.

Anyway the REALLY good news is that my primary doctor gave me 1 year on the temporary handicapped placard. And given that my therapist is likely ill my therapy is going to go on longer than expected so that works out. I'm OK with it now. Whatever. I just can't get over how getting anything accomplished now requires busting your gut. And the DMV is like the Wizard of Oz now. We can thank the pandemic for this. It was never like that before.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

this afternoon I had a message in "MyChart" that the doctor had signed the form and it was waiting for me at the reception desk.

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

the REALLY good news is that my primary doctor gave me 1 year on the temporary handicapped placard.

Excellent! 👏

 

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

And guess what? My therapist called in again and won't be in tomorrow (Thursday) either. When I asked if she was OK they said she was and would be in on Friday.

Does your PT have young children? My daughter was bemoaning that her 1-yr-old has been sent home from daycare for 2 days due to illness 3 times in as many weeks. He's fine now. Just the usual crap that breeds in daycare centers. I suppose if daycare centers had better funding, they could do better ventilating, following the guidelines learned from the pandemic. 
I could go on. I actually wrote a paper on the subject 33 years ago when the same (youngest) daughter was a toddler in daycare and I was recently divorced, working, and going to school.
Sorry to digress.
What were you saying? 🤣
 

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

the DMV is like the Wizard of Oz

Excellent analogy! 

[PRgal]

Update on my surgery recovery:  I was FINALLY able to properly wash my hair rather than just washing the tip because I had to keep the dressing on my scalp for a few days.  It was great to FINALLY wash off the medical/clinical/OR scent.  UGH.  Plus I was able to show my face in public (there was an event at my son's school yesterday).  

[Yeah No]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Does your PT have young children? My daughter was bemoaning that her 1-yr-old has been sent home from daycare for 2 days due to illness 3 times in as many weeks. He's fine now. Just the usual crap that breeds in daycare centers. I suppose if daycare centers had better funding, they could do better ventilating, following the guidelines learned from the pandemic. 
I could go on. I actually wrote a paper on the subject 33 years ago when the same (youngest) daughter was a toddler in daycare and I was recently divorced, working, and going to school.
Sorry to digress.
What were you saying? 🤣

LOL, no problem, I don't even remember. I've just been through so much in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday and today feel like I'm playing "hooky" from school and I want to make the most of it. I just vacuumed and put away everything I can't put back on high shelves when I'm wearing those bandages. Today I might go to Kohl's to try on some pants. Freedom....So far my legs are staying slim in the compression hose which is good.

My therapist is 32 and single so she has no children, only a cat. I feel for her - she moved here 2 years ago from Ohio for this job all by herself. We've connected on a lot of things including not being from the area and feeling the same about how difficult it is to meet friends around here. She shared some of her online dating nightmares. I sympathized. I've also been to Ohio several times as my husband and I had good friends who lived in this area but retired to Ohio. They were our organist and choir director in our church years ago (they were older than us and have since passed on). They loved this area because it looked so much like Columbus.

There is an interesting relationship between Ohio and CT historically and even culturally speaking except Midwesterners actually share more in common with New Yorkers in a lot of ways. People from this area tend to be insular and not so open to making new friends. New Yorkers are actually more open and friendly than they are given credit for by the popular culture. And I've had similar conversations about this with other Midwesterners I've met at work so as far as I'm concerned it's really a thing. (See Connecticut Western Reserve, a piece of land off Lake Erie once claimed by CT in early American times).

I still haven't braved the DMV website. Soon. 😉

 What was your question again? 😉😅

[Absolom]

I'll only chime in to say I woke up sick this morning and congratulations on getting the form.

Thankfully our DMV while it offers appointments allows us to line up and wait.  That's good since my local DMV is booked out months in advance and by the time my DL renewal form got here there are no appointments for months after it expires.

Edited March 27 by Absolom

[Yeah No]

7 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I'll only chime in to say I woke up sick this morning and congratulations on getting the form.

Thankfully our DMV while it offers appointments allows us to line up and wait.  That's good since my local DMV is booked out months in advance and by the time my DL renewal form got here there are no appointments for months after it expires.

You're lucky. I just braved calling them and actually got through to a live representative. I told her how the site wasn't letting me book an appointment but was shunting me over to applying online. She acted clueless about that but I tried it several times even this morning and got the same result. So she told me she would "make a one time exception" and book it for me over the phone. So I gave her a list of 3 DMVs to look at and the earliest appointment for this purpose was April 30th. I decided that doing it online was the best alternative. It took me only a few minutes of scanning and uploading the document, then paying. I can only hope it is as fast as they're saying it is - one week to ten days to get it.

I have to tell you that lately I am not at all happy with certain things about CT and this is one of them. 

[Mountainair]

As a 40 year old I just had my first mammogram done yesterday. It was easy peasy. Of course I get the email saying there was a finding that requires additional imaging studies. I have dense breasts but now I’m a big nervous wreck. Ugh! 

[shapeshifter]

23 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

As a 40 year old I just had my first mammogram done yesterday. It was easy peasy. Of course I get the email saying there was a finding that requires additional imaging studies. I have dense breasts but now I’m a big nervous wreck. Ugh! 

Totally natural for you to be a nervous wreck.
The good thing (should be) that these days, after your first call back for additional imaging due to dense breasts, in the future they'll just do it automatically. 

[Absolom]

One does get used to the process and if ultrasounds are required, they should start scheduling them concurrently.  Where I go the mammogram is at 9 and I stick around or go get tea and come back and see the doctor at 10:30.  

[Mountainair]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Totally natural for you to be a nervous wreck.
The good thing (should be) that these days, after your first call back for additional imaging due to dense breasts, in the future they'll just do it automatically. 

They told me 1 out of 10 gets called back for more imaging and I had it in my head the whole time but I still didn’t want to be the 1 in 10. My mom is healthy and has been called back twice with no issues however since she was adopted I have no family history on her side. My aunt on my dad’s side had a lump, tested positive for the BRC-A (?) gene and opted to have everything removed in her 50’s. She is the only girl out of six kids. My grandma is fine though and we just celebrated her 90th birthday. 

Edited March 29 by Mountainair

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, Mountainair said:

As a 40 year old I just had my first mammogram done yesterday. It was easy peasy. Of course I get the email saying there was a finding that requires additional imaging studies. I have dense breasts but now I’m a big nervous wreck. Ugh! 

I get why you're worried because the way they worded that makes you think there's something amiss, but most of the time it's not that they see anything problematic, It's that dense breasts obscure cysts and make them hard to see on a screening mammogram. And pockets of normal dense breast tissue can cover over a potential cyst, but they can't really tell if there's any cyst because the dense breast tissue is obscuring it. So an ultrasound is ordered to give them a better view. That's why they're telling you it requires additional study. It's not because it's anything to worry about at this point.

I just hate the way they word these things to make women worry unnecessarily. Fortunately now that they know you have dense breasts they'll just routinely order an ultrasound to happen right after the screening mammogram without making you think there's something wrong when it's just a routine additional test because they can't see well enough. That's what they do with me and thank goodness because I don't want to have the scare of my life every year. I remember the first time it happened to me. I lost a night of sleep over it for no reason. Now they don't tell me anything until after the ultrasound, which happens on the same day right after the screening mammogram. This year I was told that there was a cluster of tissue on the screening mammogram that needed to be looked at more closely, but the ultrasound showed that it was just normal dense breast tissue. I'm so glad they tell me this stuff afterward now or it would be a nightmare every year.

3 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

They told me 1 out of 10 gets called back for more imaging and I had it in my head the whole time but I still didn’t want to be the 1 in 10. My mom is healthy and has been called back twice with no issues however since she was adopted I have no family history on her side. My aunt on my dad’s side had a lump, tested positive for the BRC-A (?) gene and opted to have everything removed in her 50’s. She is the only girl out of six kids. My grandma is fine though and we just celebrated her 90th birthday. 

Getting called back for dense breasts is not like getting called back because they think there's a problem. See what I wrote above. It's that they just can't see behind clusters of dense breast tissue or they see something but don't know what it is and need to take a better look at it. It's not that they see something troubling. I have been down this road many times.

[Mountainair]

I was in and out in 15 minutes. I figured I’d meet with a Dr beforehand or something. I filled out the online pre visit info but there was no where to put that I don’t have half of a family history. I also stated I was interested in the genetic testing but that never came up at the appointment. It was just in and out. My primary care Dr also changed so they sent the results to my old primary care Dr instead of the new one (both work in the same office). My past three years have been me dealing with advocating for my kids- broken bones, a Congenital Heart Defect Diagnosis in my then 10 year old requiring multiple surgeries, losing my MIL to heart failure and having to make all the arrangements, my other Grandma is currently dying in the hospital so I’m helping my mom get through everything, I work with special needs kids in Kindergarten. When it comes to my own health I close my ears and hum loudly. I did finally start taking my anti depressant and blood pressure medicine regularly which spiked last year. I’m a healthy weight but went to Dentist and my blood pressure was ridiculous. 

[Yeah No]

13 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

I was in and out in 15 minutes. I figured I’d meet with a Dr beforehand or something. I filled out the online pre visit info but there was no where to put that I don’t have half of a family history. I also stated I was interested in the genetic testing but that never came up at the appointment. It was just in and out. My primary care Dr also changed so they sent the results to my old primary care Dr instead of the new one (both work in the same office). My past three years have been me dealing with advocating for my kids- broken bones, a Congenital Heart Defect Diagnosis in my then 10 year old requiring multiple surgeries, losing my MIL to heart failure and having to make all the arrangements, my other Grandma is currently dying in the hospital so I’m helping my mom get through everything, I work with special needs kids in Kindergarten. When it comes to my own health I close my ears and hum loudly. I did finally start taking my anti depressant and blood pressure medicine regularly which spiked last year. I’m a healthy weight but went to Dentist and my blood pressure was ridiculous. 

Sorry to hear about all your troubles. I've had a bunch myself. I had the same thing happen last year too. My BP was always normal and suddenly it jumped up. I had everything tested, my heart, my kidneys, my liver, you name it, because sometimes a sudden increase in BP can be a result of other conditions. But they've found nothing. I just started taking BP meds. a few months ago. I'm on both Lisinopril and Atenolol and so far so good. I've only had mild side effects at the dose I'm taking but I have an appointment with a specialist in prescription management in mid April to address tweaking that dosage somewhat to lower my BP even more. Right now it ranges around 125-140/80 which is sometimes still a little too high.

I actually have a theory that my BP had already increased but it was being lowered by a water pill I was taking for several years that's known to lower BP. When I had to stop taking that because it was making me dizzy, that's when my BP jumped up. I made this connection after the fact.

Also, I've made an effort to lower my sodium intake. I just found a great no-sodium salt substitute called "No Salt" made from potassium chloride which supposedly does not raise blood pressure and may even lower it. I just added it to some cucumber salad I made and it was great. I do still add a touch of salt, though.

Edited March 29 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

Here's an update on my temporary handicapped parking permit - I got an email this afternoon that it's been approved and I should get it in the mail in about 7 business days. Yay!

[ginger90]

17 hours ago, Mountainair said:

As a 40 year old I just had my first mammogram done yesterday. It was easy peasy. Of course I get the email saying there was a finding that requires additional imaging studies. I have dense breasts but now I’m a big nervous wreck. Ugh! 

Since this is your first it would be considered your baseline going forward. Hopefully they are just wanting to clarify everything for that reason. Future mammograms will be compared to this one. 

[roseha]

@Mountainair I have the mammogram and ultrasound done every year also and fortunately have never had a problem.  I hope that you will be able to get the result promptly online as my hospital does via MyChart.

I did have the BRACA test in 2018 (it was negative fortunately) but was told at the time that I needed to have it before I went on Medicare because they would only cover it if you had breast cancer yourself.  Just mentioning for anyone who might be considering it though I am not sure if anything might have changed.

[PRgal]

I've had mammos since I was in my late 30s and this year, I not only had to have a breast MRI, but an ultrasound and will need a contrast mammo in about a month (it was postponed due to my recent surgery).  I'd get them out, but having had two operations in less than a year, I'm really hesitant in getting anything (unless absolutely necessary) for at least a year.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, PRgal said:

I've had mammos since I was in my late 30s and this year, I not only had to have a breast MRI, but an ultrasound and will need a contrast mammo in about a month (it was postponed due to my recent surgery).  I'd get them out, but having had two operations in less than a year, I'm really hesitant in getting anything (unless absolutely necessary) for at least a year.

Especially having a young child who counts on you. 
Also, if it's general anesthesia, that can impact memory, which probably means it's doing other stuff to the nervous system. Better to at least space those things as far apart as is medically recommended. 
I still have my original breasts, but they are now at waist level. I do not have the BRCA genes. 

[PRgal]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Especially having a young child who counts on you. 
Also, if it's general anesthesia, that can impact memory, which probably means it's doing other stuff to the nervous system. Better to at least space those things as far apart as is medically recommended. 
I still have my original breasts, but they are now at waist level. I do not have the BRCA genes. 

General x 2 in under a year.  It was already past 7 pm after my June surgery and I was an inpatient for 10 nights or so.  It didn't really matter.  The one last week was day surgery and I was home by noon.  I was mostly with it, so I had lunch (takeout) and then took a nap until dinner (takeout again).  I was fine the next day but was hunkered at home 2020 style until the following Wednesday.

[Mountainair]

The doctor called me today and wants me back for a left breast ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram. I’m curious as to why only the left breast. I’m now going to have to worry until April 17th. I’m not saying anything to my kids until I know something concrete but they are curious why I all of a sudden have doctors appointments for myself. 

On 3/30/2025 at 2:26 PM, PRgal said:

I've had mammos since I was in my late 30s and this year, I not only had to have a breast MRI, but an ultrasound and will need a contrast mammo in about a month (it was postponed due to my recent surgery).  I'd get them out, but having had two operations in less than a year, I'm really hesitant in getting anything (unless absolutely necessary) for at least a year.

Do you mind me asking why you have all these tests done? Is it family history? 

[Absolom]

Saying nothing or I need a test done or something very mild is the way to go.  Most of these things turn out to be cautionary.  I've had them do only one side many times.  Finally this year I got off the ultrasounds after they did several and found nothing.  I wouldn't say much even if they should think you need a biopsy.  Mine was negative as are a LOT of them.  With what I had 90% of biopsies are negative.  

[PRgal]

15 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

The doctor called me today and wants me back for a left breast ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram. I’m curious as to why only the left breast. I’m now going to have to worry until April 17th. I’m not saying anything to my kids until I know something concrete but they are curious why I all of a sudden have doctors appointments for myself. 

Do you mind me asking why you have all these tests done? Is it family history? 

I have neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).  It puts me in the high risk category.  I also have dense breasts, which is why I require all the additional scans.  Not to mention surgery to remove an NF tumour this past June, which may or may not have caused scarring near the breasts.