|
Post by Clipper on Jan 13, 2020 22:41:13 GMT -5
Glad to hear that her fever is down. I have pneumonia. They gave me a large dose of a different antibiotic in one cheek and a large dose of steroid in the other. I am not one to shy away from injections, but that antibiotic was thick like molasses. I hurt like hell when they were pushing it in slowly and I still feel like someone kicked me in the butt and left a bruise, haha. Reminds me of a shot they gave us at Great Lakes when I was in boot camp. It was called tricillin and was to protect us from pneumonia. After we got the shot, we were marched to a drill field and marched for an hour or more to make the antibiotic absorb into the soft tissue better.
She prescribed Symbacort. I had to call her back and see if she can order something else. I went to the pharmacy and with no insurance it was going to cost me $324. Hopefully tomorrow morning she will call something else in. I am still on the oral steroid dose pack. The Symbacort is a long lasting dilator as well as a steroid.
Hopefully this crap will get better. The next stop if it doesn't is to be admitted for IV antibiotics and inpatient respiratory therapy.
I am beginning to get a bit concerned. It has become more of a serious concern than just a frustration. I don't want to be admitted because Kathy's neuropathy makes it so she can hardly walk and doesn't drive often anymore. She doesn't like driving the truck, she isn't able to walk miles of hospital parking lot and hallway, and there is no way I would be able to keep her at home.
I hate to continue to whine, but I never get sick so I simply thought I would tough it out and it would go away with Mucinex, cough and flu syrup, and Tylenol. Not being able to get a full breath is very uncomfortable. Not being able to lay down and sleep is catching up with me. Sure could use some prayers.
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Jan 14, 2020 0:59:50 GMT -5
PB is better than me at prayers but I am sending all the good vibes I can.
|
|
|
Post by BHU on Jan 14, 2020 12:49:40 GMT -5
Hey Clipper, maybe you should jog a couple miles to get that antibiotic working. Just kidding. Lol. Hope you feel better, but pneumonia is nothing to mess with. Does that hospital have a Ronald McDonald house? If so, maybe Kathy can stay there during your stay? Be a pain but she won't have to drive. Here's hoping those meds beat it down & you don't have to be admitted.
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jan 14, 2020 13:48:00 GMT -5
Haha. We don't have a McDonald's House here but there is a place for people to stay right on the hospital grounds. They built that because so many of the patients come from miles away in the coal towns of SW Virginia and it takes an hour or more to drive here over curvy mountain roads from the coal fields.
I am hoping to hear back soon from the VA. My doctor is faxing her notes and a prescription to my VA primary doc. He then will order it at the VA pharmacy and I can go pick it up. Hopefully it will get done today. My doctor's office has gone to hell. Not only are they understaffed with all the nurses that have quit, they are ALL going to a luncheon meeting when I called and might not come back today. What the hell. The entire practice will be shut down for the afternoon.
The situation is similar to your MVHS stuff. Mountain States Healthcare merged with Wellmont Healthcare Systems to form one large conglomerate. That monopoly has sucked so far. The nurses quit because they were expected to work harder and longer because positions were eliminated or moved to other places in the hospital from where they normally worked. There are now 2 girls answering phones, checking people in and out and scheduling appointments. There used to be 5. The last two times I have gone, I have been tucked away in an exam room and left for 45 minutes both days.
|
|
|
Post by Ralph on Jan 14, 2020 13:57:29 GMT -5
I certainly hope they get this straightened out for you quick. You don't need to be down and out this time of year. I hope you start feeling better my friend.
|
|
|
Post by BHU on Jan 14, 2020 14:40:27 GMT -5
Haha. We don't have a McDonald's House here but there is a place for people to stay right on the hospital grounds. They built that because so many of the patients come from miles away in the coal towns of SW Virginia and it takes an hour or more to drive here over curvy mountain roads from the coal fields. I am hoping to hear back soon from the VA. My doctor is faxing her notes and a prescription to my VA primary doc. He then will order it at the VA pharmacy and I can go pick it up. Hopefully it will get done today. My doctor's office has gone to hell. Not only are they understaffed with all the nurses that have quit, they are ALL going to a luncheon meeting when I called and might not come back today. What the hell. The entire practice will be shut down for the afternoon. The situation is similar to your MVHS stuff. Mountain States Healthcare merged with Wellmont Healthcare Systems to form one large conglomerate. That monopoly has sucked so far. The nurses quit because they were expected to work harder and longer because positions were eliminated or moved to other places in the hospital from where they normally worked. There are now 2 girls answering phones, checking people in and out and scheduling appointments. There used to be 5. The last two times I have gone, I have been tucked away in an exam room and left for 45 minutes both days. Gee, I don't think I've ever heard of a Dr. closing the office for an afternoon for a luncheon meeting, hanging patients out to dry. What kind of patient care is that?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 17:02:46 GMT -5
I take Symbacort and my co pay is only $8.50. I was taking another inhaler but my insurance dropped that from the formulary and added Symbacort. My Doctor had to laugh because 3 years ago the same insurance company dropped Symbacort because it was to expensive and put me on Flovent. Now they switched again. Doctor says most likely a kick back in play.
Hope you will be feeling better very soon. I had pneumonia like that and my Doctor put me on Oxygen at night and also I had to carry it around during the day and those tanks are heavy even though small. It took my almost two months to get rid of the pneumonia.
I still have the Oxygen tanks for some odd reason the Company never comes to pick them up. I called several times but they said they can only get to me on Thursdays and I/m never home. I told them if they thought I was going to wait around all day in this joint for them to come to pick them up they are nuts. I get home at 3 PM. Pay someone overtime to pick them up. LOL. At least I do not have to worry about paying for the oxygen or tanks because my Doctor never informed me that I might have to so Medicare says I do not have to pay. I kept that letter. Imagine something so crucial to life as oxygen and the company want a person to pay for it. It is $500 a month.
Well I have said a prayer for your healing.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 17:10:52 GMT -5
Saint Bernardino is the Roman Catholic patron saint of advertising, communications, compulsive gambling, respiratory problems, as well as any problems involving the chest area. Place of burial: Basilica of San Bernardino, Ro... Died: 20 May 1444, L'Aquila Born: 8 September 1380, Massa Marittima
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jan 14, 2020 17:21:49 GMT -5
This merger has been a nightmare for patients and employees alike. I have never heard of that either, but it is happening. A gal we know is a in-patient pharmacist at one of the system's facilities told us that they spend more time at organizational meetings than they do at work. It is obvious that with all the functions suddenly being understaffed after both companies never had the problem before the merger is a result of unhappy employees going elsewhere out of dissatisfaction. There is even a sign on the wall in examining rooms that says that there may be a delay in getting lab results or in finding the doctor's notes on their patient portal website due to a "temporary" staffing shortage.
They move personnel and specialties around from one hospital to another during a realignment and Welmont nurses ended up working under entirely new rules working for Mountain States doctors with different policies.
We can only hope that they eventually find an equitable solution to the differences in the two organization's policies and protocols and everyone will be able to smile again. Hopefully they will at least get to a point where it doesn't affect patient care. There is always advantages to be found in consolidating services but when it comes to healthcare and it affects expeditious patient care it is cause for concern. People here are not used to being stuffed in an exam room for 3/4 of an hour between having their blood pressure taken and the time that the provider finally sees them. Nor are we used to having a delay in getting their information on the patient portal website. In the past lab results have been available the next day in most cases. Today the notes from yesterday's visit are not on there yet and it has been more than 24 hours. We used to have a choice of two providing corporations, and now we are at the mercy of a monopoly unless we want to drive 30 or 40 miles for care. Each of the tri-cities had a Mountain States hospital as well as a competing Wellmont hospital.
I imagine that the same will happen when your MVHS moves into the new hospital. You will have staff from three different facilities all meshed and blended in a brand new environment with brand new rules and everyone will have to get used to finding their way around a new and much larger facility. I am sure that both here and there in Utica, things will eventually smooth out and run efficiently. Thankfully the government provides oversight and regulation to the industry and if patient care becomes too much of a concern there will be guidance from on high to shake things up and straighten them out.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 20:15:53 GMT -5
Clipper said: "People here are not used to being stuffed in an exam room for 3/4 of an hour between having their blood pressure taken and the time that the provider finally sees them."
I have waited many time that long for my Doctor to come into exam room after having BP taken. Last year for my physical I waited near an hour undressed in a hospital gown for my yearly physical. This year my physical was scheduled for January 2. 2020 at 11:00 AM. I have to get a 10:15 AM Lenox Bus in order to get there early yes but the later one would make me late.Took a shower that night so now I am good for another 4 to 6 months. I was just walking out the door when my phone rang. Thank God I decided to answer it. Only God and His angles would know why. And guess what! The Doctor canceled his appointment for that day and she wanted me to reschedule. I just said I have to call back my mind is in a fog right now. I will let them wait till June when the weather is better.!!!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jan 14, 2020 21:56:31 GMT -5
It would be tolerable to wait in a waiting room for 45 minutes, but to be stuck in an exam room is uncomfortable and claustrophobic. When I was off the coast of Vietnam on a destroyer we were often tasked to fire illumination rounds as well as explosive rounds in support of ongoing army skirmishes with the enemy inland. We spent hours in our 5 inch gun mounts in a space about 10x10 with a gun crew of 11. The hatches were all closed and dogged down, the light consisted of a couple of red light bulbs used to illuminate but preserve night vision, and the heat grew to well over 100 degrees with little ventilation in the sweltering Vietnamese nights. As a result I don't like being in closed spaces and eventually get anxious. I tolerate elevators because the duration is short. When at a doctor's office if left in an exam room I will sometimes become claustrophobic and have to get up and open the door or even stand in the hallway for a minute.
At least in the waiting room there is a tv, magazines, and other people around. I often take my Ipad and distract myself with a Netflix movie. Yesterday and the day before I didn't have my Ipad with me and was stuck staring at the ceiling or my watch for the entire time. I am sorry, but sticking someone in a room about 12 feet square with no window for 45 minutes is not necessary. Leave me in the waiting room until a time when the provider will be available within about 1/2 that time.
Even the VA has gotten better with time about leaving people to wait for hours after their appointment time. I once left there and rescheduled after waiting for 6 hours. In recent times I have never waited for more than an hour there.. either.
|
|
|
Post by BHU on Jan 14, 2020 22:17:00 GMT -5
I don't know what will happen around here once the new hospital opens, but until then I will never set foot in St E's again. I already informed the wife that I'll take my chances at St. Luke's is something happens to me & I'm out of it. It's either that or Crouse in Syracuse. A couple years ago she slipped on ice & thought she broke her wrist, so off to St E's we went. We entered the ER & almost walked out. The place was a pigsty, the floors & walls looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a year. Third World. One waiting area, packed with people waiting. Then we had to put up with a local character known as Cowboy, a drunken, filthy, loudmouth animal, an idiot who stalked the halls of the ER drunk, ranting & raving while the security guard sat on his butt doing nothing. After 3 hours waiting in that dump the Dr finally came out to the hallway where we waited & informed us that after looking at her xray that her wrist was only sprained. We didn't bother to let him wrap it, we couldn't stand the place any longer. By then it was 9 pm with more patients entering. Signed the discharge papers & hauled ass. Things haven't changed much up there from what I've heard & how administration at that hospital can get away with subjecting patients to those conditions is beyond me. It's a disgrace. As a side note, the ER nurse was great & I don't know how they do it. Hopefully, things will change with the new hospital. We'll see.
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jan 15, 2020 9:37:01 GMT -5
Well, I finally was able to sleep laying down and got 8 hours of true restful sleep last night without coughing and wheezing. Thankfully, knock on wood, that last blast of steroids and antibiotics seems to be working and I feel much better and re-energized this morning. At my age I was becoming very alarmed when it was not responding and pneumonia became a concern. You won't have to listen to me whimper and whine today, haha.
|
|
|
Post by kit on Jan 15, 2020 10:07:34 GMT -5
Talked on the ham radio last night with a couple of snowbirds from this area who live in Florida for 6 months. The same bronchitis-like sickness that's going around up here lately is going around down there as well. Probably because of the frequent Thanksgiving and Christmas flights back and forth. I'm just getting over a 3-week course of it. Hacking, coughing, and mucho lack of sleep. Not so bad for a teenager, but at my age it's dangerous. Am glad to be able to sleep most of the night (with the usual occasional trips to the Porcelain Palace).
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Jan 15, 2020 11:53:39 GMT -5
It seems to be everywhere Kit. Lots of folks here doing multiple rounds of antibiotics and ending up with it turning to pneumonia. Yes. You are right. For people our age it IS dangerous. I became very concerned the other day when the doctor told me that it had settled into pneumonia. Getting a good restful 8 hours of sleep IN THE BED last night was a wonderful and restorative relief. I am glad you are also getting over it. People here have died when it settled into a bacterial pneumonia that resisted antibiotic therapy.
Incidentally, I am glad that you are still around here on the forum also. Hope to grab a coffee with ya again this summer while we are up there.
|
|