Nov 18
Insurance finally approved CT scan blood vessels in chest to make sure there is no pulmonary embolism. I’ve called the facility (which is 30 miles away) and had to leave a message.
Meanwhile, BPM is still a problem so my GP doubled my dose of Metoprolol, which I was finally able to get on the exact day I ran out.
Can’t find out kidney status until January.
Nov 15
Still trying to be alive until January when my appointments are. Fighting to get the drug that limits the bpm. I run out on Saturday. Phone people are nice but all have different stories as to why I can’t get the correct meds.
Nov 01
So I finally had a phone conference with my GP about the clot issue. She wonders why they only did ultrasound on one leg and not everywhere. So that is a question I don’t know the answer to. She is now still trying to set me up with a nephrologist due to the stress hormone situation and also with someone who can check my lungs for clots – as this is now another concern of hers.
Insurance says I can probably get the drug I need, Eliquis ,tomorrow – so that is probably good if it comes through. In the meantime, a friend of mine sent me some that she had leftover. It’s not as many mgs as the ones I need but they will definitely do in a pinch. So I am grateful for that.
Update: The soonest I can get in to see the nephrologist is end of January. 3 months from now.
Oct 25
On 10.23.2024 I got the results of my CT scan of abdomen – nothing was out of place. Well, they did realize I have only one kidney but did not find a big adrenal tumor or a ball of cancer (kidney situation here). For this, I am relieved. However, my doc is still sending me to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) to figure out why I’m throwing off too many metanephrines (flight or fight hormones that come from adrenal glands). My BPM is crazy and when I try to go to sleep, it feels like I am running. Even with the Metoprolol (drug to treat heart failure etc) it is still way too high for normal. I don’t feel like eating either.
10.24.2024: Went to Healthsouth for a follow up of the Holter monitor and all the other heart tests. A doctor didn’t see me but NP Amanda did. She told me all the tests do not show any heart failure or anomaly. – whew! that’s good right (my sister was diagnosed with diastolic heart failure recently!)? Then we got to talking and I told her about my other symptoms – numbness in right arm, strange palpatations in my left leg, swollen ankle (not adema kind), and Amanda, somehow got me in for a leg ultrasound in the same hour I was there. Guess what? The ultrasound guy found a blood clot in my artery – femoral artery.
This is sort of a fluke the NP even listened. The cardiologist didn’t pay attention to this, my GP knows but didn’t order leg ultrasound. After this young lady gave me the good news that my heart isn’t busted, she actually listened and got me the ultrasound and result within 2 hours. I am all amazement at this.
Amanda has said this is probably not the only problem but it is a MAJOR problem that I need to address right away. So she gives me a prescription for a blood thinner – Eliquis. I should take it 4xs a day for a week and then take 2x a day for 3 months. At that time they will do another ultrasound to see if they cleared it out.
Except my insurance cancelled the prescription. So, another fight on the phone with BCBS so that I can get the drug ASAP. The drug is $400 for me but apparetly retails for $2139.84. Anyway, the pharmacist calls my doc and insurance and they decide that I can have only 28 of these pills ($68). So I’ve started to try to kill the clot with hopes I can get more so that I can do the 3 month recommendation from NP Amanda. Don’t forget that that my insurance says that I cannot go to this facility after the new year. So I have to find a way to get insurance that will allow me to come back to HealthSouth.
As of today (10.25.2024), they denied again the prescription.
So now, trying to get the appointment with the nephrologist because hey, mr kidney, I need you to keep working too and fighting with BCBS to get what I need to … well, who knows? JUST LIVE.
Oct 18
Seems like I have begun an odyssey of trying to navigate the US medical system – again. I’m going to try to create a timeline mostly for myself so that I do not forget how long it has taken. I don’t know the results yet and this is on-going.
In June of 2024 I went for usual bloodwork/urine testing at my normal doctor in Pelham, AL.
On July 26, 2024 we had the office visit where I explained to my doctor that I have had a racing heart rate. Simply by waking up and going to the bathroom would put me in the 130bpm range, which is crazy. She recommends that I go see a cardiologist just to be safe and recommend that I go to her own cardiologist. So I make an appointment in early August. The day before the appointment, the cardiologist’s office calls me and say they don’t take my insurance. I had to cancel the appointment. I have BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama) which is a farily normal and widely used insurance here in the US. I call around and finally get an appt at HeartSouth, which is sort of right across the street near Shelby Baptist Medical center in Alabaster, AL.
08.29.2024: Office visit with Dr. Segrest at HeartSouth where they gave me a drug to lower my heart rate. This drug works, however the heart rate is still unusually high for the activities I’m doing. He schedules some tests for early October but first I must wear a Holter monitor for a week. I do this and then mail it back to HeartSouth. As of October 18, 2024 I do not know the results of the Holter monitoring
9.19.2024: My doc called me to say she she thinks she might have found out what my problem is by examing the urine test more. She found an abundance of metanephrines. This can mean an adrenal tumor (benign or less likely cancer) and along with my elevated heart rate. It really does sound like this was my problem. She gets me an appointment at the imaging center at Shelby Baptist (again, almost right across the street from where I live) for October 1, 2024. She wants an MRI and CT scan of the abdomen. She still wants me to do the tests the cardiologist has scheduled.
10.01.2024: The imaging center at Shelby Baptist calls me and says that my insurance was denied at their facility for the MRI & CT scan. I call my doctor and ask her what to do. She calls and says that it wasn’t that they didn’t take my insurance but that the MRI & CT scan had been denied by BCBS by some pediatrition (a doctor for children)- so she resubmits her request to the facility. Meanwhile, I get a letter from BCBS dated September 30, 2024 that reads:
A Carelon MD, board-certified in Pediatrics, has determined that this request is not medically necessary for the following reason: Your doctor told us that you have a fast heart rate and an abnormal blood test (high triglyceride level). Your doctor ordered a CT scan of your abdomen. A CT is a way to take pictures of the inside of your body. A fast heart rate and abnormal triglyceride leveles can be present due to various conditions… Based on the information we have, this test is not medically necessary.”
Interestingly enough, there was no mention of the high metanephrines level in the urine which is what my doctor was concerned about. Also, what is Carelon? I have BCBS insurance.
In about a week, my doc calls me again and says that the CT scan request has gone through and that I should make another appointment at the imaging center at Shelby Baptist. They deny me an appointment, again based on insurance. So I call the insurance, ask what is Carelon and try to figure out what is happening.
BCBS has outsourced this BCBS plan to something called Carelon and they tell me that I can go to Shelby Medical Center, no problem. I call Shelby imaging again and tell them this. They still refuse to get me an appopintment so I call my doc again and have them try to work with the insurance co. They, and BTW, this is taking over a week to get this far, finally tell me that I can only use St. Vincent facilities in Alabama, not the facility that is right across the street. So, I make an appointment for the CT scan at St. Vincent, which is pretty far away. No big deal, I need to find out what is happening and I’m getting worried that whatever this is might really be a tumor that is growning.
10.03.2024: Meanwhile, I go to HeartSouth to do stress test and echocardiogram. As of October 18,2024 I have not heard a thing as to the results of these tests.
10.09.2024: I receive a letter that tells me that Dr. Segrest at Heart South will no longer be in network and that I need to find a new cardiologist by the new year.
10.10.2024: I got to St. Vincent to have CT scan of abdomen – which is the test that should be able to show the adrenal tumor, if present. As of October 18, 2024, I do not have any results.
More later…
Sep 02
Trying to get this place back just for my own posterity. There is a lot going on right now and, for whatever reason, this feels like the right place to put it. There are a lot of legacy problems here, missing pics, overall stupidity, etc.
I am very lucky to have a very good friend that has helped me here.
Thank you to my evil sistra for all the work.
Jul 13
This was a hard one. Penny had a form of lymphoma but with treatment lived 20 good months. I miss you everyday Penny.
May 02
So AAPL is an ordinary company that actually is doing things for technology and whatnot. But I notice that CNN is shitting on them every quarter and if the CEO says anything, they shit on him too. What gives CNN? I’ve been watching their site for a week before the new #s were released. CNN had articles about “The iPhoneX is a failure,” what will Apple do when nobody buys their phones?
As usual, Apple made more money than last quarter. Silently mocking them – but weirdly, people are listening to the analysts instead of looking at the stock performance. WTF people?
As a stockholder, this stock has always been hard to own as everytime they kill the numbers, there is some blowhard analyst that says they didn’t meet what said analyst said they’d meet.
I am so tired with yall wallstreet dudes. You are so evil.
Feb 15
I love sugar. I love sugar and bread and alcohol and just about any other carbohydrate on the planet. Over the past year, life has been a bit shaky and my stress levels have been through the roof so I really was not concerned with eating a balanced or healthy diet at all. As a result of this, I found myself about 12 pounds overweight.
A friend of mine has had success using a ketogenic diet to maintain a healthy weight so I figured I’d give it a shot as well. Other people have explained ketogenic way of life better than me, so check out this for more information on how it works.
I started on Feb 9th and am now on day 7. In the first 3 days I lost 4.5 lbs, which I assume was all water weight. After that I gained 1 lb and now am at a net loss in one week of 4 lbs.
Using test strips I know that I entered ketosis on day 3 and haven’t left that state yet.
Ima keep going.
