Category: Tests

Bills, Bills, and More Bills

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I have been receiving medical bills since before I ever got home from the hospital. I’ve been instructed by many different parties to “hold off” on paying any of them due to an
insurance company switch at work and people not billing the correct insurance agencies among other things.

I don’t understand a lot of it and it’s very frustrating. I’m not used to setting bills aside (especially big bills) and not paying them. There’s such a sense of responsibility in me that it’s makes me very uncomfortable and uneasy. A few have informed me they were sending the bills to collection agencies and some how we’ve been able to hold that off, but it’s all so involved and confusing that I feel very inadequate because I don’t understand it and that it’s completely out of my control. I don’t enjoy having my financial status in limbo with all these agencies and medical operations. I’m used to paying my bills on time and getting things taken care of in the alloted amount of time. Just frustrating.

Two MRIs in One Week

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Around noon-time yesterday I ate lunch, took a Vicadin and laid down on the couch to possibly sleep!

Shortly after doing so, my thumb and index finger on my right hand went numb. Like I was getting a migraine. Oh, crap! What if I’m getting one…what do I do? Can I take an Excedrin Migraine WITH a Vicadin? I didn’t know. Then, as quickly as they went numb, they regained feeling. Hmm…what was that? I wasn’t having any other migraine symptoms like spots in my eyes or sick to my stomach or horrible head pain.

I did sleep a little. I was going to go get something to eat for dinner and my entire right hand went numb and the right side of my tongue went numb. Then my wrist went numb. What the heck was this? A migraine or not? I just didn’t know and I was concerned only due to the fact it was all on one side and it came and went throughout the afternoon. Of course, due to my aneurysm, I’m thinking stroke!

I tried to get in touch with Dr. D’angelo AND Dr. Kwan’s office, but of course they were both closed for the holiday. Great! I just needed someone to tell me this WASN’T a
stroke…so….off we went to the Augusta ER.

Luckily, no one was there again so I got right in and had to go through the whole story about four darn times.

The first “Dr.”’ to see me was either an intern of some sorts who didn’t speak very good English. Why can’t people learn to speak the language fluently before taking a position like that?
But…that’s another Blog entry!

I did NOT care for her saying “Ummm……..” before every single exam segment. She wasn’t picking out paint chips, she was supposed to be giving me an exam and knowing what she’s doing. If she hadn’t said “Umm….” it wouldn’t have been so bad….I guess.

Finally saw a REAL Dr. and he wanted me to have an MRI. GREAT! Lovely. Can’t wait. Just had one three says ago. The feeling in my hand and tongue had all come back and I was feeling better, but I reluctantly agreed it would be better to know now than wait it out all weekend. He said the MRI unit at that particular hospital is not “available” over the weekend, so I caught it at a good time.

They fed me a sandwich because we’d have about an hour wait and it was also time for some Tylenol, which they also gave me. I hate being back in a hospital again.

At 7:30 I went in. It was a little bit different (older unit I think) than the one in Scarborough, but one NICE thing
was that they let you listen to music of your choice! They put these huge headphones on you and it really dulled the noise. I liked that, but I did not like not having any communication with the person doing the exam, which I did in Scarborough. I got through it fine.

Within probably 10 minutes after the scan, the results were read by “the best radiologist in the hospital” and everything looked good. The Dr. thinks it may have just been a migraine,
but possibly due to the Vicadin, there was no pain. I didn’t really have any other migraine symptoms, so I guess, but I am glad I checked it out and he did confirm it wasn’t stroke related. I just really didn’t know. Dave was convinced
something so isolated wouldn’t be a stroke, but the Dr. said they had a 40 year old woman in last week with numbness in one side of her arm and hip and it WAS a stroke, so I was glad we checked it out. We got home around quarter to 9:00.

I suppose I may go through this for a long time until I hear from Dr. Kwan, what I should and shouldn’t be concerned
about. My list of questions for him are getting much longer!

I’m tired today, but feel okay. I just almost feel a little silly for running in to the ER. I wonder how many other
people who have aneurysms feel that way too when something happens that they’re just not sure if it’s a result of the brain surgery or not.

MRI/MRA

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Yesterday I had an MRI and a MRA.

Well….first thing. I THOUGHT I had had an MRI before in the 80’s when I had those lovely 7 migraines within 5 days. Well, apparently I did NOT as this was nothing like I had ever experienced before that’s for sure!

Right before we left the house, I had a double-vision issue. Thankfully, it was very brief, but it was enough to scare
me for a minute and rethink my going for the MRI at all. But it didn’t last long. I think I just over did it this morning. Sounding like a broken record!!

LOUD! Very loud. I wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t wear into the room and the only thing I had to take off was
my bra, due to the hooks and my watch. Obviously my glasses too. There was a kind of helmet that came down completely around my head and face and these foam pads were put inside the helmet on both sides of my face. Very restrictive, but not painful.

I wasn’t expecting loud though. They gave you ear plugs and ran through several scans that were in lengths ranging from 1 minutes to 3 minutes. Then the big MRA which recorded my blood vessels which lasted 7 minutes. 7 LONG minutes! Very hard to keep completely still for that one.

I also felt something odd in my legs and feet during the scans. When it was done and a woman came in to help me out of the darn thing, she asked me if my feet raised off the table. When I think thought about it, they did! She knew that the shoes I had on from LL Bean had steel bands in the footing. The guy who brought me in did not, so he didn’t take them off. She WOULD have and told him afterwards for the next time. LOL That was an odd sensation for sure because the shoes were being pulled towards my chest near the machine, but I didn’t realize it.

Needless to say, I was beat afterwards,nhad a horrible headache, eye ache and ear ache and hungry. We ate, then got home around 6:30. I went right to bed with a cold cloth on my head and laid down until Dancing With The Stars came on. A Vicadin and a tylenol later, I feel better.

Results will be next Tuesday.

In Trouble

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Well…apparently Dave and I caused a stir this afternoon!

I was suddenly told I was to go down for an xray around 3:00. News to me? what kind of xray? What part of my body? I had a button down shirt on, pants, socks a bra, the whole sh-abang. They told me it was a leg doppler scan sonogram. I’ve had one before…no big deal I just had to change out of my johnny (hospital gown) and into my robe.

I was wheeled down around 3:00. The scan doesn’t take long, but I had to wait a long time in the waiting area before being transferred back up to the 6th floor. I knew Dave was coming in, so I had left him a note on the bed about where I was.

I got back up around 4:00 and Dave was waiting. I changed back into my clothes and we headed down to the cafeteria. My first trip away from home-sweet-home on the 6th floor.

Dave hadn’t eaten lunch, but I was waiting for dinner at 5:00, so i wasn’t going to eat a lot. i had a cup of Earl Grey and a couple of cookies. While we were down there, Janet Schutte, who designs our catalog databases at Johnny’s stopped in to see me and finally caught up with me in the cafeteria. I knew dinner was coming up, but I didn’t want to blow Janet off since she had just come in, so we stopped and chatted until 5:30 then went back up.

Well, apparently…they were just getting ready to call security on me!! My new later afternoon shift nurse came on at 3:00 and had not seen me yet. They were getting concerned I had fallen AND to find out later, you’re not allowed to go off the floor unless you get the Dr’s permission!! I didn’t know that! Oopss! And i have missed my 4:00 pills, so it threw the whole schedule off now. Bad girl…bad girl!! I’m so glad we got upstairs when we did because I would have been wicked embarrassed if they had had to call security. I kept apologizing.

Dave walked me silly tonight in hopes I’ll fall sleep. My new room mate is very nice. A real sweet woman and I feel so sorry for her because she broke ribs and her arm and face is pretty bruised up. she has been in the hospital since last Friday night when she had her car accident. It was a horrible, horrible rain and wind storm. Apparently she hydroplaned.

She likes Dancing With The Stars, so we’ll watch that together. He son has been in and he’s awfully nice. We’ll see how we all sleep tonight. When I got back up to the floor my nurse told me she put ear plugs in my room..not because this woman is noisy, but because a man was brought up to the floor who is HORRIBLY loud…must be in a lot of pain. it’s very bad. I think he’ll be far enough away that I can get to sleep, but we’ll see.

I’ll be anxious to hear any news tomorrow on how I’m doing and when I might go home. I was still told Thursday. Dave thinks it’ll happen tomorrow…I’m not so sure. I know I DO want lamb this Sunday. Even if I have to cook it, I’ll do it.

So, we’re causing trouble here on the 6th floor!! They’ll probably keep an eye on us from now on that’s for sure! We’ll be good, I promise.