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So, is it just me, or whenever you have something somewhat complicated that doctors can't just prescribe/surgerize/test for, they just throw their hands in the air and give up?

Like in movies/TV shows there's the doctors who never give up until they solve something, but are those people unicorns in real healthcare?

"Unless there's something obvious like a bone sticking out, doctors don't actually know what to do."

~Me, after decades of health issues.

The specialists will give it a think, but none of them are actually Doctor House saying, "Fuck you, your hair is messy, your shoes are scuffed. Chase, check this guy for ass worms," and then he's right. Real doctors are usually smart, but I don't think the majority of graduates are geniuses.

I've had up close and personal dealings with a dozen doctors, belonging to me and people I'm responsible for, for decades. I've never met one who knew what he or she was doing besides blindly throwing darts at a board.

TheCatt wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:30 amprescribe/surgerize/test for

TBH, I think that's what the practice of medicine IS these days.

So, is it just me, or whenever you have something somewhat complicated

Is this you? sorry to hear that

thibodeaux wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 12:24 pm Is this you? sorry to hear that

I have something "complicated" that I've been to a few local experts about, and they just don't know. But, I can managed it. No worries.

My wife has some more complicated autoimmune stuff. She's been to many doctors, and we're even looking at "quack" doctors now cuz no one has helped. It's just frustrating.

My personal stuff was autoimmune. After a million tests their last ditch try before I died was "well let's just try chemotherapy and wipe out his immune system." I had two separate neurologists who just didn't know what to treat me for.

My girlfriend, the day after she ran a half-triathlon, was told that her blood has so few red blood cells they don't know how she walked up the stairs to the office (the testing was done a few days before he triathlon. She did well with no ill aftereffects).

My mother was put into a painkiller coma at the hospital and left to die, "Sorry we can't force food and water on her, she has to ask for it." I all but pulled the IV out of her arm myself before they decided to listen to me, and she was up and alert within 30 minutes. Even though she was out, one of the few things she remembers was me going off on them. I didn't see that particular nurse on that floor, after.

My kid has constipation issues, his entire life. I keep telling them "your advice to just give him mirilax doesn't work," their suggestion is more mirilax.

I have almost no respect for the ability of doctors to heal shit, unless they see a bone sticking out or something else obvious. My experience almost leaves me with contempt for them, so I'm biased, but it IS based on decades of experience.

My mom has an acupuncturist, and she swears by it. Worth a shot?

(on the other hand, my mom is a little wacko)

-I have had issues with my stomach since I was a kid. No doctor has any idea why.
-When I was hospitalized with an infection in my torso that started with a bleed outside of my stomach in November 2021 they still have no idea what caused the infection or the bleed.
-I was sent home twice in 2005 from the ER with "kidney stones" only to be rushed to emergency surgery the third time because it wasn't kidney stones. During that whole mess they discovered the bottom...whatever the fuck those three things are that connect to your kidney...was disconnected. They have absolutely no clue how or why. I was the only patient on record in the world with this condition until around 5-7 years after the discovery when another person was found.
-When I was just a nugget I was crying uncontrollably and turned black and blue all over. My folks rushed me to the hospital where police and social services were called until an intern was able to diagnose it as a super rare condition that affects 1 in several million infants or some shit. They have no idea why.

Doctors are mostly guessing.

As Dr. McCoy says, "What is this, the Dark Ages?"

Leisher wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:26 pm I was the only patient on record in the world with this condition until around 5-7 years after the discovery when another person was found.

Doctor: "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is you're gonna have a disease named after you..."

thibodeaux wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:50 pm

Leisher wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:26 pm I was the only patient on record in the world with this condition until around 5-7 years after the discovery when another person was found.

Doctor: "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is you're gonna have a disease named after you..."

Right? The prevailing theory is that it was an injury, not a disease. So I got no attention for it.

Tell your dudes to take it easy on you until you're used to it.

Don't tell me how to love!

GORDON wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 1:48 pm I have almost no respect for the ability of doctors to heal shit, unless they see a bone sticking out or something else obvious. My experience almost leaves me with contempt for them, so I'm biased, but it IS based on decades of experience.

Yeah.

thibodeaux wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 1:50 pm My mom has an acupuncturist, and she swears by it. Worth a shot?

I mean, at some point we'll try anything. We've certainly discussed acupuncture.

Maybe the issue is that medical doctors now work for, essentially, insurance companies, who often own the hospital in which the doctor works. They know what procedures will be covered, which wont, so basically just follow the insurance company rulebook on Symptom Alleviation instead of actually PRACTICING medicine.

So, yeah, active contempt.

Even more fun, I'm fighting with my health insurance and hospital about a bill that insurance wouldn't cover. Insurance says "it's patient responsibility if they were informed this treatment would not be covered." Hospital says "insurance wouldn't cover it, so it's patient responsibility." I say it's not my responsibility because they never told me it wouldn't be covered.

So far it's just going in circles. But my understanding of the balance billing law is that they can't do this to me.

TheCatt wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 11:14 am But my understanding of the balance billing law is that they can't do this to me.

I hope they were required to make you sign something confirming it would not be covered. That way, its absence would prove your case for you.

Leisher wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 12:47 pm

TheCatt wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 11:14 am But my understanding of the balance billing law is that they can't do this to me.

I hope they were required to make you sign something confirming it would not be covered. That way, its absence would prove your case for you.

They didn't.

Yeah, I figured they didn't, but I hope they were required to, because if so, you just won.

Leisher wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 1:08 pm Yeah, I figured they didn't, but I hope they were required to, because if so, you just won.

that's certainly my understanding of the bill, but the hospital disagrees. We'll see, I'm fighting for now

TheCatt wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 3:35 pm

Leisher wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 1:08 pm Yeah, I figured they didn't, but I hope they were required to, because if so, you just won.

that's certainly my understanding of the bill, but the hospital disagrees. We'll see, I'm fighting for now

I WON! Insurance will pay for it all. Like $2k of bills.