Had a follow-up with Dr. Feelgood's evil assistant on The Great Blood Pressure Crisis of 2013-2014.
Actually she is not evil. Not yet. She is youngish; I believe she is a physician's assistant. Still has that positive attitude, seems interested in what she is doing.
As opposed to Dr. Feelgood, who is older and has her head so far up the ass of her insurance and pharmaceutical buddies that the phrase "welfare of the patient" has no meaning in her vocabulary.
I have been monitoring the blood pressure for weeks now and dutifully reported back to the PA. She took the BP there, yesterday, and it was 25 points lower than any readings I had taken. It still ain't where the medical wizards want it to be but she was not as dramatically concerned as she had been before. She told me the BP machine at Rite Aid could very well be inaccurate. That led to a discussion and a lot of questions from me trying to determine where I stand, what I should be concerned about.
Eventually she soothed me with this delicious comment: "High blood pressure kills over time." I laughed out loud, not in sarcasm, but in true amusement. It was a great sentence.
She was telling me that the evil effects of high blood pressure wreak havoc over time, and since I have just begun this odyssey, we still have time to figure out what is going on. Without panic.
Next up I told her that blood work was done weeks ago and I had never been notified of the results. She puts her nose to the computer, begins to frown and cluck her tongue and eventually tells me, yeah, you're right, for some reason no letter went out, no E-mail went out, no one called.
Results: "Cholesterol is good. No problem." That was the one I was worried about, so I felt better. But: blood sugar is high and there was a discrepancy in kidney function.
What?
I made her feel guilty for letting this news fall through the cracks. She apologized and scheduled me for more blood work.
Next up I told her X-rays were taken on my neck, shoulder and back just before Christmas and that Dr. Feelgood, bless her poisonous little heart (or what passes for a heart) had sent me a one sentence summation, which I quote verbatim: "The X-ray of the neck shows degenerative changes (wear and tear arthritis). It doesn't really change the plan."
I told the PA this was unacceptable. I needed all the info. She pulls up the report and proceeds to tell me that spacing between a few vertebrae is not what it should be and that bone spurs or bone growth has occurred off a number of vertebrae. This is a result of arthritis.
Now bear in mind that this is exactly - exactly - what the chiropractor told me. Only he told me voluntarily. He told me with concern. He told me it was not good and that it would only get worse.
I had to beat this information out of my doctor and her soon to be evil assistant. The people entrusted with my health care.
I told the PA that physical therapy - over a month now - has provided zero relief. I am still in constant pain, I still don't sleep.
Could this bone growth thing be the cause?
She asked me which side the pain is on. When I told her it was exclusively on the right she said the bone spurs are all on the right side of the spine.
With irritation I asked what the next step would be, because I refuse to continue physical therapy that accomplishes nothing.
MRI.
BUT she has to clear it with the insurance company.
Now just in case you are hung over today and thinking slowly or not at all, allow me to summarize.
A clear case has been established for the need of an MRI. The patient is in constant pain, the patient doesn't sleep, the esteemed medical community has been unable to pinpoint a cause or provide a cure.
And they need the approval of the goddamn insurance company?
If the request is refused, executions will follow.
When this is all done and over with I will avoid the established medical community like the plague.
If I am in need of a heart transplant I will go to that guy in Indiana Jones who pulls the beating heart right out of the body.
And hope that he immediately replaces it with another beating heart.
Otherwise I will be no different than the esteemed, the highly trained, the respected and revered Dr. Feelgood.
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