Getting an annual physical at the doctors

[ultrarunner]

After cancer food taste and tolerance often affected.

For my sister in law who was very lucky it’s tomatoes she can’t tolerate.

Having much of intestine removed also means no way to gain weight… she is always looking for the positive…

 

[dstig1]

Eddie,
You're spot on. But I feel it extends to almost everything these days, from home contractors to auto mechanics. The big issue with many of these folks is the drive to increase profits, a core metric that most companies use to measure performance. The constant push to upsell services, charge more for services etc.

I hear that. I start from the assumption that everyone is trying to scam me and then work backwards if they seem actually legit.

Had a coworker tell us at lunch how this contractor came through annually and checks out the utilities for them on a service contract - plumbing, HVAC, electric. They are the least handy people on the planet so they "pay the nice man" to handle these things. Well the guy came through a few months back and said he found corrosion on the main electric panel and it should be replaced. My BS meter starting going off so I asked did she see any corrosion? no. Is there any water or condensation on the panel? No. How about I come over and take a look?

Now to me residential electric is butt-simple. No offence intended to any electricians as I know you really earn your paychecks on industrial and commercial stuff which can get quite intense, but single family residential stuff is pretty basic. Took the panel cover off (looked perfect) and looked for anything at all that might be called corrosion. I saw one ground screw in the buss that had a spot of surface rust where the screwdriver had scraped off the zinc and that was it. Panel was only 20-25 yrs old new construction and perfectly fine. But they were going to stick them for 5-7k to replace it. I told her to never let them in her house again.

 

[CalG]

Annual physical tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon...

Wish me luck ;-)

 

[scootr]

Annual physical tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon...

Wish me luck ;-)

Stop drinking now and get a good night's sleep
And good luck.

 

[newbury]

I feel sorry for everyone that doesn't have somebody that knows what's going on in the medical world, and who to avoid. It's all about who you know if you want to get the best treatment.

And most of the suburbia I'm in feels the same about home improvement contractors, plumbers and roofers.

 

[tractortroof]

Not to mention when they kick your loved ones out of the hospital in COVID paranoia, so that no one is there to double check all the prescriptions etc.

Florida passed a law that they cannot do that

 

[ultrarunner]

It was worse… at one time minors having essential surgery were not allowed to have a parent or guardian with them for check in, recovery or wait in the closed waiting room.

It was crazy how fast things changed.

My section is mostly elective surgery but we started doing emergency or critical because the main hospital was overwhelmed with patients in the halls and foyers… there truly was no more room…

 

[Jstpssng]

The first time that I went to the ER room there was no waiting. I was skinning a deer and had a 4 inch boning knife go to the hilt in my leg. My jeans were soaked with blood from my thigh to my knee, they walked me straight to the exam room.

 

[Oaktree]

Some of us are not sociable.

For whatever reason, I've gotten more sociable as I've gotten older. In my younger years I would never chat up a stranger in a store (or wherever), but am more likely to now. Not that anyone would consider me a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm much less of a hermit than I once was.
Personally, I find friends more important than family members. You choose your friends.

 

[Oaktree]

I hate to sound this cynical, but I've really become disenfranchised by today's healthcare groups. They're obviously "for profit" entities and many providers get incentives to create more visits, push referrals to a specialist and maximize billing. All of this is done with virtually no re-course by the patient.

So how do you hold the gastro specialist to be honest and not push for an increased procedure interval? (2 years instead of 5 or 10?)

I'm not just disenfranchised by healthcare, I see the same stuff happening with automotive repair/maintenance and many other services. However, I think with healthcare you're at an even larger disadvantage as a consumer.

The gastroentrologist I've been using is a private practice, and he seems to be honest. I was on the "10 year" plan until my last visit. When it came back clean, he told me given my age (late 60s at the time) unless I had problems he probably wouldn't need to see me again.

I do agree that the healthcare system is about as obtuse as it can be, especially when it comes to fees and random charges on the bill, not to mention all the "independent contractors" who don't bill thru the hospital. I thought Obamacare® was supposed to take care of that, but clearly it didn't. Fortunately, I'm on Medicare now, and the insurance company pays what they pay and that's that.