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paul
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12/19/2007 14:36 #42583

This getting ridiculous
Category: health
So I call the doctors office again and get to talk to the secretary again. She tells me they are going to put me on Asacol 3 pills/3 times a day. So I call back and ask if I could also take a gluten or lactose intolerance test and she says, "Oh we don't do that here" So I ask her where and she doesn't know. So I call my "primary care" physician and he says there is no way they could have cme up with IBS from a CAT scan. SO SOMEONE IS FUCKING LYING - WHO IS IT?

He suggests I go to see the GI doctor. Which is exactly who I was looking for when I called the first doctor (a colon /rectal specialist) and asked him for a referal. He told me to just come to him and thats how I ended up in CT scan land. Now I have an appointment set for Feb 5th. By then I should be dead or crazy.

I guess I will just take the medicine and see if it helps. (e:terry) says it doesn't seem dangerous.


leetee - 12/19/07 20:27
I am so happy you HAVE health insurance, Paul... think of how shitty this would be without it.

I have had the same kind of issues you have had. The only thing that seemed to help me (i have no insurance, i have to self medicate) was keeping to bland foods and taking enzymes.

Good luck with this all... i really do hope that things aren't serious and that the pain doesn't continue!!
james - 12/19/07 19:36
and people complain about countries with socialized medicine making people wait...
imk2 - 12/19/07 18:31
you should tell them that you are in a lot of pain and that there is no way that you can wait that long. they leave spots open for cases like this. you have to be more assertive paul, you cant let these doctors walk all over you. i would call the office back and say "listen, i am in pain, i have been in pain for so long i am going to go crazy, you need to fit me in in the next week or so because there is no way that i can wait another month and a half to see a doctor, and then go through test and then wait for results. they will make room to see you, i gurantee you. do you want me to call for you and get this done?
ladycroft - 12/19/07 15:44
It took a long while for me to get diagnosed with IBS. Lots of tests later...would you believe it was actually my CHIROPRACTOR that made the discovery of my mega allergy to cow milk??? He was really into holistic healing and said he wanted to run blood tests for food allergies due ot my presenting symptoms. Crazy!
paul - 12/19/07 14:53
So I called the GI associates of Buffalo :::link::: and they said I was already a patient of Dr. Bartolone back in 1998. I really don't remember that. Maybe I just don't remember 1998. He looks like he speaks english at least. Right now that is still my only pre-requisite for a doctor. So I guess we will see feb 5th.

12/19/2007 12:19 #42581

What the hell kind of answer is this
Category: health
Well good news is they didn't say it was cancer but it is IBS or irritable bowel syndrome. What the fuck does that really mean. We don't know what is causing it but you bowel is irritated. No fucking surprise considering I have been complaining about that for about a month straight.

My favorite part of the wiki article

Misdiagnosis
Anecdotal accounts exist of poor patient outcomes due to treatable causes of diarrhea being mis-diagnosed as IBS. Common examples include infectious diseases, celiac disease,[5] and lactose intolerance.[6]



None of which I have been tested for. Still no stool sample, no bloodwork, no lactose intolelrance test, no test for celliac.

I guess I will go on one of those crazy nothing but rice and vegetable diets and adds stuff back into my diet to see if it help. Right now basically everything I eat goes right through me after getting a little bit bloody somewhere. Ya, gross I know. There is no consistency to anything I eat and everything makes my stomach ache.

I seriously am going to go crazy. And the lack of sufficient bathroom facilities at my work make it way worse.

I am thinking it is time to switch to a natural doctor for a bit and see how that goes. At this point I am willing to try anything to make it stop.

The molson ice hot water 40oz
Last night I made a hot water bottle for my stomach out of a molson 40oz beer bottle. It really helped. Maybe I should market them with little beer cozies?

paul - 12/20/07 11:50
I talked to the secretary again today and she affirmed IBD.
paul - 12/19/07 18:57
Seriously, it is not in my head. There is blood in the frickin diahrea that I have like 5+ times a day and everything hurts from my kidneys to my intestines. Pretty much all the time.
paul - 12/19/07 18:54
Its weird on our first conversation she said IBS but then she said IBD later and then said the medication was for ulcerative colitis. So who the fuck knows, I gues sthat is what I get for never getting to talk to a real doctor.
jenks - 12/19/07 18:30
wait, IBS, or IBD?
IBD - inflammatory bowel disease (i.e. crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis).
asacol is for IBD.

IBS, on the other hand, is (in my book) like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I.e. more psych than anything else.
(I know that statement offends people, I'm sorry.)

If they said IBS, it probably just means all their tests have been negative. That's what it is. A diagnosis of exclusion. "you're having a problem but we can't find anything wrong with you."

I would have thought they'd send you to a GI guy before a colorectal guy...

I'm sorry for the way you're getting strung along. I hope they get to the bottom of it.
paul - 12/19/07 14:37
I have told them, every freakin' time and no one does it. During this whole thing I only saw a real doctor for about 5 minutes 3 weeks ago. Since then it has all been assistants and secretaries.
imk2 - 12/19/07 14:17
so you were passing blood in your stool? you should change doctors. my family doctor, sadiqa karim, is very good and will do all of the necessary tests to get your stuff diagnosed properly. you should tell the doctor that you feel they should do more like stool samples, blood tests, etc. often times they will listen to you. you have to advocate for yourself when you feel they are not doing their job.

seriously though, i would totally recommend that you go see her. she is on transit, has a tiny office, so the wait is not long. she works by herself, so you'll never see a nurse practitioner or another doctor instead. she'll sit down and talk to you and she'll definitely order tests. she loves doing those. her number is 683-5600.
paul - 12/19/07 13:31
Seriously, I don't drink, I thought I ate pretty healthy - I guess I have stress but not an inordinate amount. I seriously would at least like to talk with the doctor instead of his secretary before taking medicine.
drew - 12/19/07 13:13
Sorry this is so frustrating. Thanks for the reason to keep a 40 in the house though!
hodown - 12/19/07 12:59
They said I had that in college.
lilho - 12/19/07 12:24
wow, thanx to terry for that 40!

12/18/2007 13:37 #42570

Barium Cocktail
Category: healthcare
I can believe I am drinking Barium Sulfite - and out of a styrofoam cup. It is some weird fruity and spicy flavor. I had to drink two jars of it.

image

image

image

leetee - 12/19/07 20:29
he did indeed, (e:Imk2) ... gotta love the Canadian health care system... come here for "free" slow medical care from people who think of patients as burgers needing flipping.
imk2 - 12/19/07 14:21
seriously lee? he told you to shut the fuck up!?
leetee - 12/19/07 08:35
How'd it go, Paul? I hope they find out what it is and it is simple and easy to fix!!

I had to drink that shit once. When i told the tech i was going to barf up the icky pink stuff, he told me to shut the fuck up and lay still. So, i made sure i puked on his nice white jacket. Passive agressive? Who? Me?
paul - 12/19/07 06:28
Please jenks, access it from anywhere. I would love for you to look at it.
pyrcedgrrl - 12/19/07 03:20
Guh! I finally got around to signing in (working swing shift and finishing up a semester is not fun), and read about all the problems you've been having!! I hope your CAT scan goes well and they find out what's going on in the tummy!
I had tummy issues a couple of Christmases ago that ended up being a common bile duct stone. I wasn't even able to keep water down for 4 days and was sent home each day by St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston. I finally went to sisters and they admitted me immediately. I had jaundice so bad that my eyes were yellow. Apparently that is not enough of a sign for St. Mary's. lol!
Anyway, I hope all goes well! Good luck and feel better soon!
jenks - 12/18/07 23:32
yeah really.... you'd think they could flavor it a little better.

hey! I wonder if I can access it from home...

but i won't.

without your permission.
joshua - 12/18/07 21:55
There is a Lake Success, NY? Obviously this is not upstate... ba doom *crash*
paul - 12/18/07 16:05
From the way I feel about the medical systems right now I would assume probably next June.
jim - 12/18/07 15:52
How long do you have to wait for results?
drew - 12/18/07 15:14
better down than up!
mrdeadlier - 12/18/07 15:05
mrmike, that's exactly what i thought
jim - 12/18/07 14:52
Good luck, Paul!
james - 12/18/07 14:21
a drink? A DRINK?

kids today have it so easy
mrmike - 12/18/07 13:52
Love the illustration on the bottle. Like we didn't know the point was to be Drano for Humans

12/18/2007 11:04 #42566

The CT scan
Category: health
So at 3PM I get the CT scan at Buffalo general. I have to go there at 1PM though. I am so excited on one hand about finding anything out and so scared on the other hand about finding anything out and so scared on yet another hand about the radiation.
paul - 12/19/07 11:21
God, I hate waiting. I would really like to know why my intestines are being so sick.
paul - 12/18/07 13:48
Sorry to dissapoint you (e:james) but I drank the drink instead.
james - 12/18/07 11:18
enjoy the barium enema.

12/18/2007 09:51 #42565

I am so angry/sick
Category: health
So my abdominal area just keeps getting worse and I am really sick to my stomach. It is not normal to have to go to the bathroom like 5 times during the night.

I got up at 8:45 to schedule the abdominal CT, as at this point I would do anything to find out what is wrong. They told me they had two locations. Buffalo General and one in Wiliamville. I told her Buffalo general was better and she said she would call me back when she schedules. At 9:20 I still had n word so I called the doctors office back and said I would gladly drive to Williamsville if it was faster,easier I could get in sooner because my stomach is killing. She said she would call me back. Here we are one hour later, still no freakin' word.

I seriously, cannot believe how this is going for. In the mean time i don't know if I should try and eat anything or not because what if you need to have an empty stomach for it and it is today and then I have to reschedule. I wish it would render me unconscious at this point.

And then there is some unreasonable deadline at work that I am working against which normally is fun for me, but this time it is making me crazy because I am sick.

Now what I really want is a test for celiac disease just to rule that out in case and what about the blood and stool tests. Why none of them yet? Looks like for me they are going to skip to step 5.

Diagnostic Tests for Crohn's disease

Test for Crohn's disease

* Physical examination
* Complete blood count - for anemia and white blood cell counts
* Stool sample analysis
* Upper GI series - barium X-rays
* Lower GI series - barium X-rays
paul - 12/18/07 11:05
I have the colonoscopy scheduled for Jan 9th and the CT they just scheduled for today.
museumchick - 12/18/07 10:48
I have Crohn's. Usually for Crohn's, they have to give you a colonoscopy before they do any kind of diagnosis. Maybe you need to go to the ER if things don't work out with getting the CT scheduled. They can usually order a lot of those kinds of tests for you, right in the hospital.