You know youre a cancer patient when....
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Good news on your Dad's health Doris. I'm sure that was not a reaction that the surgeon was used to seeing!
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BlondieD.......................................also LMAO...Priceless..Priceless
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Solfeo, I've had the same thing happen...on my patient portal. So it was there reminding me every time I opened the portal. I wrote a couple of nasty emails...found out that no one is able to remove it.....so they changed the year to 2022! I guess they think I won't live that long with MBC!! SMH
Brenda
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I got a notice that I was overdue for a mammogram the year after my bilateral recon was done, complete with an appointment date and time. I called and explained, was told it would be taken care of. OK, so far, I did have recon at another hospital, figured the record at the breast center was updated. Next year, same thing. I called again to cancel, was told the appointment system is automated, I told them to connect it to the rest of the medical record system and turn it off after mastectomies. Year 3, same thing. so I kept the appointment, The nurse was appalled, how could I have taken up valuable time that another woman with a real need could have used? And center policy was to bill for the procedure since I was physically there. I alerted my insurance company, and then the center tried to bill me directly. I threatened to report them to a regulatory agency, they withdrew the bill. I haven't gotten another reminder from them since! But it was a pain the butt. I hope they learned a lesson, but I doubt it.
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NativeMainer---You and I must somehow be distantly related! This is totally something I would do....much to the dismay of my family and friends. They think I'm crazy to waste time on things like this but I'm a big believer in the "right" thing and it makes me crazy when companies can't be bothered to take care of their customers. So I'm one of those who will sit on hold with the phone company for hours just so the agent can't help another customer. They usually have quotas to fill so that tactic tends to get results! Let's hear it for the little guy!!
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Blooming **!&%% !!!!
Anyone remember the old computer saying "GIGO" (Garbage In, Garbage Out)?
It may be that the staff members you spoke to had no permissions to access the database responsible for sending those reminders. However at some level in the chain is a database administrator with full access and well able to remove your details! As I think you proved by your sit-in Native Mainer...well done you.
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I remember after my single (right) mastectomy, I was told that "poor old lefty" would continue to be checked annnually, so when I got a reminder after 1 year, I happily went along.
I realised that something was wrong when the nurse asked if I had had any problems with my breasts in the last year. I opened the front of my gown and said "You do realise I've only got one, don't you?" The look on her face was priceless, She stammered a bit and ran off to talk to her supervisor. (I don't think the poor girl had seen a mastectomy scar before!)
She came back and explained that this was a screening appointment, not a surveillance appointment. If I wanted lefty checked, I would have to go back to my doctor and request a surveillance scan. New Zealand has a government funded breast screening mammogram service, aimed at catching early stage breast cancer. There is a different fund (also from government) which covers scans for existing patients (like me). So I was in the right place (the only mammo machine in Taranaki) for the right procedure, but the cost was coming from the wrong fund! Both are completely free to patients, but the bureaucracy is such the they couldn't possibly do the wrong scan on the wrong piece of paper.
The just-as-silly sequel to this is that my doctor declared that the chances of lefty having cancer is minimal, and why should we go looking for more trouble, besides, it probably wouldn't change my treatment. So lefty had not been mammo'ed since the initial diagnosis 2 1/2 years ago, and I'm just hoping that if anything appears, it will show up in my 3 monthly CT's.
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YKYABCPW you're sitting there talking to your daughter and a familiar man walks by and you think, "He's seen my boobs."
(After running into the head radiation tech at center.)
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YKYACP When you make jokes to put the doctors at ease. On a follow-up for early-stage, the female doctor had a male resident with her (ugh, ok, I have to help train these guys). First the female doc did a breast exam, apologizing for her cold hands, then stepped aside for the resident to have a turn. As he began the exam, I raised my eyebrows at my female doc and said, "HIS hands are WARM." Then we relaxed and laughed. I do my part.
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Lala1--I didn't know that sitting on hold tied up an agent like that, will have to remember that tactic!
Feelingfeline--I haven't heard GIGO in a long time! I'm not sure if I helped fix their system or if only my account got flagged, but at least I'm not getting mammogram reminders. My current PCP's office has a new electronic medical record system and she was ranting and raving about how some things can't be turned off for individual patients, like the flag to schedule a mammogram yearly.She even called the company to complain about that. When will the developers start listening to the nurses and docs actually USING these things?????
Suems--Heaven help us if a procedure is billed to the wrong payor! And it's can't be as easy as changing a check box.I'm sure the CT is even better at catching bc than a mammogram, since that's one of the tests they use to follow up on questionable mammograms.
Shetland Pony--LOL!!!
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Help! I'm caught in a loop!
1. Liver pain is increasing, so take morphine, along with the compulsory laxatives
2. After a few days, the laxatives are not working, causing constipation pain.
3. Stop the morphine, take more laxatives. Now have 2 lots of pain.
4. All the laxatives kick in at once, now have diarrhea. Stop the laxatives.
5. Take more morphine to stop the diarrhea and the pain.
Return to step 1.
I have been round and round this cycle twice now. Evidently I have to change the painkillers or the laxatives, because I can't find the balance point between the 2.
Anyone else relate to this cycle?
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Suems: What an awful loop you are experiencing. This &*^%% cancer sure sucks!
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…when the word “cancer” no longer strikes terror into your heart because you know the drill.
…when you realize you can’t fix one thing without breaking something else, and you can’t fix that without either breaking yet another thing or re-breaking the first thing.
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Suems--what laxatives are you taking? It sounds like the bowel regimen piece needs to be readjusted.Does the morphine manage the liver pain? If so, then the laxatives need to be changed.If the morphine is not managing the liver pain it would make sense to talk about another pain med, but be aware that all pain meds except Tramadol cause constipation, and Tramadol may not be strong enough to manage liver pain. Call your doc's office and explain what is going on and get some help with this.As a hospice nurse I like to recommend that people take a dose of polyethylene glycol 3350 (MiraLAX) daily, and take senna (1 tablet = 8.6 mg) one tablet twice a day. If constipation still happens, go up to 2 tablets twice a day,and go up by one tablet twice a day until you have regular bms while taking the morphine.If you start having diarrhea, stopthe senna for 24 hours but continue the polyelthylene glycol, and restart the senna at 1 tablet less than when you stopped. Everyone needs a different amount of senna, some people as little as 1 tableta day, some as many as 6 tablets twice a day. It's important not to stop the morphine because then all the laxatives will kick in suddenly and make you miserable that way.
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Hi NativeMariner, Hello, it's been a long time. Would you mind cutting and pasting you "recipe on constipation" to the constipation thread. There are many recipes there, but more the merrier or rather more pooping. Or I could C&P your whole post with name date and time, if that's simpler
Chi your statement should be immortalized.
I too am still receiving notices(2009 BMX) and questions about getting mammo's. Depending on my mood is how I respond. Just as you did Suems with the open shirt.
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LOL solfeo!
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Saz-schatzi--go ahead and cut and paste my post if you want, when it comes to constipation the more options and info out there the better for the individual!
Solfeo--oh my goodness, I never thought about getting prosthesis in different sizes!What a hoot that would be!
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Nm Thanks,
Hi everyone else. That was very rude of me to not say helllooooooooooo to everyone else. Solfeo, Shetland, Bluebird Hellooooooooooooooo
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Solfeo and NativeMariner,
I am a Uniboober, (single mastectomy), and at the beginning got a fairly large prosthesis to match Poor Old Leftie, But when she started to shrink and head South, (ain't old age a bitch!) I had to trade in Silicon Sally for a 2-sizes-smaller Silicon Sal. I looked ridiculous with one big and perky, and one small and saggy,so I really had no choice.
It would be great to get rid of Leftie and get a matched "set", but my docs say they can't remove a healthy breast!
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Suems I have and idea. If I don't come back, it means I got sidetracked and forgot maybe.
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Suems
Knitted Knockers Charities is a non-profit that exists to provide free patterns for knitters and crocheters to be able to make knockers and help mastectomy patients get freeKnitted Knockers made by volunteers.
Knitted knockers website:
http://www.knittedknockers.info/
Maybe one of the volunteers could make you a knocker the same as your uni.
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Yes I have one of those - my mother-in-law knitted it for me. I had to take most of the stuffing out but it still won't go saggy like lefty! Lovely soft wool, but it tends to creep up my chest and pop out of where my cleavage used to be!
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Change the design............
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When you plan to get a face lift IF you make it to 50 to celebrate, not when you turn 50 to compensate.
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Solfeo--I, too, had very large breasts. Was glad to be able to go down in size when I did recon.
Suems--I was a uniboober for about a year between the original mastectomy and recon. The docs are wrong, you can have a risk reducing mastectomy and get rid of Leftie. Insurance has to cover surgery on the healthy breast to achieve symmetry. I remember the back and shoulder pain from the pre-recon days with one huge boob and one flat side.
I had a couple of knitted boobies while I was a uniboober. I remember having to safety pin it into the bathing suit so it would stay in, and constantly having to monitor/readjust in other clothes. And it never did really match righty!
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I keep getting mass-mailed requests from my cancer center to donate money to help people who are fighting cancer. As if I'm done. As if I have any money left after co-pays and other cancer expenses.
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Shetland Pony--isn't that a really miserable thing to get in the mail?
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I got a mamo reminder from a hospital I've NEVER been in!! I was so mad I called them and told them to take me off the mailing list. I had bmx.
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Spookie--How on earth did another hospital get your name/address to send you an inappropriate mammo reminder??????
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I have no idea. This hospital isn't even in the same group as my cancer center. I also get mailings from Moffitt which annoys me too. The only thing I can think of is Bay Care is selling lists.
I wouldn't send a wounded rattlesnake to that hospital much less get treatment there.
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