1Day1Life4Now

When those smartphones come out where I can slap someone, i will be first on the list to buy one! 3 times today I could have used it. WTF, what is with the medical community lately???? In particular, the people who answer the phones.
I am on a rescue medication for Migraines. With all that has been going on lately, I am getting them every other day. I take a shot called Dyhdroergotimine. I give myself a shot and 20 to 30 minutes later i get back to my life with not even a slight headache nor any side effects.
Well, they have been out of it for months in the injectable form which is the least expensive yet most effective. This has happened before over the years so I tend to order a set of 10 every month just to ensure i have a surplus. Well, in June of this year it went out of stock and over the months i went through my back stock.
So, last month i called the manufacturer directly to find out when this med will become available. I was told that it is likely a ingredient that they are having a hard time getting. Of course i find this funny because you can get it in the nasal spray which by the way costs 3 times as much 3600.00 for a box of 8. The injections are 999.00 for a box of 10. The injectables work better for me. same ingredients and she never looked she said I assume this is why.
Then I proceeded to call my doctor and ask her to write a prescription for the nasal spray because there is no date in sight and I was completely out and suffering from a Migraine.< /p>
She quickly sent an electronic request to Walgreens. Walgreens processed it and the insurance company rejected it because it needed a pre auth now.
That is when the fun ensued! Ha.....My doctor immediately wrote up the request for preauth. The insurance company deleted it and there i sat for another 10 days not knowing no one was doing there job.
I got another migraine so i called Walgreens and was promptly told that it was out of stock for an undetermined amount of time. See, I am smart enough to know they are not even really looking at the right medication and are simply giving me a canned answer without checking. so i say how about you look in my actual file because i think you are talking about the injectables not the nasal spray. Low and behold when they look, they see i am right. Then they try pushing it through insurance again and again it gets rejected. They say, it needs a pre auth. I say, doctor wrote for one and it should be through. They say, cant help you call insurance.
Now....how many phone calls later, I am on the line with the insurance company who tells me that they cannot help me they need to talk to the specialty pharmacy. Thank goodness she stayed on the line with me for 1 hour 45 minutes. The specialty pharm lady then tells us finally that they deleted the pre auth because it needs to be handled by the insurance company. LOL......by the way, I have a migraine while all this is going on. The Cigna lady was awesome, she knew they screwed up and also knew they needed to fix it. She got a supervisor involved, and 48 hours later i finally had my perscription filled. all that time....still had a migraine.
Now fast forward to last week......I was down to my last 2 nasal sprays which i hate but they work. injectables still not available. I have no refills because we wanted to go back to injectables. I call Walgreens to order a refill. 24 hours later i get a notice saying this medication is out of stock and not expected in. Hubby goes there and the (very lazy) girl that works there says, oh no problem, the drug should be in tomorrow and then we can get it filled. I think "no way, could not be that easy". After 4 days of no notice that my prescription is ready, i call said lazy tech. She informs me that this drug is out of stock (again, automatic response without checking my file). I get angry and say, I am NOT talking about the injectable, i am talking about the nasal spray and i already know they are in your warehouse because my husband checked with the warehouse. She then logs on and low and behold they are in stock. She now says the problem is they faxed a request to my doctor 3 times and so far no response. I call doctor and they inform me they have never had a request, not one.
That was Thursday of last week. So, they electronically confirm the prescription. I again get no notice that my prescription is ready on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and so Monday i call pharmacy. I get the same lazy tech. She informs me they did not get anything from doctor. I call doctor, doctor has time and date it was submitted to Walgreens. Now, this is a 3600.00 prescription of which the mark up for them is 1600.00. I say how about you guys get your crap together and start taking care of your customers.
(Wish i had that smart phone so i could smack them right in the face!)
Well, still no notice that prescription is ready. Yesterday hubby drives to Walgreens and said lazy tech (same one) sees him coming and knows she is deep doo doo. She races back to get my prescription ready!
I spoke with the pharmacist and told him I have never ever had such horrible service from Walgreens in my life. And if they couldn't figure out how to get this moving forward, I would pull my families prescriptions and go somewhere else.
My husband came home with my new prescription yesterday while i was having one of the worst migraines yet.
Sorry for the long post but this is one example of what is happening. I so wish I had a phone that i could reach through and slap or strangle someone sometimes. LOL.
No headache today!

My Mom earned her RN and a BS in nursing back in the 50s. It was a five year program, and she would become incensed when people would get all jumped up without credentials or experience. She about blew a fuse when I was a teenager helping out at a clinic, and because I was a male, the patients kept referring to me as "The Doctor".

Some people who have been working in doctor's offices for years get a very inflated opinion of themselves, especially if the doctor feeds into it. Don't get me started on medical assistants being introduced as a nurse (or introducing themselves that way).

You go @@LittleBill! It is not the job of Office Coordinators to give out medical advice, unless they are former CNPs who made job changes, which rarely happens. I would call the medical facility back & make a complaint to the HR department about this person, explaining in detail exactly what she said/did before it slipped my mind (I would forget the details) & explain how they would not let you speak to your CNP.
Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

She must have been a real winner to tick you off so bad. I have found all of your posts to be lighthearted and funny.
She has no business giving out medical advice based on what she hears being said to most patients... what if you had co-morbidities like kidney, liver or heart issues? I agree that you should tell the NP and maybe the surgeon too. She is a liability risk to their practice.

It didn't take me long to get to this sub forum. I am old, and stricken in years, as my children tell me. I have some arthritis that flares up in places, and recently my right hip has been giving me some trouble. I have been a good boy and have avoided all NSAID consumption as the doctor ordered. However, the doctor also told me that once I got through my surgery, I would be able to take them occasionally for pain, minor injury, etc. The key phrase there is "got through", as in all healed up.
I called the doc's office earlier today to talk to the CRNP I see, and who seems to know her stuff when it comes to the intricacies of the various surgeries. The first time I called, I was left on hold for eight minutes before I concluded that I had been forgotten. In all my visits to this office, I have never seen them take more than two or three minutes for ANYTHING at the front desk. So I called back.
The same woman answered the exact same way the second time. "Bariatric and surgery, can you hold please?"
"NO, I can't hold! You left me forgotten there last time and all I want to do is leave a message!"
"We didn't forget you sir. We're very busy. Who do you want to talk to?"
"I want to ask my RCNP a couple of questions about some medicine." My questions aren't so much as what I can take as when. I already know I can.
Now is when things got worse. The woman who was so busy that she didn't have time to pick up the #$%& phone proceeded to quiz me in detail about what I wanted to know and why I wanted to know it. She wasn't even interested in who I was for a while. She finally wormed it out of me in detail what I wanted, and THEN proceeded to start telling me what I could and could not take! I was thinking, "WTF!?!?!?!"
She ended her little lecture with a smugness that just oozed out of my phone. So I said, "But you're not Alicia, are you?" Alicia is the RCNP.
"No, but I've worked here long enough to know what we tell all our bariatric patients."
I felt like saying something like, "Well maybe they should promote you to surgeon, lady, seeing as how you know it all!" But I bit my tongue, knowing she is the gatekeeper I need to get past. I settled for, "I would prefer to speak to Alicia about my concerns." This woman had the gall to tell me that she already knew what Alicia would tell me! The good news for her is, they have not yet invented a feature for smart phones where you can actually reach through the phone to slap the idiot on the other end. I finally got her to promise she would leave a message. I finished up by asking her who she was. She is the office coordinator. Not only am I going to speak to the RCNP about some office person giving out medical advice, I will very likely speak to her personally when I have my next appointment. Stupid $%#^&.

Is this really just sexual tension between two of you? If so, then get a room.
(A guy can fantasize, can't he?)

@@mi75
The topic of this thread said it all....The continuing post are more evidence of why people don't stay. The negative attention seeking is getting to a creepy level. My hope is If you ignore them they will go away.

All we need in this post is an audience shouting "JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!"

i was not directing my original comment to ANYONE in particular.... I was stating a fact that there are mean people on here that its...... good lord...
when you read what i wrote... did you think i was taking about you? then maybe look with in and work on you....
It's like you can't wait till i have something to say so you can bring up past crap..... Let it goooooo Stop caring what i say or do.
LEAVE ME ALONE....

@@LipstickLady don't you have anything better to do then to keep re-hashing old crap..... Why don't you get a life and leave me alone. I really don't care what you have to say.... you are a nothing to me....
Stop being so jelly and concentrate on improving yourself.
See..... Mean girls in a school yard.... One of the leaders....that's what you are...
Poof... be gone with you....

What?.... what the heck did i say to you? Please explain your comment.

When i started here 7 years ago.... it was lapbandtalk (just lapband patients).... and it was wonderful... NOW did we all always get along.. NO..... But, it's wasn't as Catty as it gets now.. Lord forbid you have an opinion other than some.... The gang up on you like a pack of mean girls in a school yard...... None of the "my WLS is better than yours... nanna nanna booboo"... crap
I was lucky that when i was new... i had great inspiration and advice given. So, i try and pay it forward when i can....

Yep, I can't believe how snarky some of the posts have become!! There is an old saying, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies!" When a question is asked, most reasonable, people assume that a straight answer will be given! Better not to ask questions!! I accept brutal honesty!!

I just read a thread over on the 'POST surgery' forum about POP. a newbie post related to drinking soda after surgery, a vet answered them and got herself torn sideways from the OP.
I feel bad because this person was QUITE obviously trying to only help, and give adequate information. For example, the OP carried on about their 'pouch' and stretching it.
The vet simply responded that a sleeve is not the same as a RNY pouch and that it really can't be stretched according to anatomical make up. Well, so much for trying to help! When I was a NOOB i was so happy to get good advice from the vets. in fact, that is how I learned the majority of the information that I needed pre-op. Obviously the other newbies couldn't give me advice based on experience, but the vets then were SO helpful (that includes many people on this forum).
So building off the other thread related to vets leaving, I look at this and totally understand why some vets have left....

I drank Protein Shake in hospital,of course a little at a time.I now 2 weeks out get most my Protein from shakes.No Nausea.You need protein for your muscles and also your heart is a muscle.Don't want to lose that muscle.It also helps you get your strength back.

Just found out I'm having my gallbladder out at the same time..gimme those pain meds lol
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I agree!! I have been making my phone calls during meal times, or jumping on line... or going tanning!! lol! Anything to avoid seeing, smelling or sitting next to the yum yums! Seems to be helping me, I guess. You can do it! I keep reminding my self... "That burger doesn't taste as good as healthy & skinny feels!!"

I read the posts about sleeve vs bypass for people with RA a few pages back and wanted to comment.
I have non progressive autoimmune disorder and I test positive for RA have a few flairs a year with long emissions.
My liver reached max tolerance for acetaminophen in 1993 and my kidne us actually failed from years of ibuprofen use. I had serious side effect from methotrexate and both biologics I tried. Because there weren't any better options I have been on narcotic pain medication for most of the past 12 years. And
yes, prednisone is my best friend and my worse enemy.
I have a gastric sleeve and am now just past 5 weeks post op. The pain was reduced within a week, though it took two more weeks to Tauber down from 20 mg of long-lasting oxytocin and 24-30 mg of dilaudid (4-12 mg every 4-6 hours) i have been completely off narcotic pain meds for over two weeks.
I was aware that a bypass was more likely to improve my autoimmune disorders blut it was just too drastic of an alteration for me to wrap my mind around and my surgeon believed that the sleeve would give me some improvement.
.
In any case I think some of the improvement is because of the high Protein diet as my pain impoves when ever I up my Protein and severely decrease carbs, but there is something more going on because I feel better every day.
Sorry about the length. Hopefully this thread will survive the recent "kerfluffle".

Thanks... I can feel the love.

I guess I view revisions for whatever reason to be at the discretion of the surgeon and patient. Everyone's story is different, but even if it is not "medically necessary", who am I to say another isn't worthy of a second chance?
I am a nurse and have taken care of addicts of all nature and see the rate of recidivism/relapse. I know that it takes more than one round of treatment some times... yes, surgery is a major intervention and there are risks associated with it, but to say a surgeon is "unethical" for performing them as revisions is a bit judgemental, regardless of whether or not there is perceptible tone.
Pray you never find yourself in a position where you have "eaten your way through" your surgery. We are all human and not infallible. I lost 115 lbs the "natural" way and kept it off for over 10 years. I NEVER thought I would gain that weight back. I thought my food issues were resolved. But here I am, typing this post on the bariatric pal thread. I gained all the weight back and then some. Went from 165 lbs to 362. I needed surgery to help with this. We all did, right? That's why we're here.
I'm here to find support and offer it to others... if I had a revision and came here looking for support and was reading this, I think I'd cry. There are those that judge us because we had to have the surgery the first time... let's not do the same to someone who found themselves here twice.

Awesome that is good to hear you are home and healing. I know this process will be rough for me but definitely ready. Still no regrets just can't take the oain anymore. Dec 27th is my revision date ! Sent from my Z981 using the BariatricPal App

I am only 5 months out from gastric sleeve. I go on Tuesday for revision to gastric bypass. I'm very nervous. I had surgery in the summer so I didn't have to miss work (I'm a teacher). Unfortunately, with an hourglass stricture and a pouch above it holding my food, I am throwing up undigested food. I'm freaking out about the recovery. I only plan to take a week off of work because I'm still a newer teacher without a lot of leave. The note my doctor gave me to bring in states 2-6 weeks. Ugh! I had no pain after sleeve. They said it should be a similar recovery. It wasn't for you guys? We need our own forum for sleeve to bypass!!!

Yes, I had my revision on Monday Nov 14th. This isn't as easy as the Sleeve and my incisions are bothering me more this time. I had a rough start in the hospital due to some complications but i think I'm getting much better. I'm supposd to go to work on Tuesday but don't think I am quite up to it yet. Thanksgiving was difficult.... I felt so left out, and hungry but I guess its worth it. I had the surgery to cure my severe GERD and it seems to have helped. Hope everyone else is doing well. Let me know when we get our own page.

I feel like this particular board is being a bit judgmental. I had revision surgery two weeks ago from the Sleeve to RNY, For the record, I did not want to have revision surgery (who would????) but due to severe GERD and Rheumatoid Arthritis i had no choice. For my health it was necessary. I loved my sleeve and never wanted anything different, now dealing with the RNY is different and will be for the rest of my life. Being obese, we were always being judged by others and this forum is supposed to be our "safe place" but it doesn't seem very safe for some people.. Different surgeries work for different people and some don't work as well or at all. Our pouches are tools and those tools can fail regardless of how well someone is informed or how well they are sticking to their diets. Yes there are some people with food addictions or other issues that prevent them from following the plan. But to suggest because they have not been fully compliant they shouldn't be allowed an additional surgery in hopes that the new surgery could help them, is a bit cruel and selfish. Once you are a few years out from surgery your perspectives may change. I wish everyone good health and weight loss and know that any issues you have are just as valid as anyone else's.