Getting an annual physical at the doctors

[ultrarunner]

Was it the scope or the snare that is used to cut polyps?

The snare cable is perfect for rodding out the long sunroof water drain tubes…

The rep was demonstrating with samples and when done I kept one for the shop.

 

[MossRoad]

Was it the scope or the snare that is used to cut polyps?

The snare cable is perfect for rodding out the long sunroof water drain tubes…

The rep was demonstrating with samples and when done I kept one for the shop.

Nice!

 

[tractortroof]

I am grateful for the advances of modern science and true life saving capabilities. That being said, the idea of colonoscopy being super duper safe seems to have some flaws.

The problem is we will never really know, as you can have HIV and Hepatitis for a long time without symptoms.

It is clear that you “can” get these diseases from the procedure. No one debates that it is possible and indeed has happened.

The official narrative is that infection happens in 1 in 10 million procedures, and they state it with such confidence that I am sure it is true.

I am not a fan of routine invasive tests at all.

The va recommended a CT colonoscopy and I canceled mine. If you have enough of those things, the radiation can really add up.

 

[masseyrider]

I am grateful for the advances of modern science and true life saving capabilities. That being said, the idea of colonoscopy being super duper safe seems to have some flaws.

The problem is we will never really know, as you can have HIV and Hepatitis for a long time without symptoms.

It is clear that you “can” get these diseases from the procedure. No one debates that it is possible and indeed has happened.

The official narrative is that infection happens in 1 in 10 million procedures, and they state it with such confidence that I am sure it is true.

I am not a fan of routine invasive tests at all.

The va recommended a CT colonoscopy and I canceled mine. If you have enough of those things, the radiation can really add up.

I asked a Dr. why they don't just do a cat scan. He told me that it could be done but if a polyp was found they couldn't do a biopsy right away.
Can't question them but to me it would make a lot more sense to only do the invasive procedure if something is found not if it MIGHT be found.
Part of it might be the cost and shortage of Cat Scan machines, here anyways. And the current method is a great cash cow for the dr's involved.

 

[MattB4]

I am grateful for the advances of modern science and true life saving capabilities. That being said, the idea of colonoscopy being super duper safe seems to have some flaws.

...

I recall a few years back a real problem that the VA had with contamination due to improper sterilization. There is also chance for internal damage even when used properly. Finally the act of being put under general anesthesia has pitfalls. People have died.

So no not super duper safe. But driving is not super duper safe but the risk is worth it for most people. Personally I am not opposed to getting a colonoscopy done. I just have problems with not being able to do it without needing a person to come along with me. Workarounds always seem to not work. For instance one time the appointment folks offered to have the VA hospital put me up overnight if a bed was available. Problem with that is they only would know on the day of the appointment if that could be done. Well it couldn't so reappointment was made and the day came again and no bed available. After that I said to heck with it.

 

[MossRoad]

It's not like the person that's coming with you gets to watch the procedure.

Everyone reacts differently to anesthesia. Some folks snap right out of it. Some folks have reactions that don't show up until later. Better to have someone drive you home.

 

[ultrarunner]

I am grateful for the advances of modern science and true life saving capabilities. That being said, the idea of colonoscopy being super duper safe seems to have some flaws.

The problem is we will never really know, as you can have HIV and Hepatitis for a long time without symptoms.

It is clear that you “can” get these diseases from the procedure. No one debates that it is possible and indeed has happened.

The official narrative is that infection happens in 1 in 10 million procedures, and they state it with such confidence that I am sure it is true.

I am not a fan of routine invasive tests at all.

The va recommended a CT colonoscopy and I canceled mine. If you have enough of those things, the radiation can really add up.

All procedures carry risk and not saying this to minimize but to consider options.

If you happen to be the one in a million it’s no consolation.

I bet when Presidents have colonoscopies the instruments are brand new?

Perforation is also a concern aside from anesthesia risk.

 

[Jstpssng]

All procedures carry risk and not saying this to minimize but to consider options.

If you happen to be the one in a million it’s no consolation.

I bet when Presidents have colonoscopies the instruments are brand new?

Perforation is also a concern aside from anesthesia risk.

I wonder how many people are injured or worse from the colonoscopy or other tests, compared to the number who are saved because they recieved an early diagnosis.

 

[ultrarunner]

I wonder how many people are injured or worse from the colonoscopy or other tests, compared to the number who are saved because they recieved an early diagnosis.

My sister in law was 30, fit, athletic and tall at 5’10”

She was expecting second child and kept saying something is not right and always dismissed… as pregnancy related.

Healthy baby born but she so sick and nothing like the first child where it was model pregnancy.

Doctors said to be expected and each pregnancy is different.

My brother got her a appointment outside network and Doc did colonoscopy and said if I could do surgery today I would… she was schedule for emergency surgery 7 am next morning.

Colin cancer resulted in a lot of intestine removed… going under the thought was colostomy bag for life.

12 years cancer free and no bag… it saved her life and more important the second independent opinion did.

She did not have any of the risk factors… no family history, young, athletic marathon runner, etc.

 

[QRTRHRS]

That would never happen here…

First staff restricted to those required.

Second any requests for students or observers would be disclosed at the time of registration for patient approval.

Third any observers would need to be cleared meaning vaccinations up to date, etc.

That was 28 years ago. No HIPPA concerns. Maybe lts just me? When i had rotator surgery they found an extra nerve when they went to do the block. Every one had to come and look.

 

[ultrarunner]

We are not a "Teaching" hospital although we do have an agreement through the podiatry group for their vetted podiatry students to observe with patient consent.

Also, some of the eye surgeons invite other eye Docs to be observers for the latest procedures... with patient consent.

With GI even the room windows are covered for patient privacy...

 

[tractortroof]

I wonder why the VA would not cover the colonoscopy for me (50 year old no history) but would cover the CT colonoscopy. Is it cheaper or were they learning something? They have a recent history (2013 I think) of transmitting HIV and Hepatitis via colonoscopy.

To me it just seems like the transmission rate could be a lot higher than is known as the disease can be asymptomatic for decades.

 

[Alan W.]

When I was in grade school I got strep and my Dr realized it was causing kidney problems. After a few days in the local hospital I was moved to the University Hospital. It being a teaching hospital meant that twice a day a group of people would come in to examine me To this day I dont know why but they would examine my genitals but twice daily they would all examine them.
For a country boy in the sixth grade this was really weird.
The best part was the twice daily urine test. A nurse would take me to the bathroom and hold my ***** in one hand while she cleaned the tip with the other before getting a urine sample.
Never wanted to leave the place.

 

[MossRoad]

When I was in grade school I got strep and my Dr realized it was causing kidney problems. After a few days in the local hospital I was moved to the University Hospital. It being a teaching hospital meant that twice a day a group of people would come in to examine me To this day I dont know why but they would examine my genitals but twice daily they would all examine them.
For a country boy in the sixth grade this was really weird.
The best part was the twice daily urine test. A nurse would take me to the bathroom and hold my ***** in one hand while she cleaned the tip with the other before getting a urine sample.
Never wanted to leave the place.

On that note, our regular family Dr. would go off to Africa to do missionary work every other year. So every other year we'd get a foreign exchange Dr. in his place.

So I'm maybe 12 years old, I go in for a physical for grade school, and there's a very large woman (think Julia Child size) and she says in an English accent....

"Drop your drawers!"

Yikes!

 

[riptides]

I was hospitalized at a young age at an overseas Army base.

I went in speaking fluent German, I came out speaking fluid (not fluent) English.

It was a traumatic experience. Not kidding.

 

[EddieWalker]

My sister in law was 30, fit, athletic and tall at 5’10”

She was expecting second child and kept saying something is not right and always dismissed… as pregnancy related.

Healthy baby born but she so sick and nothing like the first child where it was model pregnancy.

Doctors said to be expected and each pregnancy is different.

My brother got her a appointment outside network and Doc did colonoscopy and said if I could do surgery today I would… she was schedule for emergency surgery 7 am next morning.

Colin cancer resulted in a lot of intestine removed… going under the thought was colostomy bag for life.

12 years cancer free and no bag… it saved her life and more important the second independent opinion did.

She did not have any of the risk factors… no family history, young, athletic marathon runner, etc.

This is very similar to what happened with my wife. No family history of cancer. Her parents and relatives all died from heart disease, which is why she focused on heart medicine as a nurse.

She kept having cramps and gut issues that led to dehydration. We went in several times for IV's and more testing without finding anything out. After several months of this, her doctor scheduled her for a colonoscopy just to eliminate it from what they need to be looking at.

They found a large tumor and decided that it had to come out right then and there. Emergency surgery that led to her first night in the hospital. She came home the next day, and they biopsied the tumor to find out what type of cancer it was. Treatment started that week. They where super aggressive with the treatment of radiation and chemo. Two months later, she was cancer free, she has spent a total of 30 nights in the hospital and the last two weeks of radiation treatment she had to be transported in an ambulance from her room on the 5th floor, to the treatment center, next door to the hospital.

5 years later, she is still recovering from the treatment. White blood cells are still low, but increasing every year. She will never be 100%, or even close to what she was before treatment physically, but she is able to do what she wants, and enjoy life. Probably the biggest change has been in what she cannot eat anymore. Her gut is very sensitive, and processed foods are pure poison for her. On the bright side, our garden has gotten bigger and better every year!!!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Point being, when we get older, even if you're fit at an older age, make sure you get a physical once a year.

Good advise, but here's the thing. I'm in the middle of a move across half the state, and I'm having a heck of a time finding a principal care physician that is accepting new patients. I only have a few criteria: They are male, less than 55 year old, and they be educated in the US. Extra points if they are well rated by sites like HealthGrade. Places like United Health Care and Medicare have search tools, but the results aren't current and the filters aren't very good. I'm 18 months past my last physical, and have expired prescriptions that need renewed. Any ideas on how to find a new PCP that's any good?

 

[EddieWalker]

My doctor is a women. She is also my wife's doctor. My wife has a PhD in nursing with almost 30 years experience working in hospitals. The old saying about the nurse knowing who the bad doctors are is something that I believe 100%. She believes that our doctor is the best one in the hospital, and so far, I don't have anything to say otherwise.

The best thing about being married to a nurse is the BS meter. I've never had her step in on anything medical for me or her, but she did have to step in with some of the things my parents where dealing with. Before she found the right doctor for my parents, they just went to the local hospital and found a doctor on their own based on their insurance. This guy never examined them, and when they had an issue, he was always wrong. Dad had swelling in his hand and his doctor said it was arthritis, and he prescribed some meds for it. The swelling got worse. That same doctor looked at him again and even brought in anther doctor to look at his hand. Nobody took blood. They decided to change the medicine to see if that helped. Dad's hand got even worse and his arm started swelling up. My wife stepped in and took him to the Emergency Room and sat with him when the Emergency Doctor came in. They drew blood and found out that he had been bitten by a spider. Treatment changed and dad made a full recovery.
When dealing with Vets for our dogs, we've had a lot of BS from them too. It's really been shocking how many use old equipment that isn't accurate, rely on first impressions without doing full examinations, and just randomly prescribe meds that don't work, and then just switch to another med, and then another med without any relationship to the previous meds. Just random guessing on treatment. Over the years, we've seen at least 20 Vets in our area. We feel comfortable with 4 of them, with one of them being exceptional.

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.

 

[gsganzer]

My doctor is a women. She is also my wife's doctor. My wife has a PhD in nursing with almost 30 years experience working in hospitals. The old saying about the nurse knowing who the bad doctors are is something that I believe 100%. She believes that our doctor is the best one in the hospital, and so far, I don't have anything to say otherwise.

The best thing about being married to a nurse is the BS meter. I've never had her step in on anything medical for me or her, but she did have to step in with some of the things my parents where dealing with. Before she found the right doctor for my parents, they just went to the local hospital and found a doctor on their own based on their insurance. This guy never examined them, and when they had an issue, he was always wrong. Dad had swelling in his hand and his doctor said it was arthritis, and he prescribed some meds for it. The swelling got worse. That same doctor looked at him again and even brought in anther doctor to look at his hand. Nobody took blood. They decided to change the medicine to see if that helped. Dad's hand got even worse and his arm started swelling up. My wife stepped in and took him to the Emergency Room and sat with him when the Emergency Doctor came in. They drew blood and found out that he had been bitten by a spider. Treatment changed and dad made a full recovery.
When dealing with Vets for our dogs, we've had a lot of BS from them too. It's really been shocking how many use old equipment that isn't accurate, rely on first impressions without doing full examinations, and just randomly prescribe meds that don't work, and then just switch to another med, and then another med without any relationship to the previous meds. Just random guessing on treatment. Over the years, we've seen at least 20 Vets in our area. We feel comfortable with 4 of them, with one of them being exceptional.

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.

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 even see it in my industry of process equipment commissioning and service. I might go and troubleshoot an issue and it turns out to really just require a $1000 fix. However, the company that sent we might ask me to try to help sell a $10K fix, because the customer that has the problem was expecting the problem to cost much more. I won't partake in that type of business tactics, and I know it's cost me some work over the years. I see so many folks that can be such hypocrites. They talk about how folks should be honest and have character. What most of them mean is the person servicing them should act that way, they don't need to abide by the same with their actions. The old adage is an honest man is the one that does the right thing, when nobody is watching.

 

[MossRoad]

My doctor is a women. She is also my wife's doctor. My wife has a PhD in nursing with almost 30 years experience working in hospitals. The old saying about the nurse knowing who the bad doctors are is something that I believe 100%. She believes that our doctor is the best one in the hospital, and so far, I don't have anything to say otherwise.

The best thing about being married to a nurse is the BS meter. I've never had her step in on anything medical for me or her, but she did have to step in with some of the things my parents where dealing with. Before she found the right doctor for my parents, they just went to the local hospital and found a doctor on their own based on their insurance. This guy never examined them, and when they had an issue, he was always wrong. Dad had swelling in his hand and his doctor said it was arthritis, and he prescribed some meds for it. The swelling got worse. That same doctor looked at him again and even brought in anther doctor to look at his hand. Nobody took blood. They decided to change the medicine to see if that helped. Dad's hand got even worse and his arm started swelling up. My wife stepped in and took him to the Emergency Room and sat with him when the Emergency Doctor came in. They drew blood and found out that he had been bitten by a spider. Treatment changed and dad made a full recovery.
When dealing with Vets for our dogs, we've had a lot of BS from them too. It's really been shocking how many use old equipment that isn't accurate, rely on first impressions without doing full examinations, and just randomly prescribe meds that don't work, and then just switch to another med, and then another med without any relationship to the previous meds. Just random guessing on treatment. Over the years, we've seen at least 20 Vets in our area. We feel comfortable with 4 of them, with one of them being exceptional.

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.

You have to either be able to advocate for yourself, or have someone there to advocate for you. One of our kids has and a tough time doing that. Our other kid has no problem doing that. Same parents. Same upbringing. Different brains and emotions.