AAM Monday Doctors and more Doctors

In the beginning,  the Doctors were all about my dh. He had been having 'shortness of breath'  which the Drs kept calling pain, so he finally gave in and called it 'pain'. The cardiologist sent him for a stress test which indicated some blockage in one of the arteries. So he is scheduled for a procedure to determine the extent of that blockage, if any, on Tuesday, 0:dark a.m.

If minor blockage, he gets the 'diet and exercise' prescription and perhaps a change of meds, and goes home.  If the blockage is medium, he gets a stent in the artery and stays over night. If the blockage is severe, he gets the 'diet and exercise' advice, maybe a change of meds and goes home. Interesting  possibilities, aren't they?

So we were both lamenting the need for a 06:00 arrival at the DC hospital Tuesday, planning to spend the night closer in Monday night and just take it from there. Not as simple as having option A or C done in our local medical center. However our insurance thought otherwise, since option B has to go to the DC hospital, which does make sense. Otherwise, he's on the table, in the twilight sleep and it's an ambulance schlep the 25 miles into DC for that stent.  Sensible but still more to-ing and fro-ing.  I can deal with the big issue but it's the details that bug me.

Apparently they bugged me enough to give me a breath-stopping, near fainting episode Saturday morning. I had a pain across my left hip, continuing rightwards that was as close to the wave of pain that comes with a labor contraction as I've had in ...oh 40+ years.  DH insisted that "I" go to the hospital, and I spent Saturday morning in the ER. Exam, C-T scan, blood work and finally a massive muscle relaxant injection (one good thing about having but fat!), pain killers and home to sleep off the rotten effects of Percocet. Lots of sleep. Today feels a lot better, in fact no pain and just a bit of tightness. Some tightness in that hip is part of arthritis and I just need to do my back exercises. I have neglected them. Shame, shame.

This morning, I have an already-scheduled visit with my Primary Physician.- just the normal 4x a year visit.  That is a real blessing to have had that in place. It's also reminded us just how blessed we are to have health insurance that covers all these unexpected events. Why is it so hard for some people to consider that heath issuance should not be an option, available to only those who can afford it? WWJS? I suspect he'd go back to that whip he used driving the money lenders out of the Temple to make his point. Health care for all - not doable in the US? What have we come to... That should not be an option in 2011, not ever.