God I'm annoyed or how illness sucks

[Dave_D]

I'm not sure if this quite on topic for this forum. Anyway I think I've mentioned this before but I've been going through an illness lately (probably hepatitis or other liver disease) that has been slowing down my application and job search process but I've been feeling mostly good lately. So I’ve been seeing my PCP about it. Actually let me be a little more accurate, what actually happens is I get blood tests 2-3 times a week, get largely ignored except sometimes late in the day the nurse practitioner calls me and tells me what the results are. (Usually going down slowly) Of course one time she panicked and had me go to the emergency room, which was a fiasco. (The whole point was to get a emergency ultrasound which ended up being the next day as an out patient because she didn’t call over to the hospital to let them know why I was coming. Suffice it to say they had to rerun all my blood work since they had nothing. Given I don’t have insurance these kinds of fees are the last thing I need especially when I’m asymptomatic. To make matters worse for the span of 20 hours my entire dietary intake was limited to half a banana and a glass of orange juice. Guess how I felt after that especially given that they couldn’t do anything for me in the emergency room.)

Anyway so now my PCP finally talks to me and tells me I should go to the emergency room for a liver biopsy because my bilirubin is so high. (I don’t know, maybe it’s high because I was in bed most of Wednesday with a migraine and didn’t drink or relieve myself? You could have asked. Now I read on the NIH’s site that given my prothombin time I probably shouldn’t even have a biopsy but have an ANA test done for autoimmune hepatitis first and have work done to fix the prothombin. Want to guess a particular test they were supposed to do but didn’t? BTW the ER doc suggested a CAT and MRI as the next two steps which seems a little more reasonable than going off half cock and stabbing me.) The reason I feel badly today is because he made me all nervous.

Anyway I’m pretty much fed up with him and didn’t take his advice. (I mean I might take his advice more seriously if you know, they didn’t do pointless blood tests, flat out not do some of the tests they’re supposed to do, if he called me regularly, asked questions, etc.) I’m supposed to see him Monday but at this point I’m just going to ask him for a referral to Boston Medical’s digestive center. At least maybe somewhere there will have a clue.

Just had to get that off my chest, sorry about the rant. (Anybody else want to complain about illness while not having insurance?)

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[FictionalGirl]

Feel better Dave.

 

[ClearDay]

Hey Dave,

Sorry you're having a hard time. Hope you feel better.

 

[stoic]

Hey Dave,

Hang in there. It's a real bitch to be sick and even worse when they're having a tought time figuring it out.

s

 

[PneoDr]

I will keep you in mind.

 

[Dave_D]

Thanks guys. At this point I think going from the internal medicine Dr. to a gastro Dr. is really my best bet. Oh well, I guess it's something to talk about on interviews. (You know what they say when life gives you lemons.)

 

[ballsbreaker]

I am so so sorry! My heart goes out to you. I don't have insurance either and got really sick once and it is hell to pay for medical fees when you have no insurance. I know it sounds trite but try to relax and things will work out. Stress may make your situation worse. I hope your doctors can help you asap! Feel/be better soon!

 

[mustangsally65]

Don't give up, Dave. I've had some similar experiences, and it's always helped me to think about how I'm going to do my best to avoid all these things when I'm a physician. Call your patients with test results within a reasonable amount of time, let them know what's going on in your head when you order a bunch of different tests, and most of all, treat them like a person instead of a disease.

I had surgery in 2001 without insurance. Man, was I in a lot of debt. Surgeon's fees, hospital/OR fees, pre/post op fees, anesthesiology fees. And a CT before hand that was over a thousand dollars. That barium almost made me hurl, it was so nasty. But I got over it, got it payed off, and learned to appreciate the value of health insurance.

Just try to remember there's a light at the end of the tunnel. You will get a diagnosis, and will hopefully resolve or manage your problem. I was just diagnosed with an endocrine disorder, and it's taken years to find out what was "wrong" with me. I can appreciate the impact this has had on my application process too, and it seems so unfair at times, almost like the "healthy" applicants have a better shot at getting accepted.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Sometimes it's so easy to get down, but try to look at the positives and remember that one day you will be a doctor. Good luck!

 

[anon-y-mouse]

Illness does indeed suck. Get well soon. Hey, at least your experiences could help you be a better doc

 

[coral]

Sorry to hear you are sick. I had a similar 'mystery' digestive sickness last year that entailed lots of diagnostic tests, restricted diets, doctors that didn't understand what has going on and at least one ER visit a week. Since it lasted a couple of months I had to delay taking the MCAT and some prereqs--I was extrememly stressed out and frustrated. Although I am completely healthy now, they still don't understand what was going on with me but it did give me another valuable perspective of medicine.

Hopefully seeing a specialist will lead to a diagnosis and some treatment so you can put all of your energy back into your application and job search. Best of thoughts and good luck!