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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / June 2005Lots to do
Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I could take out a short term medical insurance policy. I did so. It's got a $500 deductible and 80/20 coverage for hospitalization, surgery, etc. It was supposed to be available for a period of 9 months, sort of an out-of-work transition option without paying excessive COBRA continuation premiums. Obviously it's been longer than 9 months but I checked and they deducted my premium again at the beginning of June. So on the to-do list tomorrow is to contact them via USAA. If the policy isn't in force, stop charging me for it!! If it is, sorry but I'm going to have to use it. I've been having pains in my left shoulder and neck for a long while but I attributed it to not sleeping comfortably. In fact, there were some times I could position the pillow just *so* under my left shoulder and not feel a twinge. Unfortunately, I'm now experiencing this pain radiating from my shoulder down my left arm and it's been pretty constant for the last few days. Not sharp, just always there. Sometimes it's a really nagging ache. Even when it's not, I'm now always aware it's there. It's not just a "oh I slept funny" thing anymore. So I need to go to the doctor; I know I do. But I also need to know my insurance is still good to pay for at least a portion of the doctor bill and whatever tests they may want me to undergo. We all know how medical stuff can add up... *sigh* Among other things, I have a history of pleurosy ("blue roses" for any Tennessee Williams fans out there). Looks like I'm in for a fun summer along with everyone else! Where's Persia... I need a soft kitty to hug :) Jill  SignatureI used to have a handle on life...but it broke off. > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Jill Purrs that you have something very simple, and very treatable. I know what pleurisy is, but I don't understand the Tennessee Williams "blue roses" thing?. >> Among other things, I have a history of pleurosy ("blue roses" for >> any Tennessee Williams fans out there). Looks like I'm in for a fun [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I know what pleurisy is, but I don't understand the Tennessee Williams > "blue roses" thing?. Thank you! It was the play 'The Glass Menagerie'. The delicate and sheltered southern daughter suffered from pleurisy, the pronouncement of which was misunderstood by some of her classmates to be "blue roses". At my old job I was out sick one day and I came back and one of the programmers said he'd heard I was ill. He asked (if I didn't mind saying) what was wrong? I said, "Pleurisy" and he said with a grin, "Blue Roses?!" We laughed and formed a fast friendship after that :) Jill > twinge. Unfortunately, I'm now experiencing this pain radiating from my > shoulder down my left arm and it's been pretty constant for the last few > days. Not sharp, just always there. Sometimes it's a really nagging ache. Jill, I don't want to alarm you, but please get to the ER soonest. This sounds similar to the heart problems my dad suffered with. He never had the classic symptoms, or didn't tell us if he did, but he did have at least one heart attack prior to the one a year ago November. I am concerned about you. I know that hospital bills are no fun, especially if you don't have a job. However, hospitals can and will treat you for your problems and will arrange payment. Some even write off part of the bill. Please get this checked as soon as possible. Very worried. Diane >> twinge. Unfortunately, I'm now experiencing this pain radiating >> from my shoulder down my left arm and it's been pretty constant for [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Diane Thank you. I will. I know it's not going to go away and needs to be checked. I'll be going tomorrow. After I check with USAA about my insurance, I'm going to call my regular doctor to ask about a referral but if I can't get through I'll just drive myself to Baptist Hospital East and check myself in through the ER. I'll be sure to take a book or two with me ;) I don't know what might happen if I need to be kept over night or several days, though. What about Persia and Peaches? My brother Scott has a key to my place but he's so terribly busy I have no idea if he'd be willing to come tend to my pets. The one time I asked him to take care of them he said he could take my bird but not my cat. Of course I got upset about that and boarded both of them instead. So I can't say I could count on him to take care of my babies! I don't trust my brother Paul with this job, either, because when he was taking care of my little dog Sampson and my parakeets on weekends when I was away he simply didn't show up. The birds were not that much of a problem because they had large seed cups and fresh water spouts. My poor Sammy dog was *not* doing a happy dance when I got back home, he was doing a "I've held it as long as I can!" dance. (sigh) Oh man, pets are wonderful but they also present problems, don't they? Jill > days, though. What about Persia and Peaches? Jill, I've forgotten where you live. Maybe there is someone near you who could feed Pearl and Peaches while you are away. I think I'm getting your location mixed up with Pat's. I know it is worrisome, but it would be more so if you weren't to come back. Please take care and let us know how you are as soon as you can. Diane >> days, though. What about Persia and Peaches? > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Diane I'm in west Tennessee, outside of Memphis. I was thinking, if I go to the doctor (it's not like I'm dying yet) if they want me to check in I could return home and take Persia and Peaches to the vet. They take good care of them. Then I could go back and check in. Jill > >> days, though. What about Persia and Peaches? > > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > of > them. Then I could go back and check in. Believe me, I've been there and done that with chest pain, and it really wasn't a good idea to go do a few things done and check back. Unless your doctor is a cardiologist, he's unlikely to have the equipment in the office to evaluate this. From what you describe, you need a history and physical, blood chemistry, blood tests for cardiac enzymes, a 12-lead EKG, and a chest X-ray. It's important to find out if nitroglycerin relieves the pain. Depending on the findings, you will probably need a cardiac stress test. Just looking at the economics, you might want to discuss with the provider whether a treadmill EKG is really cost-effective, or if you should go directly to either stress ultrasound of your heart, or a radioactive scan before and after exercise. The latter is most often called a thallium scan, but thallium isn't always used. The general technique involved is a SPECT scan, which also might be called technetium, sestamibi, or something else. Specific radioisotopes used, to some extent, depend on your percentages of body fat. I mention going directly to an imaging test -- echocardiography or SPECT -- because there's more and more recognition of false negatives on treadmill EKG alone. If the treadmill is positive, you'll be sent for imaging anyway because it gives more data. If the treadmill is negative but symptoms continue, you'll be sent for imaging. I'm guessing that a treadmill test will be about $300, where SPECT would be about $800. You are balancing $800 vs $1100. >> >> days, though. What about Persia and Peaches? >> > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] >treadmill test will be about $300, where SPECT would be about $800. You >are balancing $800 vs $1100. Because of my history of heart trouble, my cardiac stress tests have generally involved using a drug to dilate the blood vessels, rather than actual exercise. I agree that a stress test may well be necessary in order to diagnose whether the pain is cardiac-related. Other than my first time (when I was having an actual heart attack), my resting EKG scans have looked normal even when I was feeling angina. If whatever test they do shows inadequate circulation around the heart, they will probably want to do an arteriogram, where a catheter is fed in through the femoral artery (the main artery of the leg) to the vicinity of the heart, and dye is put into the bloodstream so that the doctors can see the blood vessels on X-ray screens. If the problem turns out to be one that needs angioplasty (where a "water balloon" is used to expand a blocked artery) or a stent (a variation of angioplasty where a small metal-mesh cylinder is left behind to keep the artery open), it will be done as part of the arteriogram procedure. From my experience, if an arteriogram, angioplasty, or stent implantation is done, you can probably count on being in the hospital for 24 hours or so after the procedure, before they send you home. The usual point of insertion for a heart cath is at the top center of the thigh where it joins the groin, as this gives a fairly straight approach to the heart with a minimum of corners to have to fit the catheter around. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria Lots of purrs on the way. SignatureVictor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com >Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly >thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > >Jill Please do go to the doctor soon. This sounds very much like angina. If it is, indeed, angina, catching it before it becomes a full-blown heart attack will both be better for your health and also possibly reduce the amount of medical intervention (and thus expense) required. Incidentally, my typical angina symptoms include pain in the right side of my jaw. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly >thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >Tennessee Williams fans out there). Looks like I'm in for a fun summer >along with everyone else! Why Laura Wingfield! Where have you been keeping yourself?? ("Glass Menagerie" is currently on Broadway ;)) Aw Jill, what an assortment of PITAs. Purrs for courage and strength, and so that shoulder thing just goes away! Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com I have shoulder pain too. It got so bad I couldn't my arms as well as I used to. My doc referred me to physiotherapy and told me to take anti inflammatory pills. It took over a year of physio for me to get better. She used hot pads, ultrasound massage, laser, and some electric. Right now the PT is doing accupunture on me which really helps. I am also going to a massage therapist. My problem arises from tense muscle resulting from poor posture. Spending long hours in front of a computer can do that to you. I may have to invest in a good ergonmic computer chair. So please get your shoulders checked out. I am also unemployed and ran out of unemployement insurance. I have to pay all these expenses myself as they are not covered by the government health insurance. But I don't want to end up unable to lift my arms. Winnie > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Jill > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Jill Purrs coming that it's nothing serious and that it doesn't kill you financially. Hugs, CatNipped > So I need to go to the doctor; I know I do. Good luck. I hope they're quick to figure out what's wrong and that the solution is relatively easy. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > -- > I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off. I ended up with a neck pain so-o-o-o bad once, that I was unable to turn my head and was walking around with my shoulders "shrugged". I managed to drive home (eeep) and told DH to take me to the clinic (we have a couple of clinics here, one on east side one on west side, that take in people with minor injuries, aches, pains, colds & whatnot - so that the hospital's emergency room doesn't get flooded with the "I stubbed my toe" people and the more serious injuries (car wrecks & stuff like that) can be tended to in a more efficient manner, They also to sports-injury rehab & therapy). Doc checked my eyes, walked behind me, rubbed my neck & asked if that hurt. I said no, it feels good, can you do that for about another hour? Turns out I had a "tension headache" in the back of my neck, and the pain was causing me to "shrug" up my shoulders to try to releive the pain, but instead it caused more pain.... and so on & so forth. He prescribed pain killers with muscle relaxant (Tylenol with codein in it), gave me a note to miss the next 2 days of work (yay) and sent me on my merry way. Went home, took the meds, got DH to give me a nice neck/shoulder massage and fell asleep. Pain was gone the next morning, but did I go back to work???? HAH!!! Not with a Doc's note, I'm not! SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)© email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > -- > I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off. Jill - If you do have to check in to the hospital - let me know & I will try to keep the group updated. SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)© email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly > thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > days. Not sharp, just always there. Sometimes it's a really nagging > ache. If the increase in pain occurs with increased physical activity, this is not something you can ignore. It's also not clear what it is if it's always there. Regular angina increases with effort and goes away with rest, although there is something called Prinzmetal's Variant or Rest Angina, which goes away with exercise. An actual heart attack (myocardial infarction) will hurt and get steadily worse. What you are describing could be one of several things, and indeed including an irritated nerve. It could also be a relatively mild inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart (pericarditis). It might even be something in your stomach, which also can sometimes trigger shoulder pain. > Even when it's not, I'm now always aware it's there. It's not just a "oh > I [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Tennessee Williams fans out there). Looks like I'm in for a fun summer > along with everyone else! AHA! Pleurisy can lead to pericarditis, or have a similar presentation. > Where's Persia... I need a soft kitty to hug :) Purrs, hugs, and get thee to the hoomin vet RIGHT NOW. >Most if not all of you know, I lost my job in April, 2004. Shortly >thereafter, as a former military dependent and USAA member I discovered I [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > >Jill {{{Jill}}} I'm not a soft kitty, but I hope that helps ;-) I'm sorry you're feeling bad. Purrs that insurance will come through and all will be well for you. Ginger-lyn Home Pages: http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/ http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy) http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against Animals in Movies Website) > Among other things, I have a history of pleurosy ("blue roses" for any > Tennessee Williams fans out there). Looks like I'm in for a fun summer [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > -- > I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off. First, purrs that the shoulder/Arm pain is not a heart attack waiting to happen. I do second everyone's urging to go to the doctor, though, especially the very knowledgeable Howard. I agree, it's the pits to wonder if a few doctor visits will give you a serious financial set back, but sometimes, you just have to go in and get things checked out. Doing that now will almost certainly cost less than hospitalization after a heart attack. Secondly, Purrs that the medical coverage will be there when you need it, if you do have heart trouble. ((Hugs, and hug Persia, too.)) Melissa |
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