Posts by goldenheron57

wiredtrucker3 said:I was wondering if anyone could recommend a really good private gynecologist over in Washington, D.C.

Thanks

Honestly, that Harni clinic out in Brooklyn is pretty great. It's all women working there and I guess they're all just really wonderful gynecologists!

If your paperwork specifically says Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, then I'd say just head straight there. It doesn't show the exact location on mine, so I'm probably going to swing by the Mayo Clinic instead, since they're open every single day starting at 7:30 AM. My doctor just wrote "microbiology department" on the referral without any other details, so I guess I'll just have to figure it out once I get there.

I’m probably going to head over to the Rockefeller Center office every single day starting at 7:30 AM. Honestly, when I called the Mayo Clinic earlier—and I actually tried calling them twice—they sounded completely lost. Like, they were just totally confused, giving me those "it might be possible, but maybe not" kind of answers. I guess they don't even really know their own protocols or if it's allowed or not, which is just... wow. God bless our healthcare system, I suppose.

Hey, so I just gave the microbiology lab at Rockefeller Plaza 12 a call, and they told me I could just swing by to grab those test tubes starting at 7:30 AM. They actually mentioned they’re open every single day now, not just Mondays and Wednesdays like we thought. I guess I'm wondering, who was it that told you they were only open on Monday and Wednesday?

Rebecca Hall2 said:Okay, so I just got some fresh info... 👍

So, if you've got a referral for microbiology testing, you should probably head over to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at Rockefeller Plaza 12—they actually open up even before 8 🙂)—to pick up all your swabs and test tubes. Then you just take those back to your gynecologist, they'll do the actual swabbing, and you can bring everything back to that same CDC address mentioned above. There’s really no point in going to 16 Arlington Ave anymore because they don't seem to be handling individual requests like that anymore (I honestly have no clue why, and it probably doesn't even matter, but just don't waste your time going there).

The other thing is, if you happen to have two referrals—one for microbiology and one for the outpatient clinic—you can just get everything handled at the hospital all in one go. Apparently, at the Francis Mihaljevic Infectious Disease Center, they only see people on Mondays and Wednesdays, and even then, you have to get there before 7 AM because they only take about 20 patients a day.

Anyway, I'm just sitting here waiting to see how this all plays out. 🤷

Wait, they aren't working there anymore?! Are you sure about that? Did you actually call them or something?

I've been using the Tafen Novolizer inhaler along with Singulair tablets lately. I guess you could say I feel like a whole new person since I started on the Tafen.

So, I went over to the Harni clinic in the East Side area. Honestly, all the gynecologists there are just fantastic. They did my pap smear, an ultrasound, and a full exam $150.

Rebecca Lopez said:So, basically, your OB-GYN just takes a swab, sends it off for testing, and you get your results back in about two weeks. They check for 13 different high-risk strains, and the test itself is about 97% accurate, though if you add a Pap smear into the mix, it goes up to 99%. I guess it's important to remember that a Pap test isn't actually looking for HPV directly, but rather for any cell changes, which might not even show up yet.

Ahaaa, okay. Thanks so much, everything makes way more sense to me now.🙂

So, I was wondering, how does someone actually go about doing the typing part?

All I really know is that Arlington is basically the local public health clinic for the city, whereas Rockefeller acts more like the national CDC.

Betty Nelson4 said:so, my whole experience went like this... I didn't go to my usual private gynecologist because, I don't know, it felt kind of silly to just go in for swabs when I'd already had my Pap, ultrasound, and full exam done at St. Jude's through my physical... anyway, yesterday I finally saw a doctor over on Manhattan (at the General Electric clinic) and they took my swab really quickly and easily, plus I didn't even have to bring my own test tubes since they have them right there in the office, though I did have to drop everything off at Rockefeller Plaza 10 using a referral they gave me... after that, I'm stuck waiting about two weeks before I can head back to see her with the results, and she’ll be seeing me then since I have good supplemental insurance coverage... if I didn't have that, I'd probably have to trek over to Rockefeller myself to pick them up, which honestly feels like such an absurd way to do things.👎

for now I'm just waiting on the results and hoping everything turns out fine👍

thanks 🙂my doctor actually gave me a referral for 16 Arlington Ave instead of Rockefeller.

Amy Bailey39 said:I mean, I'm sure that's exactly how you did it. I actually went through the same thing... I showed up there, grabbed the test tubes, nobody even blinked an eye, took them over to my gynecologist, and then brought them back to them later... and then maybe two weeks after that, I think I had to head back there again to pick up the results.

Honestly, it felt super weird to me too because both my regular doctor and my private OB-GYN told me that’s just how the process works, but then this woman at the CDC in New York was trying to convince me it wasn't possible just because I was seeing a private specialist, even though I actually have a referral (I mean, a private doctor would just take the swabs and charge me a ton of money for it $33). I ended up arguing with her on the phone for like fifteen minutes before she finally gave in and said, okay, fine, you can do it. I don't know... I guess I just don't get what is wrong with people lately?!

So, here’s the deal: I really want to get tested for everything. My private OB-GYN told me that getting a Pap smear would cost me about $500 unless I could somehow get a referral from my insurance. So, my primary care doctor finally gave me a referral to go to 16 Arlington Ave. The plan was basically for me to head over there, grab some paperwork, take it back to my regular gynecologist so she can actually perform the tests, and then loop back to the clinic on Arlington Ave with the results. It all seemed pretty straightforward to me, I guess, until I called the clinic yesterday. They were being so difficult and acting like I was asking for something impossible, which led to me getting into this whole 15-minute argument with them. Eventually, the woman on the phone just sort of gave in and said, "Fine, whatever, you can do it." Honestly, the whole thing just left me feeling totally confused!

Hey everyone.
I was just wondering if any of you have ever had a Pap smear done to check for HPV, chlamydia, aerobic bacteria, or mycoplasma? I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole process and could really use some insight. Thanks so much!

So, my sister pointed me toward Mercy Hospital, but she totally blanked on telling me which specific department I actually need to talk to, and now I'm stuck trying to call them ahead of time. I’ve been scrolling through their website for ages, but I can't find any mention of an allergy clinic or anything like that. I guess I'm just kind of lost on which unit this would even fall under, but I really need to get ahold of someone there soon.

Does anyone happen to know where I can go to get blood tests done for CRP and ESR levels? Like, which hospital or specific department should I be looking for? Thanks a million!