Posts by boldnomad45

I need to get an EKG done before anesthesia. Does anyone know where in the newer parts of Chicago I can schedule one through Social Security? If I remember correctly, they don't offer it at Siget Health Center, but I might be wrong.

Brenda Alvarez24 said:The schedule?
I already laid out how they handle appointments.
Besides, there's no way I'm calling the main switchboard just to ask something I could easily get an answer to once I actually show up at the clinic.
Do those times work for you? Personally, if something isn't right, I’d just call the doctor directly or swing by the department or the clinic. Or I'd send an email—either to the doctor or straight to the office. That's how it worked at her previous hospital, the one associated with Holy Spirit SF. Patient care, professionalism... it's all missing at Holy Spirit SF.

As it stands, the way things work at Holy Spirit where I go is exactly what I described. I was told that's just how that hospital operates.

I've been there twice. Between the total lack of organization, the 19th-century approach, the rudeness, the incompetence, the negligence, and the amateurism, Holy Spirit SF will never see me again.
By the way, I'm not alone.
A few of us who were transferred from our regular doctor are leaving her because of the sheer lack of professionalism at Holy Spirit SF.
And then that administrator has the audacity to yell at me!
Honestly, I'd love to upload a recording of that conversation to YouTube.

If anyone is actually defending the idea that clinics shouldn't have phones or email, or the absolute stupidity of printing emails at a central desk and carrying them around the hospital... 😵 ... we might as well use carrier pigeons. It's the 21st century, for God's sake. 🤣

I handle everything via email. No calls, no unnecessary trips, and everything works perfectly fine.

Brenda Alvarez24 said:So, Holy Spirit is a total joke of a hospital.

Some incredibly irate woman just yelled at me over the phone. I was just trying to find an email address or a direct line for the outpatient clinic to ask a question—apparently, they don't work like that. No email, no phone.

I’m supposed to send an email to the main switchboard, and then they print it out and physically carry it over to the clinic.

Eee, welcome to the 21st century. At Holy Spirit, they print emails at the central desk and run them around the hospital like it's the 1800s.🙏 🙏

On top of that, there’s no digital record of the tests they perform. So, just send an email, wait for them to print it, and watch them walk it across the hall.🙏

They even told me they couldn't email blood test results; I have to show up in person to pick them up.

The absolute highlight—besides the printing and running errands—is their "system" for booking follow-up appointments for the day clinic. They redirect me to a different clinic entirely, claiming a nurse there handles their scheduling too...

But when I get there, that lady tells me there are no openings.

She says I should call back in a week or two.

Good luck actually getting anyone on the line.

And if they don't call me back, I'm expected to just show up in person to book the appointment.🙏 🙏

I just send an email to the main office, attach the medical history and all the data they need, and eventually, I get an appointment.

Austin King28 said:Hey. I’ve been scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound in two months. Can I try booking at a different hospital, or is my referral stuck with the one where I already made the appointment?

How am I even supposed to figure out the wait times? These waiting lists make zero sense to me.

Or just suggest a good private clinic.

Private options include Agram Hospital or the America Clinic—there's also a spot on Vukovar Street if you're in Washington, D.C.
You can book elsewhere too. Just grab the earliest available slot and cancel the other one.

Patrick Hughes72 said:Hi everyone.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good gastroenterologist in Chicago? I had an excellent one at Rib, but he retired.

Private clinics are fine too. Feel free to DM me.

I'm looking for the same thing. I developed biliary reflux after gallbladder surgery. If anyone happens to know someone in Chicago who actually understands this stuff, I'd be incredibly grateful.
The way things are going, I'm just bouncing from one doctor to another and getting lost in the shuffle. Money is flying out the window everywhere, yet I still don't know what this disease actually is, what's ahead for me, or what kind of life I'll have dealing with it... nobody seems to have anything intelligent to say.

gentlebison82 said:Who can write me a prescription for chronic therapy if my primary care doctor's office is closed tomorrow? I just realized last night that I'm out of blood pressure meds, and now I have no idea who to turn to for a refill. I live in RI.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Reddit

Go to a pharmacy, pay cash, get the meds. Just make sure to bring your medical history; even for long-term stuff, they might be able to look you up in the system.
On Mondays, once your doctor clears the script, they'll refund your money.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Reddit

restlesseagle74 said:So, here’s the situation I just found myself in: my mom went to the dentist yesterday because she had this nasty tooth gangrene, and they told her straight up that if the pain started, she needed to get back there immediately so they could drain it and get her on antibiotics. Well, she didn't go right away even though it was hurting, and she only finally made it in a few hours ago because the pain turned into this intense throbbing and she started feeling incredibly weak. They finally opened the tooth up a little while ago and gave her a dose of Clindamycin, but just a moment ago, she hit a wall—she got super dizzy, nauseous, and her fever spiked above 100 degrees
Since she couldn't even get out of bed, I called emergency services to ask for advice on what to do, but the person on the line basically just told me to monitor her and said that if things don't improve, I should call her doctor to run a COVID test. I asked her point-blank if this could be related to the tooth infection or if maybe bacteria had entered her bloodstream causing sepsis, and she got seriously Irritated with me, telling me—and I am quoting her here—that those aren't symptoms of sepsis. Now, look, I'm actually near the end of my medical studies, so I know damn well those *can* be symptoms, and when I asked her which specific symptoms she was referring to, she just started yelling at me for tying up the line and told me she wasn't going to sit there and take a lecture from me (even though the whole call lasted less than a minute)
Maybe I'm the one who messed up and should have just called an ambulance immediately, but I honestly don't get how a medical professional on the phone can give such blatantly wrong information and then turn around and start snapping at me first
I really hope I'm just overthinking this and it's nothing more than some random virus

What you experienced is a normal reaction when you're terrified for a loved one. You need to call for emergency help. I've been through this several times; you stay quiet and suffer because you don't want to bother people.

Brenda Alvarez24 said:Is there a decent gynecologist at the Siget Community Health Center in New York City?
I was seeing Zivkovic for years, then moved to Doka before he retired. Now, I really don't feel like trekking across the entire city.

I doubt there’s any openings left at Siget.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy A12

Kimberly Ward said:I doubt it happens.

That’s exactly what I was afraid of. I had fully prepared myself to just get it over with.
Who knows how many more gallbladder stone issues I'll deal with while waiting on decent urine results.

Hello,
Female, 44. Non-smoker. Dealing with gastritis and nausea for the last month, and they just found gallstones.
Waiting on gallbladder surgery. It should be scheduled for next week, pending the anesthesiologist's clearance.
Had blood and urine tests yesterday. Results show elevated AST at 48 and ALT at 74, plus high leukocytes and significant bacteria.
Do these AST and ALT levels relate to the gallbladder?
They were normal a month ago.
Also, will the anesthesiologist clear me for surgery with high leukocytes and bacteria present?
Going for a urine culture tomorrow. I'm pretty dehydrated because I haven't been able to drink much water due to the nausea, so that likely explains the bacteria. I have no idea how I'd even manage antibiotics given my stomach issues.
Everything else seems fine. I feel okay, though I've been on a strict diet for a month now.
I'd appreciate some insight on these results so I know whether to expect the surgery to proceed.
My primary care physician thinks the anesthesiologist might deny clearance.
Regards,

I need to schedule surgery for gallstones, laparoscopic.
In New York City, if anyone can recommend the best place to get this done, and which doctor I should book an appointment with.
Thanks

ruggedorca5 said:Having kids would solve it. Then you're living for them.

I would never dream of doing that to children. A child's job isn't to be your source of entertainment. You have them to love them and make them happy—not the other way around. That’s exactly why so many families are broken.
It's such a selfish, fundamentally flawed mindset that it barely deserves an explanation.

.

Alexander Adams94 said:It’s only high-quality connections that actually help with loneliness. Shallow relationships just make you realize how lonely you really are. When it comes to solitude, quantity doesn't mean a thing—it’s all about quality.

Spot on.
But building quality relationships takes time.
Time we simply don't have.
I'm lonely too, constantly dissecting why. I've been this way since I was a kid.
I used to chase that feeling. In my younger years, I'd hang out with anyone who would have me, molding myself to fit everyone else just to have company. Naturally, that made things worse.
Then I tried looking for it in romantic partners.
That turned out to be the worst move. Too much pressure on the other person.
I'm in therapy now. I'm still lonely, but I'm starting to understand that quality connections are the only cure.
The problem is, I don't have the time or the money for that.
I work until 5 PM every single day at a job that drains me dry. By the time I'm done, I have nothing left to offer someone if we were to become actual friends.

There's no budget for weekend trips or anything like that.
What's left is grabbing a drink once or twice a month with the same group of lonely, exhausted, guarded, closed-off people just like me.
We have nothing to connect over. We lead similarly empty, draining lives, so we just talk about work, Netflix shows, or what we'd do if we won the Powerball.

I've been stuck in this loop for years, maybe even my whole life. I'm increasingly afraid I'll spend the rest of my life being lonely even when I'm surrounded by people.
If you met me, you wouldn't think that. I talk to people, I listen, and people enjoy inviting me out for coffee or a beer. But for them, it's just entertainment. For me, I'm just killing time, trying to socialize enough so I don't lose my mind.

Susan Patel55 said:Look, by the time the court actually hands down a ruling, you’ll probably owe double that initial 20 $0.00 once those variable interest rates kick in—not even counting the legal fees and court costs the bank will be footing. We're pulling the trigger on our own case, too. We hired an attorney who already went after the bank for all the paperwork. She’s got it now, and she’s handed everything over to an expert to nail down the exact figure for the lawsuit.

Hasn't the statute of limitations on interest expired yet? I saw someone mentioning it in an AARP group on Facebook.

Peter Palmer said:Look, if $5,000 or $6,000 isn't worth anything to you, then don't bother.

Where did that number come from? My math must be off. We took out a Swiss Franc Loan back in 2007 for $20,000 $0.00. Paid it off over seven years.
The bank sent us the paperwork, and now we're trying to figure out how much we actually overpaid just to see if a lawsuit is even worth it.
Our estimate puts it at roughly $4,000 $0.00. Then there's the lawyer...
What's the right way to calculate this? Are there any decent calculators online?

James Miller2 said:That’s simply because you lack experience in this field.

If you worked a job where phones were ringing off the hook all day long, you wouldn't even consider "phone anxiety" to be a real thing.

How do you even manage your personal business when the mere thought of someone calling or having to answer the phone causes such discomfort?

My phone rings all the time, in English or whatever, but just like the post above, I'll spend way more time on an email—though I'd much rather write one than pick up the phone if I have the choice.
When I'm ordering something... there's this tightness, or maybe it's just a need for control. I feel more in charge via email. A phone call feels like a struggle, a whole process of preparation and such. Email doesn't do that.

And as for how we get things done? I use email, or if a call is absolutely necessary, I just push through it like anything else in life that sucks but is mandatory. It's exhausting and anxious, but I do it.

Maria Price3 said:Go ahead and make fun of me if you want—that’s basically what this forum is for, right?—but honestly, this is a legitimate psychological issue. I’d argue it’s tied directly to social phobia, and in my own experience, it stems from this deep-seated fear of rejection from whoever happens to be on the other end of the line. Whether I'm trying to deal with a customer service rep at a place like Verizon, filing some paperwork with a local agency, or just calling up friends to hang out, my brain starts spinning through fifty different negative scenarios where the call ends up being useless or awkward. It creates this massive amount of internal frustration before I even dial. Most of the time, things turn out fine, of course, but these kinds of irrational fears—even if they seem ridiculous to someone else—are just a fundamental part of living with anxiety.

I get you. For most of my life, I thought I was the only one struggling with this, that I was somehow broken. Eventually, life and work force your hand; necessity makes things easier.
It gets more manageable with age. It doesn't feel as paralyzing as it used to, but if there's an option to handle things via email, I'll take it every single time.
Phone calls still make me uneasy. I hate them, and I always have to mentally rehearse everything beforehand. If I can avoid it, I will. If I can't, I just get it over with.

Carl Brown152 said:Is this still actually happening during all the COVID craziness? Honestly, I’d much rather sign up for an assertiveness workshop—you know, one where you aren't just sitting there talking, but actually getting into some role-playing exercises and stuff.

Great concept, but a tough sell.

Nicole James said:What do you mean by "tinkering with immunity"? By exposing your body to fragments of a virus through vaccination, you're actually introducing the immune system to new pathogens—which is effectively how you strengthen it in the only truly reliable way possible.

My concern is this: if I catch a mild cold from the shot, I still have to go to work, and then I'm an easy target for COVID. I assume your immunity is a bit compromised during those few days?
Plus, nobody can predict how my system will react to a flu shot—I’ve never had one before. It doesn't seem wise to experiment like this given how crazy things are right now.
I work every single day, and I've dealt with sinus issues forever, but I haven't run a fever above 98.6 for about twenty years.
I'm on the fence about getting vaccinated.
I've even had some medical professionals tell me it might be better to skip it.
If I've made it this far without issues, why risk testing it now?
I just don't know.