Posts by wearymarlin99

As I mentioned, I had my MRI done over at the Mayo Clinic. My experience with Nemetov has been limited to orthopedics, but I’ve been quite happy with them. Actually, the Akromion clinic runs an orthopedic outpatient wing inside Nemetov, which is where I went for my consultation. The staff is friendly and the doctor is solid. Of course, all this comes with a price tag.

Greetings to everyone!

I had an MRI on my knee and lower leg at the Mayo Clinic back in March. Honestly, the waiting lists are a total joke—unless you have some kind of "connection," you're basically stuck.
I recently went to Nemetov for an orthopedic consultation, and since it’s a private clinic, you have to pay out of pocket. From what I gathered while chatting with a nurse there, they don't seem to accept standard insurance referrals for MRIs. She mentioned how expensive the scans are, noting that her cousin is still stuck waiting in line at some public hospital.

Anonymous said:I just got my results back:
S-Calcium is 2.17 (2.15-2.60)
S-phosphorus is 1.00 (0.80-1.45)

PTH - 59.4 (10.0-69.0)

A few months ago, on July 22nd, I had surgery to remove my gallbladder because it was packed with stones. Since I have diabetes, things got complicated after an open surgery, eventually leading to wound gangrene. About a month ago, they finally let the wound start healing. Now I’m wondering—are these results above okay or not? :/

Hey!
Your numbers look fine, so try not to worry too much....🙂

Just to give you a layman's explanation of how to read this...
Those values in the parentheses are the normal ranges. So, for calcium, anything from 2.15 to 2.60 is standard; since yours is 2.17, you're in the clear. It's the exact same story with your phosphorus and PTH levels.🙂

Just wanted to share a cautionary tale about what happened to an acquaintance of mine recently. She went to a hospital in Pittsburgh for a routine wisdom tooth extraction. Instead, the surgeons pulled the wrong tooth—a molar—and even sliced her tongue during the procedure. They had to stitch her tongue up, and now she’s stuck unable to speak or eat properly. It’s been a week of living off nothing but a straw. To make matters worse, she has a little baby at home who needs constant care, which is incredibly difficult right now. I really hope she pursues legal action against the hospital.

Since I've been spending more time in hospitals lately, I figured I'd jump into this discussion...
I'm still pretty young, but my experiences with doctors have been anything but easy.
It seems like physicians in Washington, D.C. are much more accessible than those in smaller towns (like Des Moines or Pittsburgh, for instance). In my case, I was given a completely wrong diagnosis, which is incredibly frustrating.
I noticed some thickening in my lower leg, so I went to see a specialist in Pittsburgh, and he just dismissed it as a simple hematoma.
He checked the box, called it, and told me there was no need for a follow-up because it was nothing to worry about.
Following the advice of my primary care doctor, I spent a month and a half wrapping my leg in an elastic bandage. While that was happening, my muscle weakened, but the thickening stayed right where it was. I reached out to an orthopedist in Washington, D.C., who, after a brief phone call, identified it as a Becker cyst. When I went back to my GP, he actually scolded me and told me I was talking nonsense. After a bit of an argument, he finally gave me the referral I needed to see the specialist.
To make a long story short, I'm headed to Palm Springs on December 2nd for surgery. I need to operate on both my knee and my lower leg to remove the cyst. If I had actually listened to that GP, I would’ve just sat at home thinking everything was fine—and I might be looking at a TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT by now. I'm only 26 years old; I really don't need that.