Looking for a specialist...

I can honestly give you a glowing recommendation for Dr. Miller over in downtown Chicago. He performed my mother's surgery, and our family truly couldn't say enough good things about him, both for his incredible bedside manner and his sheer surgical expertise...

They both work at the same medical practice.

darkpuma5 said:I still can't wrap my head around why someone needing surgery has to chase down ten different tests at various hospitals all over the city. Why can't they just admit you to the hospital and handle everything there? They can charge for it, sure, but this runaround is costing my whole family more in stress than any bill would. I'll never understand how our healthcare system works.

Thanks, doc! 🙂

In my opinion, you should pick your surgeon or hospital first, book the consultation, and then just follow their lead.
From what I've seen, if you go through the trouble of doing a mountain of tests all over town and then finally show up to a specialist at a place like Mayo Clinic, they’re probably going to make you redo every single one of them anyway!
Doing it that way is just a huge waste of time.
You could definitely get everything done at once through a private clinic, though the big question is just how much that's going to set you back.

jadesailor14 said:I honestly think you should pick a surgeon or a hospital first, book a consultation, and then just follow their lead.
In my experience, if you spend all this time running tests at every single clinic in the city and finally end up seeing a surgeon at, say, Mayo Clinic, they’re probably going to make you redo everything anyway.
You're basically just wasting your breath and time.
Sure, you can get everything done privately, but the real question is how much that's going to drain your bank account.

We already had a consultation with one surgeon, and man, he was incredibly rude the whole time. He gave us a list of tests we need to do, but then added that because of my mom's allergies, she can't get everything done at one facility since no single hospital here handles every specific test! He basically told us to just go schedule them ourselves at different hospitals, and once we've managed to get it all done, then come back to him and an anesthesiologist for a second opinion. As for him? Well, he said since he's "overworked," we could just go see someone else entirely. So now we're stuck running around doing these tests exactly how he ordered, which is honestly the worst part!

Good grief, it's not like we're supposed to be playing doctor and deciding which tests to take! 🙂
To be honest, our family isn't exactly big fans of the hospital system either. 🙂

Sunshine_81 said:Good grief, you guys can't just make up your own search terms on the fly! I actually tried doing that once when I was looking for a specific tool at Home Depot, and let me tell you, it was a total disaster. Stick to the plan! 🙂

My bad! I totally slipped up there. Hope you can forgive me!
I don't think you are, honestly! I mean, who knows? I'm sure you're doing just fine.
I could really use some help here! I might have to start my search all over again, and honestly, the clock is ticking.
Honestly, you could have just pointed them toward a quick Google search! I’ve heard just about everything at this point.
I just saw an NPR report about this! A colleague of mine was actually told by her endocrinologist that if she wanted to get her thyroid hormone levels tested, she had to go to one specific private lab in the city. Can you believe that? It sounds so limiting! 🤣
How would a kid even know all that? They’re just sitting there listening to the doctor while we're out here footing the bill for appointments every other month! $60

Secondhand finds are honestly such a thrill! I recently scored this amazing vintage leather jacket at a local thrift shop, and it feels like finding buried treasure. There’s just something so special about giving an old item a second life.
This past summer, I was staying at the hospital and ended up with a roommate who was actually there for the exact same surgery as me! She was just getting her preliminary tests done before heading into the OR.
I was hospitalized in neurology recently! Within just one week, I breezed through all my tests, had a final sit-down with the surgeon, and got my surgery date scheduled. Now I'm finally back home, just relaxing and waiting for the big day!
She’s actually over at Neurology right now—she was a patient there after having a stroke.
I had a quick visit to Mayo Clinic the other day! It was such a smooth experience from start to finish.

That’s probably why she had the upper hand—because she’d already suffered a stroke. 😢

My mom deals with bad days constantly. Every other day she’s feeling terrible, sometimes she can barely even stand up. But the surgeon was able to jump in immediately and clear out about 90% of her blocked arteries because she hadn't had a major stroke YET. They told her one could happen any day now. If that had happened first, she might have actually had an advantage in terms of urgency. What a nightmare.

Oh yeah, and we were stuck waiting over a month just to get some search results back—and those searches are done EXCLUSIVELY at Mayo Clinic.

Allergist consultations for surgeries? Those are only handled at St. Jude’s, and they take a whole month to schedule.

Honestly, good for her for managing to pull everything together in just one week.

darkpuma5 said:My mom has bad days constantly—sometimes she can barely even stand up. But luckily, the surgeon caught her artery blockage at about 90% before she could suffer a stroke. They told us to expect follow-ups daily. It’s such a scary situation to be in.

That was exactly the case with my relative, too.
She had a blockage that could have caused a stroke, but she knew what was happening and just refused to go in for surgery.
It really goes to show that we can be our own worst enemies sometimes.

Oh man, that sounds intense.
If I knew how, I'd definitely help you out!
Have you tried seeing a neurologist? Maybe try getting an appointment through the Mayo Clinic.
The department head there actually runs a private practice, so maybe you could try to get in through her to navigate the system.
Once you get things moving, hopefully, it'll all start looking up.

My dad is also allergic to absolutely everything—it's crazy, he's even allergic to standard IV fluids (believe it or not!).
He ended up having his surgery at Mayo Clinic last winter.

jadesailor14 said:it was just like that with my roommate too

Maybe try seeing a neurologist? Honestly, maybe look for someone over at Mount Sinai
The department head there actually runs a private practice, so if you can get an appointment through her, you might actually get somewhere in the system.
Once they get you moving, things usually start clicking into place.

We went to see a neurologist together at Mount Sinai. They did their thing and told us we needed to see a surgeon next. Then the surgeon sent us off for more tests before scheduling a follow-up. Sadly, they didn't really give us any helpful advice.

How did your roommate handle the surgery? How long was the recovery? Any complications? Do you happen to know who performed the procedure?

darkpuma5 said:How did your roommate handle her surgery? How long was the recovery period? Any complications? Do you happen to know who her surgeon was?

Honestly, I don't know any of those details!
We just hung out in our room while she was getting all her tests done, both of us just staying busy with our own things.
She’s a lovely lady in her 70s, but we weren't really close enough to hang out outside the hospital, even though she was incredibly sweet!

So, Forest Bridge Optical has this massive deal going on—they’ll give you like 50% off the frames if you go through them for the lenses...

Check out Getaldus too, just for context; they’re easily the most expensive option out there.
If you head over to Old Vlaska, there are about three different optical shops in that area...
Then you’ve got one or two tucked away in the Import Center and the Galleria...
Way up on Drachman Street, there’s another one...
Down on I Street, there are a few smaller spots,
and along Maximillian Avenue, there are a couple more small ones too...

Honestly, I don't know exactly which place is the absolute cheapest—all I needed a few months back was new lenses—but since I had some downtime, I ended up wandering around town for a bit looking. 🙂

Alright, here’s what I’ve got

Since I started seeing them about seven years ago, my prescription hasn't budged an inch, honestly

My doctor is over at the Mercy Hospital clinic—I actually have her cell number if you want, I can shoot it over to you in a DM... and the optician I use is over in the downtown district near the old plaza. She actually nailed my cylinder measurements perfectly two times in a row, so I was able to swap out my glasses right in the middle of the day without any weird side effects or anything😉

When you're getting all those pre-op tests lined up for a "cold" surgery, you usually head over to the local community health centers rather than dealing with the big hospitals directly. Basically, your surgeon hands you a checklist of everything you need, and then you just tackle it all by using your primary doctor's referrals or maybe paying out of pocket at a private clinic if you want to skip the wait.
Honestly, staying overnight at the hospital just for these tests is such a waste of time and money.

I am in urgent need of an exceptional dentist—someone truly top-tier—as I’ve heard rumors that they are quite outstanding. While attending dental school. I was wondering how one actually goes about registering for dental services there, seeing as I don't currently have a dentist in Los Angeles—to be precise, I've never officially been registered with anyone. Does anyone have a recommendation on who to see and why? Also, is it better to go through private practice or stick with the standard insurance coverage provided by the state?
I’ve also heard some positive things regarding the dental clinic over on Main Street, so I’m curious to get some insight into their services as well... thanks.

Wait, I can't quite remember—was it Dubravko Čuvalo's son or his dad?

Does anyone happen to have a recommendation for a truly reliable endocrinologist in the Miami area? I would be so incredibly grateful for any leads you could share.😘

Dana Cruz3 said:Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable endocrinologist in the Los Angeles area? I would truly appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks!😘

If you're looking for guidance, I’d suggest reaching out to Dr. Vučinović over in Obad. Honestly, you really can't go wrong with him.😉

I’ve got a private dentist, but I also have a file with my local community health clinic.
Does anyone have recommendations for a good dentist through the public system? How was your experience? I’m thinking about switching entirely because the wait times at this clinic are absolutely insane. If you have a go-to private dentist too—please share!
tnx!

Hey everyone, jumping into this thread because I’m actually a dentist by trade. I live and work in Miami now, though I did my training up in New York, so I know a few colleagues in the field who come highly recommended. One colleague I used to see personally while I was still a student—and someone I’d definitely suggest to you all—is Dr. Mirjana Stanić. She’s very reasonable with her pricing, and I trust her implicitly because she’s incredibly diligent and genuinely puts her patients' needs first. Her office is located on Broadway, in that building just to the left of Republic Avenue (if I recall correctly). You can reach her at 555-012-3456 or 555-987-6543. I can vouch for her work personally, whereas for most others I know, I can't speak from experience.

Brenda Alvarez said:I have my own private dentist, but I also have coverage through my employer's insurance plan.
Can anyone recommend a good dentist covered by my insurance? How has your experience been? I'm thinking about switching because my current office is always insanely crowded. If you have any recommendations for a great private dentist too—please let me know!
Thanks!

I’d highly recommend Dr. Mirjana Stanić. If I remember correctly, her office is somewhere on Main Street near the intersection of Republic Avenue. She’s actually a colleague of mine, and she handled all my dental work back when I was living in Chicago. She isn't expensive, and she’s incredibly responsible—she truly puts her patients first. You can reach her at 555-012-3456 or 555-019-8765. I don't think there's ever a huge wait because she and her assistant work two shifts, and they are both super attentive and professional. (I can say that with confidence since we're actually good friends!)