Dark Shadows
05-16-2010, 05:17 AM
I have come to the conclusion that I need to move in order to get quality medical care. The state of affairs for people with medical needs in the North Bay is bleak. The community clinics are filled with uninsured destitute people who really need to be on some kind of program where they are receiving healthy food and supplements and twelve step programs so they are not ending up in the urgent care department with contagious diseases. If you are eating well and taking care of yourself, your immune system will fight off a contagious disease and you can usually handle it by a couple of days at home on bed rest. But a person who is not getting enough sleep, or the right kind of food / and or is on recreational drugs/tabacco/alcohol is more likely to get really sick putting a burden on the already overloaded health system. Children who are not vaccinated or given proper medical (prenatal/from birth) attention are also more likely to end up in the urgent care clinic. They are also probably the offspring of the aforementioned people who are not eating, sleeping well and on drugs and/or alcohol and/or tobacco. It is really sick to see women with sick babies from poor prenatal care and nutrition carrying around cell phones that cost more than a month's worth of groceries. I also feel nauseated seeing these women shopping in department stores while their children are either screaming at the top of their lungs, or running around wild while their mothers are trying on skin tight jeans and tube tops. Why don't they take their children home and play with them and fix them a healthy meal instead of putting them through the living hell of a department store at 18 months of age?
Back to the subject of healthcare. I have a private PPO medical plan, which means I can go anywhere. However, I find myself going from one end of the county to the other, from the very south end of Marin to the very north end of Santa Rosa to find specialists in my network. There is a real shortage of general practioners who will take most forms of insurance. My rheumatologist doesn't take my insurance and charges me $350 / an office visit. When I need a doctor at night and I call her they tell me she's on call, but she's out of town. She has yet to call me back when I've called her with a problem. I have faxed in my medical records from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle which were quite thorough and final about my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in 2004. They were followed by ten solid years of positive RA tests (SED Rate). She claims I have fibromyalgia because my joints "aren't swollen enough". She never even looked at my records. She's too busy attending dances for forgotten felines and out to pasture rescue animals. If I wanted a vet I'd have hired one. I just got back from Kaiser Foundation Hospital for an allergic reaction and shock. The doctors and nurses there had never heard of my medications for hypertention and allergies. It's like they were caught in some kind of time warp where they only prescribe medications approved since the sixties or tell you to buy things over the counter so Kaiser doesn't have to foot the bill. You now know where not to go to get the latest and greatest medical care. My allergist prescribes a medication that works, it is expensive-but it works-it was only approved by the FDA in late 2009. My cardiologist prescribes two drugs manufactured by Glaxxo Wellcome, they too are very expensive and require prior authorization from my healthplan. But they work, and I have tried many others that don't. I would rather have the latest and greatest drugs thank you, and not risk my health with some doctor that Kaiser keeps in the dark to ensure that their pharm costs stay down. That's barbaric. I can't understand why a medical professional would want to keep themselves in the dark that way-I guess job security is all there is these days and its worth it to some people to give up their professional growth. I'm leaving this awful place and going somewhere (not saying where) that I know the medical care is top rate and the ignorance rate is much lower. You can keep your ayurvedic, homeopathic, aura reading, medical marijuana card carrying remedies, I'll stick with scientifically proven, state of the art medicine. Bye!
Back to the subject of healthcare. I have a private PPO medical plan, which means I can go anywhere. However, I find myself going from one end of the county to the other, from the very south end of Marin to the very north end of Santa Rosa to find specialists in my network. There is a real shortage of general practioners who will take most forms of insurance. My rheumatologist doesn't take my insurance and charges me $350 / an office visit. When I need a doctor at night and I call her they tell me she's on call, but she's out of town. She has yet to call me back when I've called her with a problem. I have faxed in my medical records from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle which were quite thorough and final about my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in 2004. They were followed by ten solid years of positive RA tests (SED Rate). She claims I have fibromyalgia because my joints "aren't swollen enough". She never even looked at my records. She's too busy attending dances for forgotten felines and out to pasture rescue animals. If I wanted a vet I'd have hired one. I just got back from Kaiser Foundation Hospital for an allergic reaction and shock. The doctors and nurses there had never heard of my medications for hypertention and allergies. It's like they were caught in some kind of time warp where they only prescribe medications approved since the sixties or tell you to buy things over the counter so Kaiser doesn't have to foot the bill. You now know where not to go to get the latest and greatest medical care. My allergist prescribes a medication that works, it is expensive-but it works-it was only approved by the FDA in late 2009. My cardiologist prescribes two drugs manufactured by Glaxxo Wellcome, they too are very expensive and require prior authorization from my healthplan. But they work, and I have tried many others that don't. I would rather have the latest and greatest drugs thank you, and not risk my health with some doctor that Kaiser keeps in the dark to ensure that their pharm costs stay down. That's barbaric. I can't understand why a medical professional would want to keep themselves in the dark that way-I guess job security is all there is these days and its worth it to some people to give up their professional growth. I'm leaving this awful place and going somewhere (not saying where) that I know the medical care is top rate and the ignorance rate is much lower. You can keep your ayurvedic, homeopathic, aura reading, medical marijuana card carrying remedies, I'll stick with scientifically proven, state of the art medicine. Bye!