This Year is Our Year for Success!
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Pam, that’s wonderful to have the legal stuff behind you. Does the settlement cover medical expenses and still leave something for you? I would hope so. After all the other driver put you through, you deserve money for pain and suffering.
I haven’t made out well with PT at all. I spoke to the receptionist yesterday and she told the local facility only had one therapist and current patients haven’t discharged as rapidly as they thought they would. When I went there a couple years ago, they had 3 therapists and sometimes I went to their other facility where several other therapists worked. She also said patients no longer are guaranteed the same therapist because of staff shortages. They probably wouldn’t get to me before October or November. Based on that I’ll wait and do the therapy in FL where I did hand therapy. It’s pretty disappointing.
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Helene, that’s disappointing that the PT options are so poor in your area. Hopefully you can get in soon after you arrive back in Florida and get a good therapist.
After paying the attorneys’ fees, expenses, and repaying Medicare and my supplemental carrier, I will end up with about half of the proposed settlement amount. It’s a low to mid 6-figure settlement and it will help us a lot, especially if DH requires memory care at some point in the future. That’s the main reason I kept holding out for a better settlement.0 -
That’s wonderful that you will be able to put the expenses behind you and have the funds to get on with your life. It’s too bad you had to wait so long for the case to be settled.
We choose to live on the Cape because it’s such a beautiful area. It makes any kind of specialized medical care difficult. Many specialists have offices near Boston and come to the Cape one day a week. DH has a dermatology appointment in November which was booked in July. His primary care doctor was concerned about a spot on his head which may be a skin cancer. He needed another type specialist 2 years ago and the wait was 5 months.Short of moving, there’s nothing one can to decrease the wait.
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DH got a call yesterday from PT about his referral. It was to the original facility where my referral went. I had my Dr do a new referral for me because I’d rehabbed there before. Then I found out they had no openings for new patients. DH had used the other facility about 12 years ago after breaking his heel. He was able to schedule a series of appointments in October. I asked to speak to the scheduler and asked if she still had my referral. She did and was able to schedule me for a series that are either at the same time as DH’s or a 30 minute wait. I told her what happened at the other facility. She’d heard they had staff shortages. I’m pleased that I’ll be able to do the therapy before we head to FL. One funny thing is the two places are a five minute drive from each other and they’re only 10 minutes from home.
Maryanne, how’s your PT going? Are you able to drive or does DH have to take you?0 -
Helene -There is NO question in my mind that physical therapy just isn't what it used to be. And apparently no one wants to admit that or say "sorry, but this is how it is today".
My sessions are lasting about 50 minutes and most of that time I'm off on my own doing whatever exercise is next with no one watching my form or anything else. I'm not really sure it's worth Medicare's dollars.
DH is still driving me. I drove myself to the ATM the other day with no issues but I'm enjoying having his help; especially since parking at this p/t place is SO much worse than the last time I went.
I plan to start feeding again next Friday. Between that and having a large check I need to deposit, I will definitely be back in the car. Time to suck it up, ignore the pain, and get back into life!
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Pam -I'm glad you got something more than bill repayments for your pain and suffering. As you said you'll be needing it.
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Well, speaking of pain and suffering … early this morning I fell and hit the top of my left foot really hard on the hardwood floor. It hurt really bad, but I eventually made it back to bed and was eventually able to sleep. When I tried to get up, the pain was excruciating, so DH took me to the ER to get it X-rayed. I was sure I had broken some bones. It was swollen and starting to turn purple. After X-rays and a head CT I was sent home. I don’t have any broken bones, but do have a deep contusion (bruise) on my foot. No real treatment recommended other than RICE - rest, ice, compression, and elevate it. I was very relieved that I don’t have any broken bones, but it is extremely painful when I put weight on it and I’m too old to hop on one foot to get around! We may have to unearth my knee scooter from when I broke my ankle 9 years ago. Currently it’s in our storage unit and not easy to access.
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Oh, Pam, ouch! I'm glad you don't have any broken bones, too, but I'm sure you could live without the pain.
Today is 7 weeks after my hip replacement surgery and I never dreamed how much pain I would still be in at this point. I've ditched the cane, started driving, and plan to start feeding again this week, but I could live without the pain, especially at night.
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My foot is a lovely shade of purple with some swelling, but walking is getting much easier and less painful. I’m using DH’s cane for now and it helps a lot. This morning I had the first of 3 procedures to help with my lower back pain. The one today and the next one are epidural shots to the nerve the doctor thinks is transmitting the pain signals to my brain. I’m keeping a detailed pain journal for the next 3 days to validate whether it helped. I see the doctor again on Thursday and then presumably will schedule the next one, which is a repeat of today’s procedure to confirm that it is the right nerve. If all goes according to plan, the final procedure will be a nerve ablation which should provide relief for about 6 months or more.
I leave Monday for 5 days at Rosemary Beach in Florida. Thank goodness my foot is improving fairly rapidly — I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to go and I was really looking forward to it!
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Pam, what a scary thing falling is. As bad as your foot is, at least it’s not broken. Take the cane with you on your trip just in case you need it. Who are you going with? Girls’ trip?
DH and I start dental work this week. I’m having a crown and he needs fillings. I think I might have a chipped tooth. I have something between 2 teeth that I haven’t been able to get out with floss. I’ll find out what it Tuesday. If it’s a chip, bet I need a separate appointment for that.
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Helene, I hope your dental issues are easily resolved. I recall that during Covid I chipped a small piece off of one of my bottom front teeth. My dentist was able to bond a little bit of filler to smooth out the chipped spot. I can’t even tell which tooth it was now. Hopefully yours will be as easy to fix as mine was.
My foot is still very sore but I am finding it a little easier to walk on it. I’m still using the cane some of the time and plan to take it with me for the trip. I requested a wheelchair for the airport because it’s a very long walk from the curb to the departure gates. My trip is with 3 of my favorite women friends. Two live here and the third moved to the DC area 4 years ago, so we are excited to get to spend some time with her. I’m all packed and as ready to go as I can be at this point, although I keep thinking of last minute items to add to my bag.
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I’m having a wonderful time in Rosemary Beach with my friends. We’ve enjoyed the sun and sand, and eaten at 3 fabulous restaurants so far. We’ve enjoyed the have 1 more day to enjoy here before heading home tomorrow.
I was very saddened to hear about the school shooting yesterday in Evergreen, CO. That is the town where my SIL lives with her son and his family. Their 2 young kids were briefly in lockdown at their elementary school until their mom was able to get them and take them home. I can only imagine how scary that must have been for them. When will it end?
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Pam - SO sorry about your foot but glad you were still able to make and enjoy the trip!
Helene - what a PiTA that all sounds like - I don't enjoy the dentist on the best of days
8 1/2 weeks post surgery, I'm still in pain but walking without a cane. I had my first hair appointment today which made me feel much better, at least psychologically!
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I got back home last night after a wonderful trip and fun time spent with 3 very good friends. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, drank more than I normally do, and ate lots of really good food. I was ready to come home on the last day, so I think we hit just the right balance of days. My foot kept me from doing some of the things I would have liked to do, but overall not too bad. And my friends were very sweet about modifying some of the things we did so that I could participate, as well as helping me at the airports. I got wheelchairs at the airport and the wheelchair escorts were wonderful about helping me as well. One even returned the key fob to our rental car for me after I accidentally took it with me after turning in our rental! The house we stayed in had an elevator, which was a huge help with my foot and the bad knees of one of my friends — after we figured out how to use it. It was a little finicky and you had to do everything in exactly the right order and do it quickly or you’d have to start over. But the management team was very responsive and as soon as we let them know we were having issues they came right over to check it out and make sure it was operating correctly and give us a tutorial on how to use it. They even gave us a free late checkout because of the issues we’d had with the elevator and the key lockbox. I’d definitely go back and rent from them again.
Maryanne, I’m glad you are making progress and starting to feel more like yourself. I hope you’re glad you did the surgery and seeing some benefit from it. One of the ladies on my trip is also named Maryanne, and she’s had both knees replaced as well as both hips. And now her husband is needing one hip replaced and will need the second within the next year as well.
Helene, I hope your dental issues aren’t too severe. I’m blessed to have very good teeth, but I still dislike going to the dentist.
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Pam - I'm SO glad you had a great trip!
So far I'd have to say I'm NOT glad I had the hip replacement. My focus right now is on trying to learn to live with the pain. I keep reminding myself that I am back to living my life, which is great, even though I have more pain than I had before the surgery. Maybe I'll be wrong and the pain will eventually recede but I can't keep focusing on it. Life's too short!
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Maryanne, I’m so sorry your pain hasn’t decreased! I hope more time will see improvement. Are you still doing PT for it?
I had the second diagnostic procedure on my back this morning. If all goes well I will have the final procedure in about 2 weeks, and should experience at least 6 months of pain reduction for the pain I have in my lower back. And on Monday I am having surgery on my left foot to remove the Morton’s Neuroma that has plagued me since I broke the ankle on that side 9 years ago. It seems all DH and I do is go the various doctors. It’s a rare week without at least 3 medical appointments between the 2 of us. Once we get the back and foot issues resolved that will decrease, hopefully.
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The dentist did the bonding process on my chip, after she removed the decay. Half of the appointment was wasted on my non-existent high BP. In between that, the dentist was telling me she and the assistant were bickering about some texts they exchanged the previous day. Both women were Indian and some aspects of their religion were mentioned. I ended siding with the dentist. You really can’t judge someone’s intentions by text without seeing facial expressions and vocal tone. The dentist said the assistant misinterpreted something that was meant as a joke.
She told me I need 2 crowns. The one I had the appointment for is more critical. The first open appointment is in January when I’ll be in FL. I may end up getting that one done in FL. I can put off the second one until next summer.
Pam, your trip sounds wonderful. After this last year, you probably needed it. That’s terrible about the cO school shooting. With everything that happened that day, news coverage has dropped that story. Are the wounded students okay?
Maryanne, that terrible about the increased pain. Have you talked with the doctor and therapist about this? There may be treatments that could help if they know what you’re experiencing.0 -
I hadn’t posted in a while. My phone was showing battery failure so I took it to Best Buy. Replacing the battery was an all day process because Apple makes working on IPhones difficult. I paid $75 for the new battery and planned to have the phone back next day. They did diagnostic tests and found several things were corrupted. My screen had been freezing up and the only recourse was to reboot. They contacted Apple and I got a new reconditioned phone. It took a few days to arrive. The only downside was I have to restore my apps. I only realize one is missing when I go to use it. That’s what happened here.
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I had a busy week of medical appointments and procedures. I’ve had 2 nerve blocks in my back in preparation for a nerve ablation in a couple of weeks. This will hopefully give me some relief from the lower back pain I’ve had for years. The nerve blocks are diagnostic procedures to make sure the right nerve is being targeted for the ablation and provide only very temporary relief. The ablation should provide relief for at least 6 months or longer. And tomorrow I’m having surgery on my left foot to remove the Morton’s Neuroma that’s been has been causing me foot pain since my broken ankle over 9 years ago. And then there were DH’s medical appointments as well. All of my socializing now seems to be done in doctor’s offices!
Helene, I’m glad your dentist was able to address some of your issues. It must be challenging to get work done with your schedule of being in one location only half the year. Your dentist must be very busy to not have any openings sooner than January!
I haven’t heard any more about the Colorado shooting victims, either. I’ve been so busy I haven’t spoken with my SIL this week for an update. The last time we spoke she said one was in critical condition and the other had been upgraded to serious, but that was a week ago. The town of Evergreen as well as Denver had thrown together a number of events for the kids and families to help distract from the event and my niece and nephew were enjoying them. They went back to school on Monday.
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Pam - I hope going through all that gives you relief from the pain!
My physical therapist did an evaluation and said she was torn between setting me loose and cutting me back to one day a week. We opted for the one day a week for now. P/T is just NOT what it used to be. Most of it consists of going up to a table where a teenager looks at a list, tells you "go do this exercise", briefly reminds you what that exercise is if you ask, and then sends you off to do it. No one monitors to see if you're doing it right. Almost nothing is hands on. Not only does it almost feel useless but I think (a) insurance and Medicare are really being scammed and (b) these kids have the most boring job I can imagine. My therapist seems good and I think in a better facility she could really do something for people.
Helene - those dental issues do NOT sound like fun. I've been going to the same dental practice since the 80's. I'm a terrible dental phobic and this practice still uses nitrous oxide which I appreciate. The practice has changed over from dad/uncle to son/nephew but otherwise is mostly unchanged.
We recently had HUGE problems with Verizon, not completely resolved yet, and at the same time both purchased new cell phones so at the moment we have a sort of working landline and four cell phones. We're afraid to cancel the two old verizon cell phones for fear of upsetting the account again. Eventually we'll have to.
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The problem with all medical-dental services here is a lack of qualified staffing. DH and I use different hygienists and his had rotator cuff surgery. He had to see the third hygienist and she was working patients in between her regular patients. It took him forever to get appointments. Her operations were over the course of a year. She may have come back to work between them but since he went every 6 months, maybe he hit between her medical leaves. He made a dermatology appointment in July and the first opening was November.
DH’s primary care doctor is Eastern European. He had her 3 years and at his last visit she said her contract wasn’t renewed. He’ll be assigned another doctor. I wonder if it was an immigration issue. Considering the doctor shortage here, nothing else makes sense.
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Maryanne, are there any other PT practices you can be referred to? You’ve received substandard treatment. I would complain to your surgeon and ask for another referral. Even if you have to drive further, it would be worth it. If you’re on FB, ask if anyone has had a good experience with PT practices in your area. I got 3 months of therapy for my hand injury. We did 2 times a week for about 5 weeks and then went to once a week. I probably could have done another couple weeks before discharge but it was time for me to go north. When I had PT for knee pain, we started with heat therapy, proceeded with exercises and then went to therapist massaged my leg. I’d finish on a bike and then my knee would be iced. Both experiences sound nothing like your treatment.
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Dental hygienist:
I hope all the time that my dental hygienist doesn't retire. I've learned the hard way that requests to change an appointment can't be honored; she's just too good/busy!
PCP:
I finally fired my PCP of many years (way overdue) and my new PCP is originally from Baghdad. She's excellent; speaks perfect English; I sure hope she's permanently in the US.
P/T:
My orthopaedic surgeon is an owner in the practice and thus in the p/t facility. The PA I see is married to one of the physical therapists. So both just spout the party line of "our facility is wonderful". If I thought I needed more I'd look around but I'm off the cane now and other than pain, life is back to normal. If I need p/t in the future I definitely will "shop". Unfortunately the places I went before no longer exists which I suspect tells me something about the state of p/t.
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I haven’t posted in awhile. We’ve been busy with medical stuff for the last couple of weeks. A week ago on Monday I had surgery to remove the Morton’s Neuroma in my left foot. We had several other medical appointments that week as well. Yesterday DH had the first diagnostic nerve block in his back (same procedure I had about a month ago), and today I had a nerve ablation in my lower back in hopes of relieving some of my back pain. It’s not a good thing when the receptionist and all of the nurses at the surgery center know you by name as soon as you walk in!
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How did the foot surgery go? Are you in pain? I hope both you and DH get relief from the nerve blocks.
Maryanne, it seems like a conflict of interest for the surgeon to push you towards his PT facility. An then the treatment sounds barely adequate. What can they do for your pain? Can they refer you to a pain specialist? You shouldn’t have to just live with it.
We start PT for balance next week. DH went to this facility 10 years ago after breaking his heel. They expanded and moved into a new facility since then. I hope they do a good job.
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I am having some discomfort from the foot surgery, but it’s mainly related to the stitches pulling. I wouldn’t want to try to walk any long distances right now, but in general it isn’t very painful. My procedure yesterday has definitely improved my back pain, so that’s very encouraging. They said it could take several weeks to see a difference. I’ll have the second ablation in two weeks on the other side.
Today I have an appointment with my attorney to pick up my settlement check!
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Pam - I'm so sorry to hear about all that! Being older is no joke that's for sure. I'm sure the staff recognizing you is a sign! I'm glad your settlement is finally getting paid out and hopefully done!
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Helene -
Tomorrow's your birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I'll be really curious to hear about your experiences with p/t.
My balance is one thing that did really improve with surgery and p/t.
Having broken the heel on the same side as the hip replacement, I can tell that my gait being off has at times triggered pain anew in that heel (which has always had a degree of permanent disability).
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Happy Birthday, Helene! I hope you have a wonderful celebration.
My back is feeling so much better after having the ablation on one side. I’ll have another on the other side in a week or so, then I hope to be pain free for at least 6 months. And if my foot cooperates, I’m looking forward to getting back to exercising again. I really need that, both for weight control and bone health.
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Pam, do you still get the infusion for developing bone? I’ve forgotten the name of the drug you took. I was supposed to get a bone scan after my June wellness visit. I put off calling and now the first appointment is late December. So I’ll make an appointment when I get back from FL. I wanted to get it done because it took a long time to regenerate bone in my broken finger. And then the bone graft for my implant failed.
I hope you continue to get good healing results for your foot and back.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Hard to believe another year went so fast. We’re going to a friend’s house for a birthday dinner.
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