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What is a person to do?

Posted: May 23, 2013

Got a call from my doctor's office this a.m. Need to come in for my annual. I told them I have no money to do an exam and lab tests. Yes, I do have insurance but I do not make enough to pay a doctor bill and lab bill on what I make. I make too much for sliding scale payments. They were not happy but neither am I. With the amount of money I make, it takes every penny to pay for the necessities such as rent, utilities, food, etc.

I am thankful that I have remained relatively healthy.

;

Maybe I am different but did not have so - called annual exams

[ In Reply To ..]
for years when younger, kids growing up, like you good to have insurance but left overs? I am up in age now and to tell the truth, still don't have annuals, have physicians for PCP, an endocrinologist and go when I need, i.e. refill on meds, etc. I just don't feel they are that necessary.

Yes, they are necessary - see msg pls

[ In Reply To ..]
I do believe they are necessary. Just because you feel okay, does not mean you are okay. As an MT, you surely know that blood work can detect serious issues (many of which you have no symptoms)---high cholesterol, high blood pressure, kidney issues, brewing infection issues, thyroid issues, etc., etc.

My husband used to have your attitude of "I feel fine, so why should I go." I finally made him go and it saved his life. His doctor gave him a routine digital rectal exam and his prostate felt hard. He was only 45, so routine PSA's weren't done on him as yet.

Anyway, they did a PSA and it was 104. You all know that if it's higher than 4, they send you for prostate cancer testing. Anyway, they blasted out his prostate with radiation and hot seeds and thankfully, he's alive. That was 10 years ago, and he goes twice a year now for regular blood work for everything.

We also have a neighbor who didn't feel exams were necessary, and when she started having symptoms of rectal bleeding, she finally went. She was dead within 8 months from rectal cancer, because she didn't think she had to have any kind of exam.

The older you get, the more important it is.

I go to a doctor, several in fact, and I have - some health issues but

[ In Reply To ..]
I do not have a so called "annual exam" and with my going to my PCP, endocrinologist, and orthopedic recently and whenever I want to go (self referral PPO insurance) I myself find it unnecessary to do an "annual." I have visits on an every 3 month basis, enough for me. I did not say exams not necessary- I was talking annual. Being as I have HBP and thyroid issues, I can take care of those when needed.

I disagree - I think everyone is different - One shoe does not fit everyone

[ In Reply To ..]
If you feel they are necessary for yourself then that's one thing. But what may be necessary for you is not necessary for everyone.

If someone feels okay that does not meant they aren't okay. I think many tests are unnecessary.

If a person doesn't feel good, or has a family history of disease then I think they should go see a doctor, but when someone is healthy and feels fine I feel there is no reason anyone should have to go.

Last doctor visit for me was 2 years ago (Pap, etc). I hadn't been to a doc in 2005. I have felt fine all these years so there was no need for me to do annual, but since it had been quite awhile I went and everything was fine.

I think everyone is different. Of course a doctors office will tell you you have to have them every year. That's how they get paid.

I feel if a person feels healthy cannot afford all the tests in my opinion that person can make up their mind whether or not they are necessary.

Not everyone has high cholesterol, BP, kdy issues, etc. That's excellent your husband is healthy now and you feel it necessary to go.

I just feel everyone's case is different. I certainly am not going to spend money I don't have to go for tests I don't need.

At least try to - Get blood work

[ In Reply To ..]
Like we said, just because you feel fine, doesn't mean you are fine. I go for a digital rectal exam every year (like, would I seriously know if there was a tumor?), a pap, a mammo, and blood work.

I felt totally fine, but my liver tests were elevated. I do not drink alcohol heavily. They gave me a CAT scan, and it was found I have fatty liver, which is important to know. You CAN get cirrhosis from fatty liver. Anyway, it made me change a few things in my life.

I agree that everyone is different, but it doesn't support the "I feel fine, so nothing is wrong" statement.

Agree with you. - Try to get the basic stuff.

[ In Reply To ..]
My dad rarely went to the doc's, no issues. Developed frank hematuria (still felt fine) and was gone within a year from metastatic renal cell carcinoma. I still sometimes get angry at him about this years later because a simple urine test which resulted in microscopic hematuria just might have saved him. Yes, the cost of labs and exams is outrageous, but IMHO, catching things too late costs even more--financially, physically and emotionally. (Off my soapbox now.)

One shoe does not fit everyone - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with you. Many physicians feel that the old-fashioned "annual physical" is not needed. I see an orthopedist occasionally because in my younger years I was very active in intense sports (tumbling, baseball, fancy diving and yes, even football!). So I have had some injuries along the way. If I have a specific ortho issue, I have an orthopedic surgeon. I also have an internist, whom I rarely see. Each person should make her/his own choices, but don't forget--docs and labs make money from every test that is done. There are many tests done that are not necessary. I once had a doc who thought I need a bronchoscopy. He was called away from the city on a family emergency and the appointment was canceled. By the time he returned, I was better. A little tincture of time did the trick. Of course, if you suspect something or if you feel you need to go, go. I just personally am not going to buy into the overtesting gig.

I am 48, never had a mammogram, never will - - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't have annuals anymore either. Haven't had a PAP in 3 or 4 years. I don't get blood work done. I only go to the doctor if something is serious. If I get cancer, I get cancer. And I wouldn't get treatment for it either. I would never start removing things from my body because I have a "chance" of getting it no matter how great. My dad died from lung cancer, both grandmothers from cancer, my sister had cervical cancer, my youngest daughter had it at 16, so good chance I will get it, but so be it. If I have high cholesterol and my arteries are clogged, I will eventually know that too. My mom's cardiologist recently went to China and is one of the few outsiders ever allowed into a specific hospital to observe. They practice medicine very different over there and said we test too much. They feel that 75% of all tests done here are not necessary. That our doctors don't know the body - just science and numbers. He was with the top cardiologist over there and that doctor did an exam. Told him what he saw and what he felt the treatment should be - not one single test, not one medication. I look at it this way... when it's my time, it's my time. Especially with cancer, there is absolutely no way I would put myself or my family through stringing out the inevitable and watch me suffer and wither away. Death is a part of life.

Not everyone with cancer withers away - know for a fact

[ In Reply To ..]
As my mother at first had endometrial cancer and from looking at her you could not tell she suffered from it much less was going to die because of it but she did eventually. Far from withering she retained her weight and she was overweight to start with and never lost the weight with the cancer.

Did you not - see msg above?

[ In Reply To ..]
...that my husband would be DEAD now if he had not had a routine digital rectal where they felt his prostate. It was hard as a rock. They gave him radiation, hormone therapy and seed implants, and he is alive today, years later, only because we caught it in time.

Did you also not see the message above where a woman was dead within 8 months of finally getting a rectal tumor diagnosed? Had she simply had a digital rectal once every year or two, she would be alive and not suffered in the manner in which she did. She had had some signs of rectal bleeding, but SHE decided it was just hemorrhoids and blew it off for years. I would have high-tailed it to the doctor's office at the first sign of blood.

I would agree that there are many unecessary tests (obviously because so many people sue if the doc didn't catch something), but basic blood work and preventive minor exams (like the digital rectal for men and women,and internal for a woman along with a Pap) go a long way.

You are equating cancer with automatic surgery. Not so. And if surgery is needed and can save my life so I can enjoy my loved ones, then I am taking it.

Trust me, you will suffer much more and longer if you have a cancer and don't have it treated in some form or another.

I love my life and those around me, and anything I can do to be around longer, I will do.

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