Maggie's recent absence from this blog has been due to a health problem, but she is on the mend and will be back to blogging right after Thanksgiving.
Health Beat by Maggie Mahar
Maggie's recent absence from this blog has been due to a health problem, but she is on the mend and will be back to blogging right after Thanksgiving.
Hope your recovery is going well. Will you be returning to your column Part 2 regarding where seniors who are affected by the demise of Harvard Pilgrim Advantage age likely to find the best alternative? Thanks.
So sorry to hear you’re not feeling well, Maggie.
My thoughts and prayers are with you for a speedy recovery.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Speedy recovery and Happy Thanksgiving!
Maggie,
I hope you are better soon from your health problem. I was wondering if your health problem had you dealing with the healthcare system? If so, do you find that traumatic knowing what you do about the potential overtreatment involved in our system as well as the lack of value and lack of transparency as to truly effective treatments. I know I have that fear whenever I have to deal with our system, and I wish it could be a more trusting experience, but up to now, it is not!
Thanks for letting us know. You’ve been missed. Get well soon.
Best Wishes Maggie!
Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
Pancea– Yes, I can be a bit sketpical about doctors. But the first doctor I saw is someone I have known for a long time and absolutely trust. He both kind and highly skilled.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t treat the problem On Thursday, he recommended two specialisst who, it turned out, werent’ available on a Friday.
On Friday,I went to a specialist recommended by a dcctor who is a friend.
Not so good .(A well-mea ing young doctor who greatly increased the pain by poking around, He didn’t give me enough pain-killer and then expalined that he couldn’t do what needed to be done–I needed to go to a different type of specialist.
He did get in touch with my first doctor who recommended two doctors in that specialty.
Since it was Friday, I couldn’t see either of them until Monday.
Monday, the specialoist my first doctor recommended was excellent–treated me, gave me adquate pain-killer, and a few days later, I was feeling better.
Bottom line–it would be helpful if more docs worked in multi-specialty clnics (I probably could have seen the specialist I needed to see the first day.)
And in med school, all doctors should learn more about pain. The second doctor was, as I said, well-meaning, but had no idea how much idea how much pain I was experiencing when he touched me roughly. (I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but I literally jumped toward the ceilng, and he was startled. My first doctor had touched the same spot very, very gently, after warning me to let him know immediately if it hurt)
MS– On finding a better Advantage insurer– well-established HMOs tend to have the best record. You have to stay in network, but hte best have established excellent networks.
Look for an HMO that has been around for a long time, and has a relatively .low deductible