As we age, our bodies start showing signs of wearing out. More things hurt than ten years ago. Those things that hurt don’t always stop hurting throughout the day, and even the smallest activity can prove more challenging than it did a few years ago, but we endure because those things we enjoy are too important to stop doing.
When you live in an area where thousands and thousands of people have gone beyond the age of 70, there’s a great demand for medical attention. As always, everyone’s needs are the most important – even if only in the person who needs the attention’s mind. So, getting appointments for some things can take a long, long time.
Over two weeks ago my better half was getting off our couch when she felt a “pop” in her left shoulder. Her arm went limp and her shoulder started to hurt. It was on a Monday morning – one of my golf days. She told me to go ahead and go golfing and we’d deal with her shoulder when I was done. Just before I teed off on the first hole I received a text that asked me to come right back home after golf because the pain in her shoulder was getting worse. I left the course so I could take her to an emergency room near our home.
In the past, we’ve been pleased with the care given at the ER, and we expected they could give us some answers and maybe some treatment to help with the pain. To make this long story short, I will tell you that wasn’t the case. There was an X-ray taken, and the doctor barely spoke to us, yet he diagnosed “snapping scapula,” gave us three prescriptions, and sent us on our way.
Tuesday morning, the pain was worse and extended down her left arm. Wednesday, we didn’t see any improvements, so a call was made to our primary doctor and my bride’s pain doctor. We were able to get in to see the pain doctor that day. He ordered two stat MRIs – since the order was “stat,” we expected we’d get a call the following morning – nope, it didn’t happen. Friday morning, we called the imaging company. The person we talked to told us they didn’t notice the order was STAT and asked if we could drive to Oveda, Florida since that was the closest place with the right MRI machine. The drive was a little more than 1.5 hours, but I figured we needed to get the ball rolling. Once we left Oveda, heading for home, we called the pain doctor and asked if we could stop at his office with the disk that had the images on it. He agreed. Once he read the scans, he told us there was a tear in the rotator cuff and a bulging disk in the lower neck – both would need attention to help with the pain. He issued two STAT referrals – one for the neck and one for the shoulder. Monday and Tuesday went by with nobody contacting us. We decided to make some calls Wednesday morning. Again, the staff didn’t notice the STAT order but scheduled a consultation for Thursday afternoon. That meeting left us with some what felt like good news. The surgeon told us she felt the neck issue could be dealt with with injections and physical therapy, and surgery would be the last resort. That doctor wrote two more STAT orders for the injections and consultation for the shoulder.
Two weeks after the injury occurred, we finally got an appointment set up with a surgeon to see what approach should be taken for the shoulder. That STAT order consultation was set for Thursday, twelve days after the injury.
My understanding of the word “STAT” is that it means “without delay” or “immediately” – maybe this is only my opinion, but twelve days is NOT immediate.
I try to understand that everyone’s case is the most important (to them), and this is a very busy area in the medical arena, but when someone you care about is in excruciating pain, it’s nearly impossible to have patience – especially when there’s not much more you can do but provide ice packs and keep track of what meds are to be taken, and when.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the Thursday appointment will bring us closer to getting treatment that will rid her of the pain that has taken over her life.
Getting old isn’t much fun at times, but it still beats the alternative.
Have A Good Week!
