Kara29
11-04-2006, 11:41 AM
I started to think I was a loser because I lost my career to IC but the longer I thought about it, I got to thinking how hard it is to have IC. I decided that it's 10 times harder than any career, job, or college I have ever had to attend. So, I feel like there needs to be a new Career out there called THE FULL TIME CAREER OF IC.
I started to think about all of the things I do, sometimes in just one day to get myself help, just to live pain free. I didn't know where to post this but I thought maybe the Pain Management People would appreciate it.I'm sure we can ALL relate though! These things that you will read have all been done while suffering in severe pain. None of this would have been possible to do if I had a real job. One reason to thank GOD for making disability because it's people like us who appreciate it! Feel free to add your niches in this full time career.
I just started this list and I'm sure others of you will have much more to add as some of you have other jobs and children and sick family members besides yourself.........
Just to make a phone call to your Doctor
•Calling ONE doctors office or just the one you need help from weather it be a Urologist or Pain Management Specialist or any other Doctor you are trying to reach when you are REALLY SICK, sometimes with a raging infection and fever
•Being put on hold because five other callers are first in line (by the time they get back to you, you could have called 911 and had an ambulance at your door)
• Waiting all day at home for them to call back, even after you call them to remind them you are waiting for a call from just the first step which is the nurse only, not the doctor and if you have to go somewhere making sure your cell phone is turned on and recharged so you don’t miss the call. Having to pull over when they call. Trying to explain things NOT to the doctor but to the nurse or worse, just a secretary, or someone on call that does not know you or doesn’t have your chart and then they say they have to talk to the doctor anyway.
•Trying to explain your complicated situation to a nurse that doesn’t know anything about you and then STILL having to wait for the doctor to call you back.
•Or having to leave a message with the secretary even though you have mentioned that it’s something you’d rather not discuss with her/him
•When they forget to call back you have to call them again by that time the office has closed and they won’t have your chart when calling back to know who you are and what you’ve had done and your allergies.
•If they do call you back you still can’t talk to the doctor and have to explain to the nurse your WHOLE situation all over again and they ask a million questions when the doctor knows it all because he knows you better.
•If you are lucky enough to have the doctor call you back he spends 2 minutes on the phone with you after you did all of that talking and waiting to get to him.
•Waiting for the next day to come and you start all over again.
To get records transferred
•In NYS they have this new thing now where they won’t accept the copy of your own records, you have to get all of your records transferred from the doctor office to the doctor you want to see. This can take weeks. They won’t make an appointment to see you unless they have all of your records from all of your doctors. And this is just to see one new doctor. You have to do this for each new doctor you want to see. So then you have to make a million phone calls to all of your old doctors.
•First you have to call each former doctor and ask them how they want the records transferred; every doctor’s office does this differently. Then you have to get their fax number, and address. Some of them will fax and some refuse and do it only by mail.
•Then you have to write a records of release form your self if you are not near the doctors office or can’t make it there. They say they can mail you one but again that would take a week to get it, fill it out, and then send it back, which could mean another week, and then you have to have faith that they will send the records out immediately. Most places have to have the doctor pull out the records he wants sent. So now this means you have to wait for the doctor to have time to do this and we all know how busy they are. This could take another several days.
•The Records of Release Letter Your Full Name and Address and Phone Number and Alternate Phone Number, Birth Date and Social Security Number, The name of the Clinic you are requesting your records from, the Doctor’s Name, address, phone number and fax number. Sometimes this is not easy, as you may not remember the phone numbers and some of them won’t list a fax number, so again you have to pick up the phone and call for it. Then you have to put the current date on there. Address to whom will be releasing the records. Make up a paragraph about what you need. For example, I, Joe Shmo, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, give authorization for the (Blank Pain Center) to release/fax all of my medical records, to the (New Doctor) Include any special requests that this new doctor has asked for in the records like operative reports, tests, and or x-rays and films. Then under that you have to put the new doctor’s name, his practice or specialty name, address, phone number, and fax number. At the bottom you have to again say that you are giving them written permission to fax or send all and any relevant medical records to this new doctor. Then I like to include the fax number in bold one more time for them because there are so many numbers on this letter anyway. Then you have to sign off with Sincerely, Joe Shmo. Again this is for just ONE of your old doctors, you still have to do this with all of the others and each one does it differently, so you have to call them and start the process all over again. This makes for a LOT of phone calls going back and forth. You have to write up a new letter each time, so if this new doctor wants records from 6 of your previous doctors, then you have to write out 6 individual letters that are all different. Then you have to save them all, spell check them, print them. After printing them, you have to look it over and sign it and put the date by your signature.
Faxing the Release of Records Letter
•Faxing these letters After you have tired yourself out enough with all of that, you have to fax this release letter to all of the old doctors that the new doctor is requesting. If you have a fax machine at home this helps out a LOT. If not that is another situation in and of itself. You have to make sure you are dialing the correct fax number for the previous doctor and not the new one. Wait for it to go through. Sometimes this can take awhile if their fax line is busy. Once it goes through then you have to do this for the next several doctors that records need to come from. So in my case I did this 6 times. Now at my house, I did not have a fax machine that was working properly, so I had to get up and go to a store that has a fax machine. I go to UPS. Once you are there and while you are suffering in pain this whole time, you have to fill out their UPS cover letter with almost all of the information that you had written in your letter. Who its gong to, the fax number, the date, number of pages, who it’s from (you), your phone number and alternate number, and the subject of the fax which would be release of records. Then you have to do this for all of your letters. In my case it was 6. Then you have to stand their and wait for each one to go through and some of them don’t go through right away. Once they go through you get a confirmation sheet that it went through, which is good. Then you have to pay for them all. Then you still have to hope and pray that the secretary there does his/her job and gives this to the doctor to review. This still could take a few days to a week before you can make your appointment with the new doctor. The whole process starts all over again if you want to see another doctor. And with my insurance you don’t need referrals either, but I have to do all of this anyway.
Waiting
•Waiting for an appointment: You have to wait for all of those records to be transferred which can take weeks. Then you have to wait for them to call you because they don’t like it when you keep calling them. So you wait and wait while you are suffering in pain. Then you get a call saying they will make you a consult appointment or if your lucky, just a regular appointment. But to your surprise the appointment is 2-3 months away or more. You ask to be put on a cancellation list. So then you wait for the appointment. You get excited the day of the appointment thinking you may get some help, You have all of your questions prepared and some people like myself, will bring a list of my current meds, allergies and all of the medications that I have tried in the past, as well as all of the surgeries and the dates, so the doctor doesn’t have to sift through all of your piled up records that could fit into a binder. Oh and by the way, this is ALL just for a CONSULT and some times the doctor in the end will say he can’t help you, AFTER all of the hard work you did to get to come and see him. Some of these appointments are out of state and some people have to make travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, and food. Then you have to drive back home and some of us cant not travel and plane tickets for yourself and another person to go with you can become expensive if you are on disability and have no money to throw around. After the consult appointment with the new doctor, sometimes you have to wait until he reviews your records again. He tells you to go home and he will call you if he wants to take your case. So you wait and wait and wait, wondering what this doctor is thinking about you, and then he calls you to come back in for more testing and or surgery, so you have to travel all over again.
•This whole process will repeat itself each time you want to see a new doctor and you are as sick as I am. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to do this.
I just wish I could get paid for this! :rolleyes:
Feel free to reply with your own duties as having the FULL TIME CAREER of IC......
Kara:toilet:
I started to think about all of the things I do, sometimes in just one day to get myself help, just to live pain free. I didn't know where to post this but I thought maybe the Pain Management People would appreciate it.I'm sure we can ALL relate though! These things that you will read have all been done while suffering in severe pain. None of this would have been possible to do if I had a real job. One reason to thank GOD for making disability because it's people like us who appreciate it! Feel free to add your niches in this full time career.
I just started this list and I'm sure others of you will have much more to add as some of you have other jobs and children and sick family members besides yourself.........
Just to make a phone call to your Doctor
•Calling ONE doctors office or just the one you need help from weather it be a Urologist or Pain Management Specialist or any other Doctor you are trying to reach when you are REALLY SICK, sometimes with a raging infection and fever
•Being put on hold because five other callers are first in line (by the time they get back to you, you could have called 911 and had an ambulance at your door)
• Waiting all day at home for them to call back, even after you call them to remind them you are waiting for a call from just the first step which is the nurse only, not the doctor and if you have to go somewhere making sure your cell phone is turned on and recharged so you don’t miss the call. Having to pull over when they call. Trying to explain things NOT to the doctor but to the nurse or worse, just a secretary, or someone on call that does not know you or doesn’t have your chart and then they say they have to talk to the doctor anyway.
•Trying to explain your complicated situation to a nurse that doesn’t know anything about you and then STILL having to wait for the doctor to call you back.
•Or having to leave a message with the secretary even though you have mentioned that it’s something you’d rather not discuss with her/him
•When they forget to call back you have to call them again by that time the office has closed and they won’t have your chart when calling back to know who you are and what you’ve had done and your allergies.
•If they do call you back you still can’t talk to the doctor and have to explain to the nurse your WHOLE situation all over again and they ask a million questions when the doctor knows it all because he knows you better.
•If you are lucky enough to have the doctor call you back he spends 2 minutes on the phone with you after you did all of that talking and waiting to get to him.
•Waiting for the next day to come and you start all over again.
To get records transferred
•In NYS they have this new thing now where they won’t accept the copy of your own records, you have to get all of your records transferred from the doctor office to the doctor you want to see. This can take weeks. They won’t make an appointment to see you unless they have all of your records from all of your doctors. And this is just to see one new doctor. You have to do this for each new doctor you want to see. So then you have to make a million phone calls to all of your old doctors.
•First you have to call each former doctor and ask them how they want the records transferred; every doctor’s office does this differently. Then you have to get their fax number, and address. Some of them will fax and some refuse and do it only by mail.
•Then you have to write a records of release form your self if you are not near the doctors office or can’t make it there. They say they can mail you one but again that would take a week to get it, fill it out, and then send it back, which could mean another week, and then you have to have faith that they will send the records out immediately. Most places have to have the doctor pull out the records he wants sent. So now this means you have to wait for the doctor to have time to do this and we all know how busy they are. This could take another several days.
•The Records of Release Letter Your Full Name and Address and Phone Number and Alternate Phone Number, Birth Date and Social Security Number, The name of the Clinic you are requesting your records from, the Doctor’s Name, address, phone number and fax number. Sometimes this is not easy, as you may not remember the phone numbers and some of them won’t list a fax number, so again you have to pick up the phone and call for it. Then you have to put the current date on there. Address to whom will be releasing the records. Make up a paragraph about what you need. For example, I, Joe Shmo, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, give authorization for the (Blank Pain Center) to release/fax all of my medical records, to the (New Doctor) Include any special requests that this new doctor has asked for in the records like operative reports, tests, and or x-rays and films. Then under that you have to put the new doctor’s name, his practice or specialty name, address, phone number, and fax number. At the bottom you have to again say that you are giving them written permission to fax or send all and any relevant medical records to this new doctor. Then I like to include the fax number in bold one more time for them because there are so many numbers on this letter anyway. Then you have to sign off with Sincerely, Joe Shmo. Again this is for just ONE of your old doctors, you still have to do this with all of the others and each one does it differently, so you have to call them and start the process all over again. This makes for a LOT of phone calls going back and forth. You have to write up a new letter each time, so if this new doctor wants records from 6 of your previous doctors, then you have to write out 6 individual letters that are all different. Then you have to save them all, spell check them, print them. After printing them, you have to look it over and sign it and put the date by your signature.
Faxing the Release of Records Letter
•Faxing these letters After you have tired yourself out enough with all of that, you have to fax this release letter to all of the old doctors that the new doctor is requesting. If you have a fax machine at home this helps out a LOT. If not that is another situation in and of itself. You have to make sure you are dialing the correct fax number for the previous doctor and not the new one. Wait for it to go through. Sometimes this can take awhile if their fax line is busy. Once it goes through then you have to do this for the next several doctors that records need to come from. So in my case I did this 6 times. Now at my house, I did not have a fax machine that was working properly, so I had to get up and go to a store that has a fax machine. I go to UPS. Once you are there and while you are suffering in pain this whole time, you have to fill out their UPS cover letter with almost all of the information that you had written in your letter. Who its gong to, the fax number, the date, number of pages, who it’s from (you), your phone number and alternate number, and the subject of the fax which would be release of records. Then you have to do this for all of your letters. In my case it was 6. Then you have to stand their and wait for each one to go through and some of them don’t go through right away. Once they go through you get a confirmation sheet that it went through, which is good. Then you have to pay for them all. Then you still have to hope and pray that the secretary there does his/her job and gives this to the doctor to review. This still could take a few days to a week before you can make your appointment with the new doctor. The whole process starts all over again if you want to see another doctor. And with my insurance you don’t need referrals either, but I have to do all of this anyway.
Waiting
•Waiting for an appointment: You have to wait for all of those records to be transferred which can take weeks. Then you have to wait for them to call you because they don’t like it when you keep calling them. So you wait and wait while you are suffering in pain. Then you get a call saying they will make you a consult appointment or if your lucky, just a regular appointment. But to your surprise the appointment is 2-3 months away or more. You ask to be put on a cancellation list. So then you wait for the appointment. You get excited the day of the appointment thinking you may get some help, You have all of your questions prepared and some people like myself, will bring a list of my current meds, allergies and all of the medications that I have tried in the past, as well as all of the surgeries and the dates, so the doctor doesn’t have to sift through all of your piled up records that could fit into a binder. Oh and by the way, this is ALL just for a CONSULT and some times the doctor in the end will say he can’t help you, AFTER all of the hard work you did to get to come and see him. Some of these appointments are out of state and some people have to make travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, and food. Then you have to drive back home and some of us cant not travel and plane tickets for yourself and another person to go with you can become expensive if you are on disability and have no money to throw around. After the consult appointment with the new doctor, sometimes you have to wait until he reviews your records again. He tells you to go home and he will call you if he wants to take your case. So you wait and wait and wait, wondering what this doctor is thinking about you, and then he calls you to come back in for more testing and or surgery, so you have to travel all over again.
•This whole process will repeat itself each time you want to see a new doctor and you are as sick as I am. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to do this.
I just wish I could get paid for this! :rolleyes:
Feel free to reply with your own duties as having the FULL TIME CAREER of IC......
Kara:toilet: