Tag Archives: insurance

Bee’s Knees: Pre-TKR, Another Setback?

Posted on by MaryO

On 1/23/2023 I said: “Someone pointed out that, since the new surgery is more than 30 days away, I may have to do all the clearances again…”

Thursday, February 15, my heart sank when I got a call from the hospital. After being on hold forever, I talked to a person who wanted to schedule my medical clearance, again. I told her I’d done it before in February for the rescheduled surgery. She said she’d check with my surgeon to see what he wanted.

Friday, I heard nothing until 4:58 pm. He wants to do a medical clearance “revision” whatever that means. So I go back to the hospital next Thursday (March 2) for more testing. If they find some other obscure infection, that won’t be enough time to fix it before the current surgery date Thursday May 9.

March 2, 2023

So, I had the Medical Clearance Revision today and it was exactly like the Medical Clearance I did just over 30 days ago. It looks like surgery is a go. Thursday, March 9 at 12:15.

There’s extra stuff for me to do to prepare, thanks to Cushing’s, the GH deficiency, the Adrenal Insufficiency, the one kidney, etc but I can do it!

1678382100

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

(K)new Knee

.

Bee’s Knees: Pre-TKR, Setback

Posted on by MaryO

From the last post…1/24/2022

This post is officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.

On 1/23/2023 I said:

“New, Approved-Dentist finished up everything he needed so I got Dental Clearance. This is the final piece of the clearance puzzles”

At the end of that appointment, Approved-Dentist gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, just in case.

Stupid me. I asked the intake nurse about that. She reported it to the surgeon who moved my surgery from 2/2/2023 to 3/9/2023. If someone else is rescheduled, I might be able to move mine back. Maybe.

Then, other test results came back – staph infection in my nose, maybe UTI.

Wednesday, 1/25/2023

So, I am still limping around, changing all the physical therapy appointments I’d set up for the 2/2 surgery. One of the positives is that I get more time in water aerobics building up my leg muscles.

A very positive:

1/27/23 was our 50-year anniversary. Amazing! We celebrated early with a cruise on the Wonder of the Seas. I’m still assembling those photos/posts but we went a little earlier in the month because it was cheaper 🙂 I chose this cruise because I thought it would be cool to be on the current world’s largest cruise ship. I have been on larger ships but DH has not.

We have another cruise scheduled for the Arctic Circle in July but I may not make it because of the new surgery date and recovery. I am very excited about that cruise because we tried to do something very similar and Covid changed those plans.

Someone pointed out that, since the new surgery is more than 30 days away, I may have to do all the clearances again.

Today, 1/28/23 is the 10th anniversary of the fall that started all this. My first post about my knee was really about Tom’s heart attack, and the reason for this blog in the first place. Who know that the knee thing would eclipse everything?

In that post I said:

Ice

Monday morning (for real!), I checked the weather and found that school was starting late because of icy conditions.  I put on boots and took the dog out.  It seemed to be raining – if it’s raining, it must be warm, right?  So I didn’t really pay attention (and I had other things on my mind!) and completely missed seeing the black ice.  Next thing I knew, I had fallen on one knee, my cellphone in my pocket bruised my other thigh and my left arm hurt where I’d reached out to catch myself.  Luckily, I hadn’t let go of the dog’s leash.

I ended up sitting in a puddle of icy water for a long time, figuring out how to get up.  I finally sort of crawled up the trash can that was sitting in the driveway.

The dog had an abbreviated walk, I changed my wet, cold clothes and headed to the hospital.  I was showing DH my knee and one of the staff bandaged it up for me.  I told him I hadn’t fallen at the hospital and wouldn’t sue but I guess he wanted to be sure.

(Today, Monday February 18 2013, my knee still has a huge lump under the skin and hurts when I touch it, although I’m no longer limping,  The bruise/pain from cellphone finally went away)

The very first of the Bee’s Knees series was February 28, 2016. I had no idea it would go on so very long. Like I said in the last post, I sure hope this is trus!

This post is (hopefully!) officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.

Bee’s Knees: Pre-TKR, Part 2

Posted on by MaryO

From the last post…12/4/2022 And, there was good news and some surprising news. I got to the doctors office and right away they took x-rays. The results were “Evidence of end stage bilateral knee OA, L>R. Evidence of complete joint
space narrowing. Evidence of osteophyte formation. Evidence of cyst formation“

I had no idea that my right knee was as bad. I guess I’ve been so focused on my left that it never occurred to me that I might have other issues.

The term “end stage” was a bit freaky. That sounds to me like I should be bedridden or something.

~~~

1/18/2023

Reject-Dentist still hasn’t sent the receipt, a treatment plan or called to discuss it yet. They did send me an email today asking me to set up an appointment.

Also on 1/18, I went to Reston Hospital for pre-op clearance. This was the third appointment this week, all because of my knee.

1/23/2023

New, Approved-Dentist finished up everything he needed so I got Dental Clearance. This is the final piece of the clearance puzzles

When I got home yesterday I had a new insurance card in the mail. I read all the information and it said I had dental insurance. Reject-Dentist had said that I didn’t so I assumed that I didn’t. Now I get to collect my papers from Approved-Dentist and submit those.

I was supposed to attend a class on knee replacement but the next one isn’t until next month so I got to watch a video instead. I also found this one very helpful:

This post is officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.

Biopsy 2 of 4

Posted on by MaryO

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was having some biopsies done.  It had been planned for 3 of them today  2 on my right leg, 1 on my left.

Up at 6:30 to put Lidocaine/Prilocaine cream on the places, covered with waterproof bandages.

I arrived at my doctor’s at 8:30 and found that my insurance would only allow one biopsy at a time. <sigh>

 

leg1

The doctor removed most (or all?) of the largest one. There are 3 internal stitches and 7 on the outside.  When those 7 are removed in a couple weeks, the doctor will remove the second one, on the other leg.  Then, when the stitches come out for that, she’ll remove the 3rd.

My summer at the doctor’s.  LOL

Meanwhile, we were hoping the pathology report would come back today for the forehead one I did last week but it hasn’t yet.  No news is good news!

 

Patient Instructions for Biopsy Site Care from Johns Hopkins

  1. Leave your wound dressings in place for the rest of the day of the biopsy and keep them dry.
  2. Change band-aids daily starting the day after the biopsy.
  3. Showers are fine starting the day after the biopsy. Leave the band-aids in place while you shower and change them after you dry off.
  4. During the time period of daily band-aid changes, do not soak in a bath or swim.
  5. The average time for daily band-aid changes is 5 to 6 days (range is from 1 or 2 days up to 2 weeks).
  6. If you need to use anything to clean the wounds, hydrogen peroxide is recommended. If the wounds are fine (i.e., no signs of infection), all that is required is a daily band-aid change.
  7. The wounds may or may not form a scab as they heal; either way is fine.
  8. Continue to change the band-aids daily until there are no open wounds.
  9. The local anesthetic used for the biopsy will usually last for 1 to 2 hours after the procedure. After it wears off, you may have some mild, localized soreness and tenderness at the biopsy sites over the next day or two. You may find regular Tylenol is helpful for the discomfort.
  10. Refrain from doing extremely strenuous activity for the rest of the day of your biopsy (such as running or heavy lifting).
  11. Once you are without the band-aid, the biopsy sites may look slightly red or darker than the rest of your skin. This discoloration will gradually fade and blend back with your normal skin color. This fading process may take anywhere from a few months up to a year.
  12. It is very rare for people to have any problems during the healing period. It is normal for the biopsy sites to bleed a little bit or drain pink fluid for a day or two after the biopsies. They should not bleed excessively (i.e., through the band-aid) after that time. They should never drain pus. If you do experience problems with significant bleeding, redness, infection, or other problems, call your doctor’s office.

Starting Cardiac Rehab

Posted on by MaryO

cardiac-rehab-fairfax

 

It’s started finally!   Tuesday, March 26, 2013 was DH’s first day in Cardiac Rehab, just over 8 weeks post-op.  This was an “intake appointment”, and much longer than the normal ones will be.

We got to choose when the future class would be – either Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 7:00 am or Monday-Wednesday-Thursday at 1:00pm.  Anyone who knows me knows that I chose the afternoon class.  I just didn’t want to get up that early and have to deal with early morning rush hour each of those days.

Diana, the intake nurse was very nice – in fact, everyone we met was.

First things first – money.  We found out that his insurance would pay for most but that there would be a $15 copay each session.  However, we did get a parking voucher saving us $5 on the parking garage.

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Description unavailable (Photo credit: pennstatenews)

We got a packet of information on all kinds of things, including food guides – what to eat, what not to eat.  Hooray!

I noticed a poster showing the image (right) for choosemyplate.gov.  I looked at that site when it first came out – and I’m looking again!

Diana was the one who set up the class times, as well.

Next was Claire, a nurse.  She checked all the meds and vitamins that DH takes.  She said that saw palmetto interfered with one of  his prescriptions and she suggested we take the list to CVS so that they can look for other interactions.

She did an EKG,  checked pulse in several locations, looked at the  scar, checked blood pressure on both arms (sitting and standing), listened to the carotids.

BP was  136/64 right,   112/60 left,   119/70 standing left.

She made an appointment with the dietician for Wednesday April 17 at  2:30, after a rehab class.

Turns out that there are patient meetings on the second Tuesday of each month.  We’re getting very busy with patient meetings, Mended Hearts and rehab plus doctor appointments!

 

They were out of t-shirts his size so we got one that was very large.  Another one will be forthcoming…sometime.

These shirts are special because they have a pocket for the portable EKG machine over the heart in addition to the obligatory logo on the back.  As luck would have it, DH was wearing a t-shirt with a pocket.

DH was hooked up to the EKG.  I gathered that he’ll do that himself in the future.

Next up – Shelly, an exercise physiologist.  She talked a bit, asked DH how often he got new shoes.  She said that it should be every 6 months.  Who knew?

She said to drink water every 15 minutes while exercising.

DH started off slow – Treadmill 5 minutes; Bike 15 minutes; Walked on indoor track for 4 laps

When he was done, we went to the Healthy Heart Cafe for a bit of lunch.

Wednesday, Day 2

We got there in plenty of time.  DH turned out to be the only person in this class, at least for now.

He did his exercises but was told he needed to eat breakfast in the future – his blood pressure was too low.

It’s becoming a habit – when he was done, we went to the Healthy Heart Cafe for another bit of lunch.

I had bought him a Groupon for a local garden shop as a Christmas gift.  Of course, I had no idea then that he wouldn’t be doing much gardening this year.  In any event, it was going to expire on March 30, so we went there after rehab and got a few things 🙂  They may all become house plants – we’ll see!

Absolute exhaustion by the time we got home.

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Cardiac Rehabilitation Starts Today!

Posted on by MaryO

cardiac-rehab

DH finally starts his cardiac rehab today, just over 8 weeks after his triple bypass.

Cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) teaches you how to be more active and make lifestyle changes that can lead to a stronger heart and better health. Cardiac rehab can help you feel better and reduce your risk of future heart problems.

In cardiac rehab, you work with a team of health professionals. Often the team includes a doctor, a nurse specialist, a dietitian, an exercise therapist, and a physical therapist. The team designs a program just for you, based on your health and goals. Then they give you support to help you succeed.

If you have had a heart attack, you may be afraid to exercise. Or if you have never exercised, you may not know how to get started. Your cardiac rehab team will help you start slowly and work up to a level that is good for your heart.

Many hospitals and rehab centers offer cardiac rehab programs. You may be part of a cardiac rehab group, but each person will follow his or her own plan.

Who should take part in cardiac rehab?

Doctors often prescribe cardiac rehab for people who have had a heart attack or bypass surgery. But people with many types of heart or blood vessel disease can benefit from cardiac rehab. Rehab might help you if you have:

  • Heart failure.
  • Peripheral artery disease (PAD).
  • Had or plan to have a heart transplant.
  • Had angioplasty to open a coronary artery.
  • Had another type of heart surgery, such as valve replacement.

Often people are not given the chance to try cardiac rehab. Or they may start a program but drop out. This is especially true of women and older adults. And that’s not good news, because they can get the same benefits as younger people. If your doctor suggests cardiac rehab, stay with it so you can get the best results.

Medicare will pay for cardiac rehab for people with certain heart problems. Many insurance companies also provide coverage. Check with your insurance company or your hospital to see if you will be covered.

What happens in cardiac rehab?

In cardiac rehab, you will learn how to:

  • Manage your heart disease and problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
  • Exercise safely.
  • Eat a heart-healthy diet.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Reduce stress and depression.
  • Get back to work sooner and safely.

Exercise is a big part of cardiac rehab. So before you get started, you will have a full checkup, which may include tests such as an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) and a “stress test” (exercise electrocardiogram). These tests show how well your heart is working. They will help your team design an exercise program that is safe for you.

At first your rehab team will keep a close watch on how exercise affects your heart. As you get stronger, you will learn how to check your own heart rate when you exercise. By the end of rehab, you will be ready to continue an exercise program on your own.

What are the benefits of cardiac rehab?

Starting cardiac rehab after a heart attack can lower your chance of dying from heart disease and can help you stay out of the hospital. It may reduce your need for medicine.

Cardiac rehab may also help you to:

  • Have better overall health.
  • Lose weight or keep weight off.
  • Feel less depressed and more hopeful.
  • Have more energy and feel better about yourself.

Changing old habits is hard. But in cardiac rehab, you get the support of experts who can help you make new healthy habits. And meeting other people who are in cardiac rehab can help you know that you’re not alone.

Adapted from CardioSmart.org

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