Charlie - sorry to hear about all the health problems you've been having. I'm pulling for you.

Dave

Dang KG2V, I'm the one who is supposed to take all the hits for this team! Sorry to hear you got knocked down like that. 14 days in the hospital?! Good thing the zombies didn't appear.

Heal fast, friend.

-Blast

Wow and yikes!!! This makes my son's December spontaneous pneumothorax (spontaneous collapsed lung) look like a walk inthe park. IzzyJG99, in case you are going to ask, he fits the "profile": tall, young and thin. I didn't know this was not uncommon. You learn something new everyday.

My wife and I have access to all our accounts.

KG2V did you just get your amateur license upgraded?

Anyway KG2V hope everything works out. Good to have you back.

Glad you're doing OK. I have to wonder though, what made your triglycerides so high...

I'm going to take a slightly different look on things here. First, I would think that your TG's would have to be high for a while before causing pancreatitis. So, my first thought is have you been getting yearly blood draws? If you have, please let me know, cuz if nothing else it'll give me something to research - I ask in the name of further education only!

Second, unfortunate as it is, sometimes waiting is the RIGHT thing to do. Many things can cause "abnormal" blood tests, and sometimes they do fix themselves. Professional guidelines sometimes take a "wait and see" approach. If you ever go for a lawyer, you'll have to prove he was acting in a manner that's not in compliance with standard medical practices.

Third, just to clarify what you wrote. I'm assuming that the blood tests are done at a lab, not the doctor's office? You saw him in Nov and had abnormal tests. Then you saw him on Dec 23, but didn't get the blood work planned til Jan 9... why the 3-week wait on your part? Really, if you're complaining that he's waiting and yet you're waiting too... it just seems like you're not helping yourself there.

Last, if you want a new doc, more power to you. Despite what happened, and where the ball was dropped, you should feel comfortable with your doc, and have the right to someone that treats you as you want to be treated. That goes for everyone on the board. If you don't like his vacation schedule, change docs. Just realize that lots of docs do put in 12+ hour days, and deserve a break just like everyone else (and lots of them have kids, with standard school breaks, just like everyone else)

Sorry about your plight. I wish you a speedy recovery.

You made a bit of lemonade by bringing the example here and showing the need for roadmaps to records, financial, etc. We all have good intentions about doing stuff like that but usually end up putting it off until we forget.

Also a good story since I really don't have a doc and should probably look at establishing one. I did go to one about 5-6 years ago but he's no longer there. I've been very lucky up to now though.

Most sorry to hear about your illness; very happy that you are on the road to recovery.

+1 on changing doc's, even if only to get another set of eyes on the same issues. I have been surprised on the different approaches used by different doctors in treating my diabetes, e.g., do a little or be very aggressive.

+1 on having all of the financial info, passwords, etc. in a common (secure) place; DW and I share a common calendar when things have to be paid, know all the login's, accounts etc.

One thing that I always encourage is for husband and wife to have all of the necessary medical/legal documents for each other in place and ready to go; things such as powers of attorney and advance directives etc. I know this and advocate it and was caught short this summer when DW was taken to the emergency room in very bad shape, the the ER folks wanted to see the documents, and put copies in her hospital file! Who knew I had to take them with me on the ride to the emergency room? Everything turned out ok, but it was a scare and a lesson learned.

Best of luck

I upgraded the call a few years back, but after I joined - figured it was finally time to upgrade the forum name

I've had high triglycerides for years - but who knows what made them go nuts

And yes, I thought waiting was the right thing to do, too

As for seeing him Dec 23rd , adn a wait till Jan 9 - First - neither of us thought it was urgent - 2nd, look at the weekend days (pretty much the only times I could go for a draw) - could not get in on the 3rd, and was hoping to be away on the 27th

I'm more looking for a new MD because my guy is NOT an endochronologist, plus I came to realize an issue I discounted is actually a big factor. Where I live, there are 2 hospitals west of us, and 2 east

The reputations of the 2 that are west of us are (depending on which) "a madhouse, where you will wait 8-10 hours to be seen" and "if you find yourself dieing in front of the place, crawl the mile to the madhouse" (Unfortunately, the 2nd is where EMS would probably take me if transported by ambulance - Mom ended up there a couple of years back - she needed a cat scan - they had to transport her to a different hospital to do it - they don't have one)

The 2 hospitals EAST of me have a rep for 1)Great MDs, Great Care, one is know to have a busier ER (but they are in the process of doubling the size of that)

The problem is, that no one in the partnership my MD is at is a member at either of the hospitals east of me, but do work at both the hospitals WEST of me.

First, thanks for not taking what I wrote in a hostile manner - I was at work yesterday, and may have been a bit curt, sorry if I was.

It's funny, that normally "high triglycerides" don't do *too much* long term, as opposed to cholesterol. But, yeah, when they hit... something else to consider is what medications you're on. Also, alcohol use is the #1 cause of acute pancreatitis in the US. I'm not saying you're a drinker, but rather, if you do drink (in any amount), you might want to bring up the risk/benefit ration once you get in and see an endocrinologist (for example, if you drink a glass of red wine nightly). Bravo, BTW, for getting the correct doc to manage you most appropriately. For such a "simple" disease, it's amazingly difficult for lots of docs to manage diabetes (or Coumadin, for those of you on it).

I can understand the difficulties of outpatient management. But if you've also had high TGs for years, I can also understand why the doc (and you) wouldn't be really worried at the time. Unfortunately, in hindsight.

One last bit of advice, or maybe a better term, a suggestion. Figure out why those hospitals are "mad houses." The main hospital I work at has a kind of crummy rep, but lots of it is due to the nursing and associated staff. The docs actually do a fairly good job of trying to work, but get hamstring by lazy personnel (I say, with quite a bit of truth, that the only time the nurses move fast is when they're late to clock in). Is it bad because you're not seen for 6 hours, but really those folks waiting that long aren't that sick? Is it just a bunch of pretensious folks that expect immediate attention, and when they don't get it, just whine up a storm? There's lots of reasons for a bad rep, and not all of them reflect poor care. Anyway, just food for thought.

In the end, it's about finding a doc you trust and find competent. Good luck!

Pancreatitis is no joke. I was in ICU for two weeks in the mid 90s for the same reason or at least that was the initial reason that started the number of reasons why it all went wrong.

I was misdiagnosed when I went to the doctor at first. He sent me home with pain relievers thinking that the previous days workout had strained a muscle.

Worst two weeks of my life. I had just returned home from college, and was staying with family, so the only thing I had to worry about was getting well.

Back to the subject at hand...
Now days a couple of my family members have flash drives that I gave them. On it they can access an encrypted and hidden file with important information on it.

They can view some of my favorite pieces of art that I placed on the stick as well. LOL