Originally Posted By: KG2V_was_kc2ixe


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!