General topics.

Needs, luckily I kind of believed mom, when she mentioned something was wrong and wanted to go back to rite aid , I kinda thought it was just her wanting to go shopping. Lol

I ask my doctor questions whenever I am prescribed medication.

I am fortunate to have a great pharmacist that has always taken the time to speak with me over the phone or in person.

If they have a new manufacturing company making their meds, they inform me that is why my pills look different.

Nacy,

I am like your mom and check everything before I take it.

Llama,

Many pharmacists do work very long hours. Not as many drugstores are open 24 hours a day now.

I do trust the pharmacist, they really do catch the medicines, that shouldn't be used together, that doctors may not realize.

But rite aid , mix up my mom's meds, the they doubled her heart rhythm meds , that slows her heart rate. Luckily mom realized the pills looked a little different than usual, or it could of ended very bad,

Except even pharmacists are overworked! My pharmacy used to employ a stellar pharmacist, but he left.

I find it useful to ask my pharmacist all of my questions about medications. They have been trained in this area and are knowledgeable about medications, interactions, etc.

In my experience, pharmacists will even bring up important issues with their customers. They keep a record of meds that are prescribed.

Years ago, I went to buy an over the counter medicine and my pharmacist warned against me taking it, because it would interfere with a prescription medication that I was taking.

Yep, the medical field is as much off a mess as are government, if not more

It is truly impossible for doctors today to keep up with all the changes in all the branches of medicine and that's why most patients end knowing much more about their own illnesses than their PCP does. When I went to have my implant removed my own doctor was unaware of en bloc procedure and why it is so important. She said she really had thought that this is just a good plastic surgeon and a remove the implant. Essentially it IS and the plastic surgeon WILL BE familiar with en bloc and how and why important. But the GP isn't aware, cannot possibly know everything about each doctor's specialty.

I also find that overall doctors know very little about the prescriptions they give for any medications having to do with anxiety, depression and so on. They are sold a bill of goods on the latest darling of the pharmaceuticals all unaware that getting off some of these things takes almost years of tritrating down in miniscule amounts. Doctors have replaced psychiatrists and when a patient goes in with a complaint they reach for a prescription pad with little knowledge of the drugs and what's happening out there in the world with them.

Just my humble opinion.

Good luck venting, hand in there, were here if you need to vent. So sorry!

hang in there! little steps!! keep going, ventingisback!!!

I'm writing this for myself. I guess, hoping that in the future I'll re-read this post and say, everything worked out!

I'm having an extremely hard time. It's out of my control. There's a lot to deal with.

So my uncle (who I'm not close too) is 90, lives in a senior living center. Always had a good sound mind for 90, He was driving on the north way, was going to his VA hospital, about a half hour away, south. His kids and police and everyone couldnt find him for almost 24 hours. He ended up going north, 3 hour drive to Canada, they wouldnt let him in. Then sometime like 6 hours later during the night, he was on the northway going the wrong way. Ended up in a ditch, he is going to be fairly ok, has broken ribs and stuff.

Anyways the moral of this story is it ended up being a UTI . Which is ironic because you girls are always saying, maybe it's a UTI, check for a UTI. It was a UTI!

Just thank God no one else was hurt!

My sisters , niece by marriage and boy friend and 1 year old was just killed by a drunk driver in Maryland, traveling. So we have all had enough sad news for a while!

Margaret,

It’s true that some doctors are diligent about keeping up with new treatments. Others aren’t.

My older doctor didn’t even want to switch over to using the computer and keeping required medical records. He was also against using a portal.

I absolutely love the existence of a portal. I can check everything on my portal as well as making my appointments. It’s really convenient.

Pam,

Yes, it’s hard to change when you’re satisfied with your current doctor.

I am surprised at how quickly new doctors fill their patient load. My new doctor isn’t taking any new patients because she is already at her quota.

I get all that, I was mostly joking ! I get along great with my Dr's, and they are very open and up to date. My PC is a great gal, I've been with her since she started at our local practice and I consider her a friend, so that helps too!

When my PCP retired he was ready .
I chose a woman in the practice in her early 40’s .

My DH took the young male doctor that replaced our previous one . He looks like he’s 12. Right off the bat he told my husband he get his Doogie Howser jokes out first if he wanted !!

When I did any research on my own, my doctors' comment (more than once) was 'where did you get YOUR medical degree from?'. I'm not sorry he retired. I also remember an older doctor being scathing about a requirement to do so many hours of update study. 'The human body hasn't changed much'. Medical knowledge has, though.

Pam,

When my older primary care doctor announced his retirement, I was happy! I was so ready to find a younger more up to date doctor.

At my first visit with my new PCP, I felt like I was speaking to my oldest daughter. Well, guess what? I absolutely love her! She is attentive, compassionate and up to date with newer treatments.

I steer clear of older doctors who are near retirement age.

I found that when my older PCP was nearing retirement he wasn’t as thorough as he was when he was younger. He became annoyed if I asked questions.

One time he even said to me, “You know, there was a time when patients didn’t question their doctors.”

What??? We have a right to ask questions. My new doctor is never bothered about answering questions and she will always ask me if I have any further questions.

Gone are the days when people treat their doctors like gods. People nowadays are strong advocates for their own health care.

Well I knew this day was coming,, my eye specialist told me today at the end of my visit that he is retiring!! Another Dr is taking over his practice so I'm still good there,, but now I am starting to feel older! My family practice gal is at least 10 years younger than I am, so at least I have awhile there. I just knew I would have to get more "baby doctors" in my future! you would think I would be used to new younger doctors after 26 years at a teaching hospital, but NO!

cwillie . I’ve seen privacy screens that are like a shade that pulls out horizontally or retracts . The ends are poles with stakes put into the ground . Idk if that’s easier for you or not if the deck has a railing on it . I don’t know how much they are either. Amazon has a lot of different ones .

My cousin designs vertical gardens , very large ones. She has won urban garden awards.

Sounds wonderful, DoggieMom.

cw,

Some dogs are super smart!

The ice cream man loved my dog when I was a kid. Mom gave us 7 cents each to buy a popsicle. Our dog got a small vanilla cup of ice cream free!

My dog got so excited whenever he heard the music from the ice cream truck playing. He knew that he was going to get his ice cream treat!

I think next summer I might rent an RV so I can take my dogs and go visit a few Civil War sites here in the states.

Speaking of smart dogs.... When I was young we had a collie type dog (not a border collie) who never left the farm, or so we thought. Turned out that as soon as we left for church on Sundays he headed over to a neighbour's place to visit, but he was always waiting on the front porch when we got home. lol

cw,

Yes, you can assemble a pretty trellis with lovely vines growing on it. I love columbine. Does that grow there?

I love honeysuckle vines too. There are lots of beautiful vines. Some are highly fragrant too!

Way,

Vertical gardens are beautiful!!

Our botanical garden in City Park has a lovely vertical garden located near the entrance area.

cw,

Forgive my facetiousness and sarcasm. 😝

It’s too bad that you can’t make your neighbors wear a shock collar and you could install an electronic fence in case they try to cross over their line. LOL 😂

I am thinking about my friend who installed an electronic fence to stop his dog from escaping.

His dog outsmarted him! He figured out a way to tilt his head a certain way to cross over without being shocked.

He would roam around the neighborhood on a daily basis.

I swear that dogs have an internal clock, because he would go home just before my friend got home from work so he could eat his dinner.

The neighbors were still complaining about his dog running free in the streets and he couldn’t figure it out for quite some time until he caught the dog in the act of escaping.

My friend couldn’t put up a fence because he lived near the golf course. His HOA only allowed invisible fences.

Lot survey plus a fence is way over my budget Way. I think can cobble together an inexpensive privacy screen on the deck though, I'm looking at a 4' X 8' vinyl lattice mounted on a simple 2X4 frame.

Oh the retirement thing, I know that well. Lol first month of retirement, it was August, a really hot day, husband decided to fix are AC, that wasn't broken, but after fixing it , it was most definitely broken. 😆 And all ACs where sold out!

Willie, that sucks it's so uncomfortable living next door to people that a miserable to you

cwillie ,
how fast can you get your privacy screen up ? Or how about a fence so they can’t encroach on your side ?

You could do a vertical garden that hangs on planters on your side of the fence , to pretty it up .

My cousin owns a company that installs these vertical gardens on building walls in NYC

I have a contentious history with these neighbours (I've complained about them here). Fortunately the last couple of years things have been smooth but I'm always on eggshells, reluctant to do or say anything that might rock the boat.