Grrrr. That's how I feel about HMOs, at least for the most part. Yes, it's great that nearly everything we need is covered in full (the girls' many surgeries, my prenatal care, Joseph's birth...), but I find myself once again frustrated by the lack of choice involved. I ran up against this issue in my pregnancy and I'm running into it again now. I woke up 12 days ago with symptoms that I later learned were the result of a UTI. Looking back, I believe I've been fighting it since Joseph's birth, probably due to the catheter they gave me. I actually called the hospital the day after I was discharged with the same symptoms, but they eventually passed. They cropped up a couple more times but always passed. Then 12 days ago they came to stay. I finally went to my primary care doctor who confirmed an elevated white blood cell count in my urine and sent it out to be cultured. That was a Wednesday. The culture didn't come back until Monday. While I was waiting, I started taking Amoxicillin because I couldn't stand it anymore. The culture came back positive and also indicated that the bacteria should be susceptible to penicillin. Well, okay, but I'm still not getting better. I'm currently on day 7 out of 10 of the prescription and I'm still suffering. The most frustrating part is that I have called the doctor's office twice and both times they just tell me to finish the prescription and then come back for another urine test. Don't they hear the part about me not feeling better? Apparently I'm going to have to feel this way for another week before I get more help, since I'll be giving my next sample on Monday and waiting until Thursday for the results. I've even called my OBs office twice but they can't help either. I feel like a child under the thumb of the big HMO that won't give me permission to get the help I need. I understand that my doctor wants to be conservative because I'm breastfeeding Joseph, but there have to be other medications that are safe. Or she could send me on to see a specialist. I know I'm not accomplishing anything with my rant, but I'm physically uncomfortable, mentally frustrated and emotionally hurt by the lack of care I'm feeling right now. I'd better go crawl in a hole until my attitude improves. Scroll down for a much nicer, cheerier post!
1 comments:
That stinks! Have you tried 100% cranberry juice? I realize it might be too late for that treatment and you need something more effective and stronger, but it might help. Trader Joes sells 100%-Jewel and others sell a mix that is only like 10% juice and 90% sugar. Good luck!
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