A Real Cardio Doc At The Va!

[cowgirl]

Purple, glad you had a professional see to your health. From what you say, sure sounds good to hear you got quality care. Lets hope the doc stays on with the VA for a while. To me it seems like docs rotate in&out of the VA after short stints of months, rarely exceeding 2 or 3 years.

Again, good for you and why not sc for cardio?

Best to ya,

Cg'up2009!

I had an appt today (a follow-up after some tests) at the cardio clinic at the Dayton VAMC. The first cardio doc I saw there was well.....an idiot. He had actually told me that "women's chest pain is only caused by stress". OMG. And it went downhill from there.

But today I saw a real cardio doc....a civilian one who was doing his time at the Dayton VAMC...he was from one of our local hospitals. He actually took the time to listen to all of my symptoms...and my history...and didn't just dismiss me.

He was not happy that my cholestrol levels haven't been checked in over a year and are boarderline....also my thyroid levels haven't been checked in over 2 years (and my 2 sisters and 1 neice have thyroid disease!). He was also surprised that I haven't had a repeat echo on my heart since my other one is over 3 years old and showed some irregularities.

Soooooo, he ordered my bloodwork, ordered the echo and ordered another stress test. Only this time the stress test is a chemical one, with contrast. He said he finds my symptoms "troubling" and wants to make sure to check everything.

Wow, what a difference a real doc makes. Now if I could only get the women's clinic and the mental health clinic to follow suit...

Edited April 16, 2009 by cowgirl

[purple]

cowgirl-

since i'm already 100% IU P&T, i figure why mess with a good thing. i know how the VA is....seems when a vet starts asking for "more" that is when they start screwing with you. sure, i'm not 100% scheduler, (i'm 80 %) but not like it's going to make any difference.

it is something that i keep in the back of my mind....

[cowgirl]

okay purple, just reconfirming that you have the option, especially if you are seeing specialist and/or taking meds for the condition. Forgot that you were 100% iu.

Take care,

Cg'up2009!

cowgirl-

since i'm already 100% IU P&T, i figure why mess with a good thing. i know how the VA is....seems when a vet starts asking for "more" that is when they start screwing with you. sure, i'm not 100% scheduler, (i'm 80 %) but not like it's going to make any difference.

it is something that i keep in the back of my mind....

[purple]

Thanks cowgirl!

Oh...gotta love the Dayton VA. OMG. The cardio doc wanted to see me back in 30 days after all of my testing was complete; he was pretty insistent on that. Ok....easy right?? LOL!!

I got the letter in the mail today scheduling my nuclear heart scan....ready?....it's scheduled for June 29th!

So much for 30 days......

[carlie]

purple,

Come on now -- you know VA !

For them, VAMC 30 days usually = 60 to 90 days,

especially in neculear meds. :)

Try to peddle backwards a day or two and let the

happiness with the cardiac doc linger a bit.

carlie

[purple]

The cardio doc may be good....but the cardio dept still sucks. OMG.

They called me today to schedule my 30-day follow up....ok. I explained to the lady that my nuke scan wasn't schedule until June 29th yet the doc wanted all my tests completed within 30 days. She sounded really confused and I had to repeat myself....twice.

She then told me that I needed to contact the nuke folks to find out what was going on (wouldn't that be her job?)....so I did.

The nuke folks said they were running 10-12 weeks behind on appts!!! I told them what my doc wanted and they said that if he wanted that, he would have to have it done outside the VA (oh happy day!!!!)

So I called the cardio dept back. Spoke with same lady. Told her what the nuke folks said.

She told me that the cardio doc I had seen was only "in clinic" once a month and won't be back until mid-May and she had no way to get ahold of him. She said she didn't know what to do or who else to ask. I suggested a boss...again, she sounded confused.

She told me that she would just have to schedule my "30-day follow-up" for July since it probably wouldn't matter anyway. B) :D

My echo is scheduled for May 11th.

I'm ready to scream.................................