As you might be able to guess from the new graphic used in this post, my experience with UT Southwestern hasn’t turned out to be all I’d hoped it would be so far. Their neurosurgeon couldn’t find anything from my CT myelogram that he could operate on, and the “Pain Clinic” was somewhat of a letdown, to put it mildly. If I’d wanted counseling, acupuncture, and biofeedback instead of a cure for the underlying cause, I’d have gone to a new-age medical clinic, not a well-known research hospital. My wife and I were most disappointed, so we sought out a Case Manager from Blue Cross.
The main reason for the Case Manager was (sort of) to confirm an alternate referral I’m going to ask for on Monday from my primary care physician at Benchmark Family Medicine in Rowlett, TX. The husband of one of my wife’s friends has been able to find relief from the person mentioned in the referral, so we’re going to convince my doctor to go outside of his referral network (yet still within our Blue Cross network) and make the referral for us.
I’m also going to have him look at something my podiatrist diagnosed on Friday. My edema came back in my right ankle. He diagnosed it as mild venous stasis and wrote up a prescription for a light compression stocking. I’ve already made one mistake wearing it—due to extenuating circumstances, my I forgot to ask my wife to take it off for me Saturday night and I wound up sleeping with it on overnight. Big mistake. Pain in my foot all day long, aching in my lower leg, generally feeling horrible for the rest of the day. Some way to spend a Father’s Day: asleep and with legs elevated.
So, the primary care doctor appointment on Monday, finally the appointment with the ENT doctor on Wednesday—another busy medical week, with no time to write. I’m hoping they’ll at least put me in the right direction.
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