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The BARF Medical Thread

I'm nearly 73 yo, in relatively good shape. Vision, hearing, flexibility, balance all pretty good. My genetic makeup and a lifetime of bicycling have been good to me. Arthritis in my hands is progressing but not bad. A broken wrist, but only a few other minor injuries. A few minor moto crashes.

Like many older bicyclists, I've developed atrial fibrillation which surprised me, but hasn't been a major issue for me. However, during my assessment the docs found an aneurysm (bulge) in my aorta which IS more serious, so I've turned down the hard efforts on climbs and keep it moderate. So far, so good.

Playing keyboards in small-time rock bands has been a lot of fun, but the lifestyle and surroundings are full of temptations and I'm no angel. My classical backgound is "cleaner" and more demanding musically and academically, but I'm no longer involved enough to satisfy myself. Playing these days is mostly casual folk and rock jams for fun. Now I get to bed early! My wife has been a good influence and support!!

Since COVID lockdown, I've been avoiding crowds and cramped quarters. I'm not really active on social media, but keep up connections with people thru music and cycling. That's been a change and I'm consciously adjusting activities, relationships, and outlook.
 
Mods consider this a no photos request.
I’m with the budman, the crashes were worth it despite the collarbone and recently discovered old cracked ribs.
Generally speaking you kids are making me feel good. Only worked out during the racing days which are long gone but what memories. Occasional aches, arthritis, one kidney and still bothered by maleopause or is it the concussions.🤔
 
i hate staples.
 
Butch said:
BARF has been around for quite a while now and the membership has seen and experienced a lot of stuff.
There are a lot of issues that come up as we age, and not just mending from crashes. Most of us have had good and bad experiences with the medical industry. Many of us have had an exceptional doctor that we hope could help another BARFer. I have a really good orthopedic dude.

I just had Blepharoplasty surgery three days ago. Should improve my vision. Piece of cake. Medicare yea!
We have wisdom to share.
Click to expand...


2 that were exceptional.
Mike Macavoy at SSF Kaiser repatrd my pulverized radius, and wrist.

And my Electrophysiologist, Zian Tseng at UCSf, who got my heart back in rhythm after a year of atrial fibrillation misery.

Always demand "The Master"
 
I have a new GI Doc in Monterey, Dr Hell. Richard Hell.
He rides. He started on a YZ80..
He’s hella good, hella cool…
 
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Dr Hell. Noice.

I still have not met my primary care doctor since jumping to Medicare. More than 3 years.
I have gone in for appointments of course but the man has never shown his face. I think that is :bs personally.

The Mrs is pretty tired of that and is trying to get me over to her Dr.
 
Question for any Orthopedic Specialists.

Some backround. I Tore my MCL/ surface tear on my meniscus when I was in my Teens. The damage did not require surgery but Rest and PT for several months. Knee had always felt stable. I never felt any ill effects of that injury in my 20's. I lifted heavy weights, ran a lot, did muay thai. I was in peak physical shape, yet while training for a Tough Mudder at Lake Merced my knee started hurting, I pushed through the pain but the last mile my knee swelled up to the point that I couldn't walk anymore. I rested it n recovered. Or so I thought, jogging would aggravate my knee but I knew better than to push through the pain so I gave up running altogether :cry:.

Kaiser recommended physical therapy to strengthen my knee. Bitch I was flexible from doing muay thai, and squating well over 2x my weight. Weakness in my core/legs was NOT the issue, but jogging definitely made my meniscus go haywire. I gave up on the issue and figured I just won't ever run again.

Well now, a decade later my knee is acting up again just going up stairs, or climbing a ladder, or hiking up an incline. So I recently went to my doctor, and he prescribed me Ibuprofen, recommended PT again and ordered an XRAY ( my injury was covered by workers comp so Kaiser did not have record of the MRI that was done when I hurt my knee ).

TLDR : My question is this, why the fuck would my doctor prescribe me pain medication when I told him that working through the pain in my knee would make it worse? Also, how on earth is PT going to help with meniscus pain when the mechanics of WALKING put weight on it on account of the fact that its between two bones?! Also why waste my time with an XRAY when he knows this is a soft tissue problem? It took an hour to get my xray results btw, no abnormalities found( no fucking shit ).

Edit: At this point I have ZERO faith in anything Kaiser can provide me. Every single experience I've had with them has been negative, the worse being that time I got Salmonella that led to Myocarditis (1 of less than 50 documented cases in the US apparently) but the doctors had me thinking for an entire weekend I was going to need a heart transplant because they don't know how to fucking communicate and the Cardiologist was out for another three days
 
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Doobz said:
Question for any Orthopedic Specialists.

Some backround. I Tore my MCL/ surface tear on my meniscus when I was in my Teens. The damage did not require surgery but Rest and PT for several months. Knee had always felt stable. I never felt any ill effects of that injury in my 20's. I lifted heavy weights, ran a lot, did muay thai. I was in peak physical shape, yet while training for a Tough Mudder at Lake Merced my knee started hurting, I pushed through the pain but the last mile my knee swelled up to the point that I couldn't walk anymore. I rested it n recovered. Or so I thought, jogging would aggravate my knee but I knew better than to push through the pain so I gave up running altogether :cry:.

Kaiser recommended physical therapy to strengthen my knee. Bitch I was flexible from doing muay thai, and squating well over 2x my weight. Weakness in my core/legs was NOT the issue, but jogging definitely made my meniscus go haywire. I gave up on the issue and figured I just won't ever run again.

Well now, a decade later my knee is acting up again just going up stairs, or climbing a ladder, or hiking up an incline. So I recently went to my doctor, and he prescribed me Ibuprofen, recommended PT again and ordered an XRAY ( my injury was covered by workers comp so Kaiser did not have record of the MRI that was done when I hurt my knee ).

TLDR : My question is this, why the fuck would my doctor prescribe me pain medication when I told him that working through the pain in my knee would make it worse? Also, how on earth is PT going to help with meniscus pain when the mechanics of WALKING put weight on it on account of the fact that its between two bones?! Also why waste my time with an XRAY when he knows this is a soft tissue problem? It took an hour to get my xray results btw, no abnormalities found( no fucking shit ).

Edit: At this point I have ZERO faith in anything Kaiser can provide me. Every single experience I've had with them has been negative, the worse being that time I got Salmonella that led to Myocarditis (1 of less than 50 documented cases in the US apparently) but the doctors had me thinking for an entire weekend I was going to need a heart transplant because they don't know how to fucking communicate and the Cardiologist was out for another three days
Click to expand...
No specialist here, but fresh on the crutches from my ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair surgery. Kaiser‘s favorite and most popular game is pain control. Secondly, several x-rays and one MRI later my surgeon said he would not know for sure if my meniscus needed repairing until he was inside with his scope. Funny thing is he was fairly certain it did not need repair but upon entering my knee he saw that it was indeed lacerated and gave it three stitches. If I’m lucky that will heal and I’ll be back to tricky stuff sooner than later.

It’s tough being stuck with Kaiser when you don’t think you’re getting the proper care. I hope you do soon
 
I have Kaiser and I love the care I receive because I am in no pain nor do I require surgery. My thyroid remains out of whack however and I wonder if I need to up my Synthroid level.
 
Lucytriple said:
No specialist here, but fresh on the crutches from my ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair surgery. Kaiser‘s favorite and most popular game is pain control. Secondly, several x-rays and one MRI later my surgeon said he would not know for sure if my meniscus needed repairing until he was inside with his scope. Funny thing is he was fairly certain it did not need repair but upon entering my knee he saw that it was indeed lacerated and gave it three stitches. If I’m lucky that will heal and I’ll be back to tricky stuff sooner than later.

It’s tough being stuck with Kaiser when you don’t think you’re getting the proper care. I hope you do soon
Click to expand...
Yea I can't imagine masking a pain that will get progressively worse would ever be a good idea thats why this is so frustrating! I talked to my BA about switching to PPO
 
Compression fractures of L3 and L4 have plagued me to this day. Just as Bud experiences, I can't stand for too long before the pain make it too uncomfortable. Sucks the life out of my concerts. I still go and still shake my bones in front of the stage as much as possible but it doesn't bring the joy like it used to. My Pilates reformer practice makes it bearable and I know that without balance, flexibility and a strong core, I would be a wreck.
 
dravnx said:
Compression fractures of L3 and L4 have plagued me to this day. Just as Bud experiences, I can't stand for too long before the pain make it too uncomfortable. Sucks the life out of my concerts. I still go and still shake my bones in front of the stage as much as possible but it doesn't bring the joy like it used to. My Pilates reformer practice makes it bearable and I know that without balance, flexibility and a strong core, I would be a wreck.
Click to expand...
have u tried an inversion table, they feel so good for back pain
 
Doobz said:
Question for any Orthopedic Specialists.

Some backround. I Tore my MCL/ surface tear on my meniscus when I was in my Teens. The damage did not require surgery but Rest and PT for several months. Knee had always felt stable. I never felt any ill effects of that injury in my 20's. I lifted heavy weights, ran a lot, did muay thai. I was in peak physical shape, yet while training for a Tough Mudder at Lake Merced my knee started hurting, I pushed through the pain but the last mile my knee swelled up to the point that I couldn't walk anymore. I rested it n recovered. Or so I thought, jogging would aggravate my knee but I knew better than to push through the pain so I gave up running altogether :cry:.

Kaiser recommended physical therapy to strengthen my knee. Bitch I was flexible from doing muay thai, and squating well over 2x my weight. Weakness in my core/legs was NOT the issue, but jogging definitely made my meniscus go haywire. I gave up on the issue and figured I just won't ever run again.

Well now, a decade later my knee is acting up again just going up stairs, or climbing a ladder, or hiking up an incline. So I recently went to my doctor, and he prescribed me Ibuprofen, recommended PT again and ordered an XRAY ( my injury was covered by workers comp so Kaiser did not have record of the MRI that was done when I hurt my knee ).
Click to expand...
My knee story is similar in ways although I went through more stuff sooner.
Meniscus clean up surgery at 23yo. Found my ACL was very F'd up when they did that.
They did not fix it because I was out cold and they could not find my wife to ask permission. :rant
Doobz said:
TLDR : My question is this, why the fuck would my doctor prescribe me pain medication when I told him that working through the pain in my knee would make it worse? Also, how on earth is PT going to help with meniscus pain when the mechanics of WALKING put weight on it on account of the fact that its between two bones?! Also why waste my time with an XRAY when he knows this is a soft tissue problem? It took an hour to get my xray results btw, no abnormalities found( no fucking shit ).
Click to expand...
They operate on protocols imposed by insurance and drug company fucks. The days of Dr. doing exactly what they think should be done are over. Frustrating BULLSHIT!
The Xray first for this stuff is ridiculous to me when they know it is soft tissue damage. Do the damn MRI.
Doobz said:
Edit: At this point I have ZERO faith in anything Kaiser can provide me. Every single experience I've had with them has been negative, the worse being that time I got Salmonella that led to Myocarditis (1 of less than 50 documented cases in the US apparently) but the doctors had me thinking for an entire weekend I was going to need a heart transplant because they don't know how to fucking communicate and the Cardiologist was out for another three days
Click to expand...
I think you will find the same BS with any medical group. I had Kaiser with my knee replacement. Blue Cross when I had a cadaver ligament dropped in and for the scope clean up before.

Now it seems that the medical crap is even worse. I just got blood test done that is concerning and I am wondering if my Dr. will even comment or is it just going to be the nurse practitioner determining if it could be cancer or if there is some long term infection with the broken leg or... ?

I have zero faith in the system. I am pissed, but we will see what shakes next week.
I have just heard terrible stories about the Medical folks finding out what is going on but taking months and months to do anything proactive.

It is cool that getting a blood test that you get the results within hours. I appreciate the tech to fix my leg and all that, but getting through the maze on everything Medicare throws at me sucks.
 
budman said:
My knee story is similar in ways although I went through more stuff sooner.
Meniscus clean up surgery at 23yo. Found my ACL was very F'd up when they did that.
They did not fix it because I was out cold and they could not find my wife to ask permission. :rant

They operate on protocols imposed by insurance and drug company fucks. The days of Dr. doing exactly what they think should be done are over. Frustrating BULLSHIT!
The Xray first for this stuff is ridiculous to me when they know it is soft tissue damage. Do the damn MRI.

I think you will find the same BS with any medical group. I had Kaiser with my knee replacement. Blue Cross when I had a cadaver ligament dropped in and for the scope clean up before.

Now it seems that the medical crap is even worse. I just got blood test done that is concerning and I am wondering if my Dr. will even comment or is it just going to be the nurse practitioner determining if it could be cancer or if there is some long term infection with the broken leg or... ?

I have zero faith in the system. I am pissed, but we will see what shakes next week.
I have just heard terrible stories about the Medical folks finding out what is going on but taking months and months to do anything proactive.

It is cool that getting a blood test that you get the results within hours. I appreciate the tech to fix my leg and all that, but getting through the maze on everything Medicare throws at me sucks.
Click to expand...
I hate this, I may switch to PPO hopefully Ill have a better time there, but it will be pricier
 
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