Judy

[donna1990]

Has anyone heard from her? Thought she went to the DR. yesterday.
We are worried about you GF.

[judy]

Originally Posted by donna1990

Has anyone heard from her? Thought she went to the DR. yesterday.
We are worried about you GF.

I love ya Donna!

I didn't go. I'm waiting for my appt. which is next week. I have the mammo and bone density tests manana, and the stress test on Thursday.

I will be all tested by the time I go!

[donna1990]

I thought your appt. was Mon. Sorry you have to wait so long.

[judy]

I didn't go for the stress test. A 4 hour test and being injected with radioactive stuff did not appeal to me in the end.

[gja1000]

Judy, did they tell you why they wanted to do a chemical stress test instead of a treadmill stress test? Usually they do chemical tests on people like my husband who cannot walk on the treadmill long enough to get results. It really doesn't make sense to me that they would do a chemical test on you instead of the treadmill stress test. I kinda think the stress test would be good for you to have, but I agree, I would rather do the treadmill, then the radioactive dye.

[judy]

Honestly, Gayle, I think the whole test was just scheduled so that the hospital could make money. I wonder if the doctor gets paid for any of it too.

My doctor had me scheduled to see a cardiologist to evaluate the EKG and echo, and to see if I could take a stress test. He found a mild mitral valve leakage; nothing to worry about.

He then scheduled me for a stress test because I was a smoker for years. The rads were because, according to him, 40% of women's' stress tests are incorrect unless they are thallium.

Since I stopped smoking about 15 years ago, and because I really felt that this was just a money maker, I decided not to bother with the test. I can always get a referral for a regular stress test if I decide I want a baseline.

[gja1000]

Makes sense to me - I think I would decline too. I hadn't heard that stress tests in women are inaccurate, but maybe so. I'll ask next week when Gary goes to the heart failure clinic - they will know for sure!

You are probably right about the making money part! Too sad!

[HALEY]

I think the whole test was just scheduled so that the hospital could make money. I wonder if the doctor gets paid for any of it too.


AMEN Judy, i think Micah's doctors are the same way, all these test for nothing !!!

[gja1000]

Many tests these days are CYA (cover your a$$). You see, Judy went in complaining of fatigue - a PRIME symptom of heart issues. Every test she had checked out OK, but one last most definitive test would have almost absolutely ruled out heart issues. If Judy does manifest a heart problem in the coming months - and all the tests were negative, including the stress test - then it would be less likely that Judy (or her family, in case the worst happened) would win a lawsuit against the doctor or hospital for lack of proper medical care (testing in this case). Does that make sense? Our society is so litigious that doctors and hospitals often do lots of tests to CYA, just in case something happens later. Some tests are most certainly unnecessary for diagnosis - but necessary for CYA. Some hospitals/doctors order tests to make money, but most do it to diagnose illness or CYA.

Now, as the wife of someone who has had AND NEEDED a multitude of tests, I'm very grateful they are available, that they've been ordered, and that they've shown what is wrong with Gary so the doctors could prescribe the appropriate treatments/meds. However, they are not all always necessary. It's one of the things that had driven our health care costs so high - unnecessary (or CYA) medical tests.