If you've read me for a while you know I tend to resist going to the doctor (outside of the annual maintenance requirements all females (should) have.
I was sick at the beginning of the year, but waited it out. But this time, a mere six weeks after feeling better from the last bout, when I got sick again, I finally broke down and navigated the waters of a non-maintenance Kaiser experience.
I'm always telling people I'm also looking for positive health care stories, so I guess I better tell my own.
So, what finally broke me down and made me make the call? When I spent Thursday night, after over a week of sickliness, with my entire face hurting...ears, cheeks, jaw, tongue, roof of the mouth, bloodshot eyes...and figured that was just not a normal cold.
Unfortunately I had a speaking engagement the next morning, so feeling only marginally better I got myself up and at 'em and drove up to Palo Alto to sit on a panel about measuring success in the blogosphere. The panel went well, and the adrenaline from public speaking also made me feel more well. But it wasn't long before the sort of achy throbbing feeling returned.
So, in the car on the way home, after ducking out of the rest of the conference, I started with a call to my local Kaiser office general number. My first attempt to get sick-time service from Kaiser...
At first it didn't bode well. The number I had called as general as it was, didn't have an option to go to the Advice Nurse and Appointments line. I had to hang up and call another number they provided. Which, given I was driving, was sort of annoying. (No comments from the peanut gallery, please...at least I dialed while at a stop light.)
But then I got a nice woman who ran me through a list of questions on my symptoms. Apparently she herself was not an Advice Nurse, because she told me that she would look for an appointment today, and if she couldn't find me one would send me over to an Advice Nurse to determine whether I needed emergency care.
She found me an appointment three hours hence, so I went home and changed and puttered about, wondering if Iw as going to get to the doctor, spend hours on it, only to find out I had a virus and there was nothing much they could do.
My first trip to the new Kaiser facility on Lawrence Expressway was a bit confusing. It's huge, and not all that clear where you're supposed to park for different part of the facility. I'm sure I picked the furthest possible garage to park in, and found my way to the proper section of the facility.
I paid $65 upon checking in. No idea why. Didn't even ask. Have completely resigned myself to the fact that I don't understand my own health coverage. I thought that I had a co-pay for a doctor's visit, even when I hadn't reached my deductible. This is clearly untrue.
I was a little early, but they called me in almost immediately. The nurse took my blood pressure which was noticeably high, or at least higher than normal. The she put me in an exam room. I didn't have to disrobe and wear anything paper, so that was nice.
Within a few minutes kindly Dr. S. knocked on the door and then came in. He introduced himself and shook my hand. (All of which was also nice.) He was a European gentleman somewhat on the older, kindlier side. He asked me questions and then shone lights in various parts of my head. He was understanding about my tongue depressor phobia, and didn't "gag me with a spoon" or anything like that.
Within just a few minutes he noted that my nasal passages were inflamed and red, that he saw various phleghmy things going on in my nose and throat, that some of that delightful phlegm had clearly gotten into my lungs and was impacting my ability to breathe deeply without a dry cough ensuing. And that my facial pain and all those other symptoms added up to sinusitis. Key excerpt of the description at Health A to Z:
Acute sinusitis usually follows some type of upper respiratory tract infection or cold. Instead of ending, the cold seems to linger on, with constant or even worsening congestion. Drainage from the nose often changes from a clear color to a thicker, yellowish-green. There may be fever. Headache and pain over the affected sinuses may occur, as well as a feeling of pressure which may worsen when the patient bends over. There may be pain in the jaw or teeth.
So, it seems likely that my chest cold form earlier in the year may never have really gone away, and contributed to this problem.
I asked kindly Dr. S, if I should have come to the doctor back in January, and he said, in his kindly fashion: "Well, I don't know, but I'm very glad you came today."
He prescribed three things for me:
-Amoxycillin, an anti-biotic.
-A cough syrup with codeine to help me sleep.
-An inhaler (which was kind of surprising.)
The pharmacy was on the same floor and around the corner from the exam areas, and I waited about 30 minutes for my prescriptions to be ready.
All in all I was in and out the door in under an hour, even including the time I spent on the phone earlier in the day.
Good job. So far, with admittedly scant experience, Kaiser has done pretty well by me.
Should I go and study my Description of Benefits and try to get a handle on what I'm actually paying for? Sure. I should do that. Some day.
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