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This post is not medical advice.
I finally have my surgery date. I am a little nervous I won't be able to get the pre surgery check up in time. Surgery is less than 3 weeks away. My dr was expecting this but it sometimes it takes months to book physical appointments.
I need to have this surgery clearance physical which is basically an EKG. That said I will finally feel like it's scheduled for real once that appointment is made.
It's a bit bonkers to me that these physicals are required but only good for 30 days. I could have had it while waiting for the biopsy results , now I have to rearrange schedules and hope my primary care doctor can fit me in. I will know for sure on Monday.
I think these physicals should be good for 90 days so people can do them while waiting for surgery to be scheduled. That makes more sense especially for people with certain disabilities, chronic illnesses or just crazy busy schedules.
Now that I at least have a tentative date I can work with I can start scheduling other stuff. Both my life and my husband's have been on hold whole waiting to get the biopsy , then waiting for the results. It's already been a few months and this damn tumor is just growing the whole time.... and I'm on the fast track.
It cracks me up when folks in other countries think those of us in the USA don't have to wait for medical appointments/ or have long waits in the ER. We often have months or even a year of more waits for specialists (and if your insurance changes in that time your wait may be worth nothing) We just have to pay more for the privilege of healthcare.
The co pays for the surgery are in the low thousands of dollars range. This is in addition to the $700+ a month in premiums for the insurance (husband's employer pays for a good chuck and our cost is still like $700 or more every month). If we couldn't afford it, the tumor would just keep growing and causing more damage.
That's the reality of healthcare in the US.