Some Medical Policies are Dumb

[Koz]

My son (a HS baseball pitcher) has been dealing with a sore elbow for months. The team trainer had him rest his arm for 2+ weeks and when he started throwing again it immediately hurt. So then I sent him to an orthopaedic surgeon who pawned him off to a pediatric surgeon and he was told he had tennis elbow, given a cortisone injection, and told to rest for 4 weeks. Mind you, my son is only 17, but he's just about 6' 4" tall, 185 pounds, and he's all muscle as he works out multiple times a week. Sending him to pediatrics is a joke.

 

He goes to school in Texas (I'm in Georgia), and last week he called me and told me he was in the hospital because his elbow was in so much pain. They put him in pediatrics again and took an X-Ray. He's scared and asks me to get down there. I book at last minute flight for the next morning and later in the day talk his doctor.

 

The doctor says he is sure Matt has nerve damage and is sending him to a level 1 hospital in Houston - a 5 hour ambulance ride away. I tell the doctor I'll just fly him to GA and have him checked out here. The doctor insists he has to go to Houston right now and have special nerve testing done or he could lose partial use of his arm. So they transport him to Houston.

 

The next day I fly to where Matt was, Uber to where his car is, then make my 5 hour drive to Houston. The irony here is that my connecting flight was in Houston.

 

I get to the hospital - another pediatric hospital - at 1 in the morning. Five minutes after I'm there the doctor comes in and tells me they are discharging Matt. What? I ask about the nerve testing that he traveled 5 hours for. The doctor tells me to make an appointment for next week. Really? After the other doctor said it was IMPERATIVE that Matt be tested RIGHT AWAY?

 

They did take an MRI in Houston and I asked about the results. The doctor says there is swelling. I ask about a UCL tear, frayed tendon, pinched nerve, and more. The doctor's only response? "There's swelling." Zero diagnosis.

 

My guess is this was simply a referral money grab between doctors and hospitals. I'm ticked. So I ask for Matt's records and the digital copies of the MRI. We leave at 2 in the morning to drive back to Georgia.

 

When we get back I start calling sports medicine doctors. They all refer him back to pediatrics because he's not yet 18. Then I lucked out. I started looking for doctors that specialize in baseball and I called the office of the team doctor for the Charleston Riverdogs. I pleaded my case stating Matt was not a little kid and he is on the radar of colleges and pro teams. The reached out directly to the doctor and he agreed to see Matt. So on Friday we trek to Charleston and hopefully we can get a diagnosis and a plan of action.

 

But I find it ridiculous that they kept putting this big young man in pediatrics because of his age and not taking into account his size and the fact that he's a baseball pitcher. This isn't some kid falling off of his bike. These doctors and hospitals need to use common sense. Thankfully we found one.

[Tennessee Boy]

Sorry you had to go through all that.   I hope everything works out for your son.   I’ve had similar experiences with doctors.  I had surgery once that did absolutely nothing to improve my symptoms and later caused a hernia which had to be fixed with more surgery.  

[GaryH]

Best of luck Koz with your son. Hopefully someone can get to the bottom of his problem.

[deaknh03]

Did you try Dr James Andrews?

[gim]

That is a lot of running around.  Hope the problem is revealed and a solution is found.

[slonezp]

Finding doctors that really care versus doctors that bow to insurance is extremely difficult. Stick it out and find a doctor that cares. 

 

We assume wrongly, that doctors know what they are doing.

 

I only know of 2 doctors that care and 1 of them is retired, possibly deceased by this time. I jacked up my shoulder severely, years ago. I'm legally disabled. Saw doctors on my own dime and workmans comp dime. Everybody had their own opinion. Opinions from "It's in your head" to "I can do this but can't make any guarantees".

 

I was part of an experimental surgery. Roughly #300 in the US who had had the surgery by the doc that discovered the ailment and pioneered the surgery. I travelled to KY, from Chicago, to have the experimental surgery. My shoulder doc in Chicago ended up studying under the KY doc because of me. 

 

While I'm still disabled, my quality of life is 1000% better than it was prior to surgery #3. Had I not had this surgery, I would have put a bullet in my head  and you folks would be free of my BS 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, deaknh03 said:

Did you try Dr James Andrews?

I actually have someone who knows him that offered to contact him for me. But I actually think he's more of a figurehead now at the Andrews Institute. Plus, the Andrews Institute is an additional 3 hour drive than where we are going.

 

I was also connected to the head baseball coaches at the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston, but both of those leads didn't pan out because Matt is only 17 and was referred to pediatrics again. It took an entire afternoon of calling I don't know how many people, then I essentially resorted to begging the Riverdogs doctor.

[Jar11591]

15 hours ago, deaknh03 said:

Did you try Dr James Andrews?

My first thought 

[Sam]

Koz, what a horrible story.

Best of luck to your son for a speedy diagnosis and recovery.

The medical industry is more and more looking for confirmed payments from health insurance than the care of its patients.

What do they ask you when you call for an appointment? Your insurance information. Not if you are laying on the floor dieing (call 911) or are in a lot of pain, just your health insurance information.

And the back-room money splits will blow you away. I got an EOB (Explanation of Benefits) for my wife's last visit to our family doctor and all was paid by Blue Cross with the exception of a $150 charge for retirement planning.

I asked her about this and she had no knowledge of what it meant as she and the doctor never discussed any retirement planning.

I called the doc's office and they told me not to worry about it they would remove it and we would not recieve a bill from the doc's office. Right. They would not send us a bill but I am sure the doctor's billing department knows how to collect it, somehow, or writing it off as uncollectable on the taxes.

Sending thoughts and good wishes of a fast recovery and hopefully LSU is looking at your son along witht the College of Charleston and South Carolina. If LSU needs anything it is pitching, and us LSU fans expect a wholesale defection of pitchers at the end of this year and a whole new group of guys for next season.

Keep us posted on your son's recovery. 

All the best for a good outcome.

 

[Eric 26]

@slonezp I’m sure your grandson is happy you had the surgery.

[slonezp]

19 minutes ago, Eric 26 said:

@slonezp I’m sure your grandson is happy you had the surgery.

He would have never met me had I offed myself. I had the 3rd surgery in 2014 and he was born in 17. That being said, I'm happy I had the surgery because he brings joy to my life.

[Koz]

UPDATE

 

Matt saw the specialist today and it's mostly good news. The best news is that there is no UCL tear. He does have indications of stress on the UCL, but nothing out of the ordinary for a pitcher. His medial pain is still excruciating with certain motions and that did place some limits on today's exam.

 

We're waiting on a date for nerve testing, but EMG testing is on 7/3. IN the meantime he has both PT and pain remediation therapy. Interestingly enough, the doctor said he can lift weights as long as he can tolerate the pain and he's on a return to throwing program. He won't be able to pitch for a few months, but he will be able to throw and hit.

 

He's not out of the woods until he gets the neuro and EMG testing and the pain decreases. But the doctor said surgery is highly unlikely at this time.

 

MY son is relieved. Heck, we got home at 7:30 tonight and he wanted to go outside and soft toss.

[Junger]

Yes, the medical referral system is an f'ing boondoggle, but you're a great dad. 

 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

maybe i am NAIVE, but pediatrics is just another doctor.  same schooling etc.  the real crime is if a pediatric doctor is dumb.  

 

but dont let the big jar of lollipops at the front counter fool you.  i think they are still doctors.  they may consider the developing systems of a young person, more clearly than a general physician.  

 

if i am having a public heart attack, i am not turning down the doc wearing a clown nose.  

 

i hope your kid heals up.  

[Koz]

5 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

maybe i am NAIVE, but pediatrics is just another doctor.  same schooling etc.  the real crime is if a pediatric doctor is dumb.  

 

but dont let the big jar of lollipops at the front counter fool you.  i think they are still doctors.  they may consider the developing systems of a young person, more clearly than a general physician.  

 

if i am having a public heart attack, i am not turning down the doc wearing a clown nose.  

 

i hope your kid heals up.  

There's a huge difference between a general pediatrics doctor and a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon that specializes in baseball players and especially pitchers. IT's not just reading MRI's and X-rays to see current injuries or subtle items that may lead to bigger problems. He also analyzes pitching mechanics, workload, rest habits, workout habits, nutrition, and more.

 

After that and whatever fix is called for there is a progressive PT, workout, and throwing program. The pediatric doctors misdiagnosed his issues as tendonitis and tennis elbow, told him to rest for 3 weeks, then throw again. He also got a cortisone shot that atrophied his muscles (his current doctor was shocked at how much atrophy there was).

 

The two pediatric doctors that misdiagnosed what was going on cost him his entire season. Even worse, depending upon the final diagnosis (if it is nerve damage) at a minimum it will cost him his winter ramp up period and at most he will lose his senior season in HS. That means no colleges and no MLB draft. He'll have to regroup and go to JUCO for a year or two (depending upon rehab time) to prove he's capable of pitching and can handle the workload.

 

The good news is he can soft toss and swing a bat with no pain. The bad news is he experiences bouts of numbness in his fingers and forearm. He dropped a plate the other day when he lost feeling.