The next day, I arrived just after my
friend's wife had pulled into the driveway. She was starting to
unload the groceries and I helped them. My friend said their son
would be there shortly and there would be a lot to do with new
software and a new laptop. No sooner said than the son was home.
The next three hours were spent installing software and a new hard
drive in his mother's computer. After that was completed, he set up
the laptop.
The rest of the evening was spent
talking about different software and the son set up a network for the
three computers to access data from any computer. When I said I
needed to leave, my friend wanted me to come the next day to teach
his wife and him how to find reliable web sites. I said I had
household tasks to be completed and that I could assist most evenings
the following week. He asked if I could come Tuesday evening. His
wife agreed and I said okay, as this would allow me some time to
research.
On Tuesday, the wife had announced that
she and her husband had taken time to look at the medications they
were taking and were both going to talk to the pharmacist about
potential conflicts and then if there were any found, they would need
to have a talk with their doctors. My friend added that he had
stopped taking a few supplements after they had spent time looking at
the University of Oregon website I had given them. His wife
continued that even she had stopped two of her supplements.
I then suggested that they both have
tests done for those they were continuing to take to determine if
there was a need. The wife said that after reading several of my
blogs on metformin and vitamin B12, she was definitely asking for the
test for vitamin B12 and vitamin D. By doing this, both would have a
baseline for future reference and even if she did not think there
were problems presently, they would know what to look for in the
future. She said they had found some recent lab results and her
husband was in need of a vitamin D supplement.
I then suggested they always ask for
their lab results and look carefully at the results and the normal
range recommended. She said that her husband's doctor seemed to give
him a copy, but she had never asked and her doctor hadn't been giving
her a copy. I asked her if she had a calendar with her appointments
or a diary of her appointments. She said she had a diary.
I suggested that she write a form
requesting the lab results for the prior two years. Address it to
the doctor and then ask for the lab results by date or date range if
unknown. Sign and date the notice and then go to the doctor's office
and request a form to complete. Once completed ask if you can attach
your list, but don't be upset if they ask you to transfer the
information to their form. This is often a way to discourage you
from asking. I continued that many offices will ask for a fee up
front or before they give the information to you. They will require
you to do this in person and you should obtain a copy of the request.
Do not be surprised if they take the full 30 days.
I added that on the last day, always
resubmit a copy of the request saying the date originally requested
and that this is now 30 days later. Also, state that you are
contacting the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
Civil Rights (OCR) and detailing their lack of action. If it takes
this, you must have copies of all your actions and dates, carefully
follow the instructions and submit your claim.
I could see we were running out of time
and asked them to pull up the following links and bookmark or add
them to favorites. The first is this link and the second is this link. They did and I reminded them that they contained excellent
pointers and even if they were worried that they did not say
diabetes, I would send them some links later. I stated that the two
links also had other links and most would apply to diabetes even
though they were about health in general.
My friend and I talked a little longer
and the wife was reading in both links and politely interrupted. She
said these sound as if we should not pay attention to bloggers. I
said that is true as we are not medical professionals. I said we
could only suggest items of interest and talk about our experiences.
Then it depends on what you perceive as being reliable and often what
you can find on other sources that are reliable that confirms what we
suggest. I added that is why I use links to let people do their own reading and if they agree, they will be more apt to follow my blog.
Oh, she said, that is why you say “what
works for me, may not work for you.” Yes, and when you see “your
mileage may vary,” this means about the same, or that the results
you receive may be different from the results I received. I said it
is like selecting cars, each obtains different mileage per gallon of
gas. The husband said as long as we can email you with questions,
then we should be able to find answers.
I said yes, and excused myself and
left.
No comments:
Post a Comment