What are you doing today?

[cbum]

Well, ideally, you wouldn't - that's the job of the GP.

 

[Citysnaps]

If not, I may do what my wife did, and go to a concierge doctor. It costs her several grand a year just to join, but she tells me she doesn’t have the problems I am having with Sutter/PAMF.

Sorry you're going through all that. I had been with PAMF for around 20 years. Initially they were pretty good. My last primary care doctor was outstanding, and asked excellent questions. He was so good I had a feeling he'd be going private practice in the future.

Last year I had what I believed was a hernia. My primary care doctor left PAMF around two years ago and went concierge. Trying to get *any* primary care doctor to assess my issue was 6 months out. That was really frustrating. Imo... PAMF has gone way down hill after being acquired by Sutter Health a couple years ago.

I reached out to Stanford Medicine and saw an "express care" physician the same day who confirmed it was indeed a hernia. The doctor made a referral to a surgeon, who I saw a month later. The initial visit with him went well and set me up for surgery a month and a half later. Which also went well (he's done a few thousand hernia surgeries). He also cut through the red tape and referred me to a new primary care doctor at Stanford Med who is also excellent.

As an aside... the primary care doctor that I had at PAMF and liked a lot went private practice concierge with two other doctors. And charges around $100K per year. Clearly they're going after Atherton folk where that cost isn't a biggie.

 

[Roller]

I have yet another weird malady that the doctors seem disinterested in. I thought i had impacted wax in my left ear, because that’s happened a couple times before, because my ear feels like something is in there, i hear and I feel a fluttering after each time that I speak. In the past that was wax. This time I also feel some mild pain in my ear and head, and sometimes when I get out of bed I lose my balance for a few seconds.

ENT didn’t find wax, tested ear pressure, and prescribed tylenol, saying it may have something to do with the nerve thing in my neck which causes neck pain and numbness in my thumb and index finger (still a few months away from a neurology appointment).

Lately every time I have a medical issue and see a specialist, they shrug their shoulders and point me to a different specialist, and then never follow up. Shoulder surgeon sends me for an EMG, the neurologist reports the results, then nothing happens. My fingers go completely numb, so I see a hand surgeon, who sends me to a neurologist (but this time an appointment takes 5 months). Now the ENT shrugs his shoulders and wishes me good luck. Meanwhile my GP just wants to follow the “order 15 blood tests, yell at me for not getting a colonoscopy yet” script - last time I was in for a physical, I also had a persistent cough, and when I mentioned it she told me I had to pick either the physical or the cough because she couldn’t do both in the same appointment. When I ask for advice on what I’m hearing from specialists and what I should do about it, she shrugs.

Now that I’ve written all this, I just realized doctors really suck. Our friend excepted, of course.

Sorry you're going through this. The key is to find a prime care physician – such as internal medicine or family practice – who can coordinate your care and direct you to the appropriate specialists and keep track of the results. Switch doctors if needed. I see several specialists, but my primary looks at their notes and test results and lets me know what I should do next.

I agree with @cbum about your ENT. They probably should have done more investigation. Problems with balance, regardless of the cause, are a red flag because they can lead to falls and injury. I suspect you will need imaging to figure out what's going on.

 

[Roller]

There a weird symmetry here. I wonder if doctors complain about lawyers.

Most of my legal contact has been as an expert consultant on malpractice cases, and it's been interesting. There are bad eggs in every basket, but I like and have respect for the lawyers who do their job well.

 

[Cmaier]

Sorry you're going through all that. I had been with PAMF for around 20 years. Initially they were pretty good. My last primary care doctor was outstanding, and asked excellent questions. He was so good I had a feeling he'd be going private practice in the future.

Last year I had what I believed was a hernia. My primary care doctor left PAMF around two years ago and went concierge. Trying to get *any* primary care doctor to assess my issue was 6 months out. That was really frustrating. Imo... PAMF has gone way down hill after being acquired by Sutter Health a couple years ago.

I started with PAMF when I switched careers, in 2007. Things used to be much smoother. I should probably get a primary care doctor at stanford, too. I’ve gone with stanford for a few things over the years, and things have generally gone smoothly there, but PAMF is more geographically convenient for me.

 

[DT]

Stayed over at the Town Center at the AC, eats, drinks (and drinks ), shopping for XIJ, ate at JA's, one of our fave places. Came home yesterday for XIJ Even wrapped presents, watched Spirited (dual room simulcast for secret wrapping).

Tree is up! Decorations!

Blueberry French toast casserole ready!

Buckeyes! Chocolate chips! WOO!

Something last night about the-fourth-of-July fireworks? Seems odd for XIJ Eve, but if that's your jam ...

Double pots this morning (32 and 50oz ), and a coffee cup that's apropos give one of the gifts (Switch 2)

PRE-XOJ-Eve

 

[Eric]

Stayed over at the Town Center at the AC, eats, drinks (and drinks ), shopping for XIJ, ate at JA's, one of our fave places. Came home yesterday for XIJ Even wrapped presents, watched Spirited (dual room simulcast for secret wrapping).

Tree is up! Decorations!

Blueberry French toast casserole ready!

Buckeyes! Chocolate chips! WOO!

Something last night about the-fourth-of-July fireworks? Seems odd for XIJ Eve, but if that's your jam ...


View attachment 35792

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Double pots this morning (32 and 50oz ), and a coffee cup that's apropos give one of the gifts (Switch 2)

View attachment 35793



View attachment 35794



PRE-XOJ-Eve


View attachment 35795

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View attachment 35797

<-- Looks at watch to double check what month it is again.

 

[rdrr]

I started with PAMF when I switched careers, in 2007. Things used to be much smoother. I should probably get a primary care doctor at stanford, too. I’ve gone with stanford for a few things over the years, and things have generally gone smoothly there, but PAMF is more geographically convenient for me.

So two different experiences for me, but it might be worth looking into. Ear/hearing issues with hand pain could be a neck issue with one of your C vertebrae. Definitely check with a Neurologist or Spinal Surgeon and push for the MRI (they don't like ordering that test). The other time I had major hearing fluttering/vertigo was the day after a binge drinking session. I was severely dehydrated and the crystals in the inner ear that tell you which way is up, got stuck. *shrug* I never heard of this before, but apparently it is a real thing.

 

[Cmaier]

So two different experiences for me, but it might be worth looking into. Ear/hearing issues with hand pain could be a neck issue with one of your C vertebrae. Definitely check with a Neurologist or Spinal Surgeon and push for the MRI (they don't like ordering that test). The other time I had major hearing fluttering/vertigo was the day after a binge drinking session. I was severely dehydrated and the crystals in the inner ear that tell you which way is up, got stuck. *shrug* I never heard of this before, but apparently it is a real thing.

yeah, i have a known c6/c7 issue that was diagnosed, and then i never head from neurology again. And now it’s caused a new constellation of problems that come and go (probably). I do extreme stretching of my shoulder joints which has gotten rid of most of the pain, at least. Mostly it’s just the numbness in the right hand and now the ear thing.

I had the positional vertigo thing about a year ago, and did a set of weird exercises that cured it right up. Not sure if it’s related to my current problems.

 

[Katbel]

yeah, i have a known c6/c7 issue that was diagnosed, and then i never head from neurology again. And now it’s caused a new constellation of problems that come and go (probably). I do extreme stretching of my shoulder joints which has gotten rid of most of the pain, at least. Mostly it’s just the numbness in the right hand and now the ear thing.

I had the positional vertigo thing about a year ago, and did a set of weird exercises that cured it right up. Not sure if it’s related to my current problems.

@rdrr There are few exercises my husband does time to time and work
BPPV Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: is generally treated by a physical maneuver called the Epley. The Epley is designed to reposition the particles away from the cupula into a less sensitive area of the inner ear.
Ask you doctor what's the best for you, there are YouTube videos as well

 

[Katbel]

Today I had my last radiation of 5 days cycle . Feeling very tired but still alive and able to hold a camera
8 weeks before the next and final cycle.

 

[rdrr]

yeah, i have a known c6/c7 issue that was diagnosed, and then i never head from neurology again. And now it’s caused a new constellation of problems that come and go (probably). I do extreme stretching of my shoulder joints which has gotten rid of most of the pain, at least. Mostly it’s just the numbness in the right hand and now the ear thing.

I had the positional vertigo thing about a year ago, and did a set of weird exercises that cured it right up. Not sure if it’s related to my current problems.

As someone who had C7-C6 back in 2007, and then C6-C5 and C5-C4 just this past October. Stay away from the knife as long as possible. The first surgery I had was with a neurologist, and it had to be done. Both arms felt like they were on fire with nerve pain. I had some limitations, but still I stopped riding motorcycles, because my range of motion wasn't as good as before the surgery. This last go around has been a bit more of a recovery, which I relate to my advancing age. But I also put a lot on the fact that I picked an Ortho rather than a Neurosurgeon.

 

[Cmaier]

@rdrr There are few exercises my husband does time to time and work
BPPV Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: is generally treated by a physical maneuver called the Epley. The Epley is designed to reposition the particles away from the cupula into a less sensitive area of the inner ear.
Ask you doctor what's the best for you, there are YouTube videos as well

yeah, that’s the thing i did a year ago, and it worked.

This time is a different situation. Appears to be a muscle in my middle ear that is spasming. Tied to muscle on my skull behind my ear that always hurts because of the nerve compression issue.

 

[Eric]

This is a commercial I worked on for San Francisco to help generate tourism, most of the first half are all my shots.

 

[Herdfan]

Nice.

How do you get that high legally? I know my drone won't go over 400' from launch point. Did you launch from a hilltop or is there an FAA clearance you can get to exceed the 400'?

 

[Eric]

Nice.

How do you get that high legally? I know my drone won't go over 400' from launch point. Did you launch from a hilltop or is there an FAA clearance you can get to exceed the 400'?

Right, technically I'm not over 400' for any of these shots. There was a hilltop that I traversed up to get the GG bridge shot for example, I think I was at around maybe 350'.

Here is an example of the hilltops surrounding the bridge and a rough area of my flight path. It's all about perspective.

Also, not sure who manufactures your drone but most will certainly go over 400', it's up to the pilot not to break those rules. Just like a car's ability to exceed the speed limit.

 

[Herdfan]

Also, not sure who manufactures your drone but most will certainly go over 400', it's up to the pilot not to break those rules. Just like a car's ability to exceed the speed limit.

First Gen Autel. It will violate restricted airspace, but won't go over 400'. Although, it may simply be a default setting that I never undid.