Clo, if you work for a large company that has medicare comparable insurance you don't have to sign up for medicare at all until you start collecting SS. Even then, if you continue to work you can use...
Thanks, Quincy! I shudder to think about being in pain and going through all of that. I feel the same way you do about corn chowder, though in my case it's about Jack Daniels. (I was a wild child in...
I had tried to contact her a few months ago but no response. Hope she is ok and is just busy living life!...
I spoke too soon about not catching anything. I got hit with what I assume was a norovirus last Sunday night. Came on suddenly and was brutal for about 48 hours and then left me weak, dehydrated and...
No change in symptoms at all. I probably could have just stopped as the doc said, but I felt more comfortable going slow. Ask you gyn about the HPV vax. My guess is you don't need it....
Glad the supplies are being paid, Clo. Insurance is so stressful. Hang in there! UHC is haunting me! I got a message from my provider about the Jan infusion. Medicare denied my claim. They said my...
Hi Steve -- you should be on both oral and rectal meds now, as Quincy advised. Pred is just a bandaid to get you functional while your maintenance meds have a chance to start working. You should be...
I haven't had any kind of cold/virus for years. Even before Covid I was a germaphobe and kept my distance from sick people and sometimes wore face masks if flu was widespread in this area. I wash my...
That's great news, Sassy! Hopefully this will be behind you now! I went really slow when I tapered off of mesalamine. Doc said I could just stop after I was in remission on remi, but I swear I have...
UHC finally paid the Nov and Dec infusions! Such a huge relief!! I feared I was going to have to see a lawyer. Not crazy about being forced onto Medicare like this, but hoping for the best. Those of...
Check with your doc about whether you need to stop Rinvoq with a cold. I wouldn't think so unless you get a severe infection. The past 2 months are the time of year where colds spread rapidly. It may...
If RFK could focus solely on our food supply that would be a legacy he could leave behind that is worthy of the Kennedy name. I don't trust him when it comes to medical care, but if he could get the...
Hope you heal quickly and can just get on with life. You have spent so long dealing with this. Happy new year and new chapter in your life!!...
May we all have good health and fortune this year!! Mike -- that much blood came from somewhere. Might be a good idea to get checked out. I know it's a possible side effect of clindamycin, but you...
It sounds like they are trying to turn Remicade into Humira. If 1 pen every 2 weeks if supposed to be the same as 5mg/kg every 8 weeks then I would need 2 shots every week using that same...
https://www.zymfentra.com/patient-uc/ I just saw a commercial about this. It's a self injection infliximab. Anyone on this? Hard to believe that a self injection can take the place of a 2 hour...
As some others have mentioned, check with your doc for oral and rectal meds to start while you are tapering the pred. Pred is a rescue med to help until the other meds have a chance to work....
Wow, Clo! That's crazy that they went with just a verbal PA on your last infusion. Don't they have fax/email?? I hope you get this all straightened out soon. It's got to be so stressful! Is you doc's...
It's like a good news bad news thing about needing to stop Rinvoq. On the one hand it's been keeping you symptom free, but you have had a lot of side effects and haven't reached complete remission....
Flowers and Susie -- your Plan F premiums sounds like they are a good bit higher than my Plan G. From what I can tell the only difference between them is that Plan F pays the Part B deductible and G...
I was surprised that the talking heads were so shocked by the support for the shooter. I won't say on a public forum what I said in private about it. Suffice it to say I am going to hell....
Clo -- I think you said your BCBS plan is from an employer. That's probably why they get to have a say. From my understanding (limited as it is) is that with regular Medicare and a private supplement...
My doc's nurse wasn't sure about the PA for Medicare so she sent it to their 3rd party company who does PAs. Infusion is 1/2. Hope they do a quick answer since we have holidays coming up. My employer...
Recently I have started seeing commercials for Tremfya. If you try it, please keep us posted on how you do as I think you will be the first from this site who are on it....
1 gallon = 128 ounces I've always had the dulcolax/gatorade-miralax prep. But it's always been 64 ounces. I'm supposed to drink 1/2 of it the afternoon/evening before the appt and the other half is...
No reaction other than a sore arm....
Sorry to read all of this, Songlady. Hope the consult has some new magic for you. I tend to think of the amazing advances in cancer treatments as "magic". And I hope you get the best kinds of magic!...
I'm like you - never heard of it until I started seeing commercials about the vaccine. I asked my doc about it and he said it's a real disease and can be serious for seniors. I got the vax when I got...
Hope everyone had a good day! Old Hat -- stuffing is my weakness when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, too....
You have a LOT to be thankful for, Michele! It's been a rough year for you. Great news about being cancer free!...
Very interesting. Hopefully, this can lead to better treatments or maybe even a cure one day. And not just for IBD. This could be beneficial for other diseases. "The novel insight is akin to moving...
I wouldn't worry too much about the genetic test since your family members had the test saying they weren't prone to cancer yet they died from cancer within 2 years. Doesn't sound like a very...
Any thought that the h. pylori could be causing the weight loss and feeling so unwell? You mentioned that you are sensitive to antibiotics, but sometimes avoiding them can cause much worse problems....
That's 6 cups of tea a day. That sounds like a lot. I hope you are drinking decaf! Did the skin issues start before drinking all that tea? Just wondering is there is any connection....
That sounds awful! Glad you went to the other hospital!...
So I applied for my Plan G medgap plan and the Part D drug plan today. I refuse to use United Healthcare for anything (yes I know those are good plans, but they started this employer insurance mess*...
I read that one of the thoughts for Medicare is to make Advantage plans the default Medicare. A lot of people will go for that. A friend of mine has an Advantage plan with no premiums but she has a...
They wanted you to wait 6 months with those symptoms? What did you do? The doc is out of network right now, but I got a Continuity of Care approved for the rest of the year so I can still get my...
I already got my Medicare number! That was fast. I don't have the card yet, but I will be able to sign up for my Plan G and Part D...
That's great, Scarecrow!...
Have you contacted your gastro doc? I don't know anything about anal fissures or how you get them to heal. Any possibility of hemorrhoids? That's another thing that can cause blood and depending on...
So I finally had an appt with my GI (he never answered the messages in the portal about this -- I sent 3!). Today he said that unless the number goes over 250 and I don't have any symptoms he...
Thanks, Susie. I will check out Boomer Benefits. I can't imagine paying cash for medical care. They must give them much better prices .. or they are super rich....
For those who control their UC without meds -- do you still get scopes and what do the scopes show?...
To get to see a specialist around here it can be 2-3 months. It will probably be double that soon if those 35,000 people affected by the insurance battle all have to move to the only other provider...
My provider group and my employer insurance still have not reached an agreement. They are both being asses. Health insurance says to find a different provider. Provider says to get different...
That's awful, Clo! Glad you got it worked out, but whew!...
The mesalamine enemas never really did anything for me and I thought they were hard to retain. The steroid ones helped to keep me functional while I was waiting for remicade to kick in. I used them...
Got this from google when I asked how big fibroids are: "Fibroids can grow as a single nodule (one growth) or in a cluster. Clusters of fibroids can range in size from 1 millimeter to more than 20...
I read all the things you have been through and am amazed by you (and your wife!). I think you both have made more than your fair share of contributions to the medical community! Happy to hear you...