What does it take for you?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Ok, I actually am trying to be considerate of Cervaise’ nutsack, and I don’t want to hijack his thread anymore than I have, so…

What does it take to get you to the doctor?

The reason I ask is this – men (IME) tend to be worse than women about not going to the doctor until things have become emergent. In the linked thread, Cervaise says day 1, “it hurt to pee.” I can be pretty effing stubborn with my health (hell, I am too ornery to die, I will live forever out of spite – my mother tried to abort me in the THIRD trimester, think about it) but if it hurts to pee, you’d better believe I would be at the doctor’s office going “oh, no, let me explain this to you – I WILL see the doctor today, because IT HURTS TO PEE.”

<sounds of bells, whistles and sirens>
TMI ALERT – LOOK AWAY NOW
Now, I admit that since Friday night, my stomach has been more than a little ooky feeling, and through gravy poops alone, I have lost about 13lbs but I’ve had no fever, no blood in the poop and no vomiting, so I have no desire to see the doctor. I know what he’s going to say: “Litoris, there’s a nasty stomach bug going around. Be glad you’re not puking. Stay hydrated and go to the ER if you do see blood or become dehydrated.” I am staying hydrated, so no worries there.
TMI OVER
<end noise>
[ul]
[li]blood coming out of any orifice not a cut/wound – this obviously excludes the normal monthly blood that doesn’t come from a wound. [/li][li]any pain bad enough to make me cry – I’m not a wimp, so if it’s bad enough to make me cry, you can bet your ass it’s a bad thing[/li][li]lumps where they do not belong[/li][li]if it hurts when I pee/have/sex/touch my vajayjay in any way[/li][li]obvious stuff – bones poking through the skin, and so forth[/li][/ul]

Now, I feel inclined to tell you a story that backs up my men are insane because they just don’t grok when to go to the doctor position.

I worked with a very nice guy once who missed 5 days of work. Since he was under my direct supervision, he called me to tell me he would be out for 5 days. When he came in, I expressed concern (he hadn’t said why his doctor didn’t want him working, and I really didn’t want to know) about his health. Nothing more than a passing “so, you’re ok now?” He was a file clerk, so no heavy lifting or anything was involved. He proceeded to tell me a story about how he had woken up one morning and “it hurt to pee” but he thought nothing of it, maybe the night before, he’d gotten a little wilder than he thought he had (he was gay, maybe relevant, maybe not). The next day, he noticed a little lump on righty. (Yes, by now, I was looking for an excuse to end the conversation, but was intrigued nonetheless, damn morbid spaz that I am) Day 3, lump was the size of a walnut and squishy but not painful, so he still didn’t need to see the doctor. Oh, yeh, I should also mention it still “hurt to pee.” This, apparently, went on for about a week before lumpy MOVED to lefty. He was a little concerned at that point, but decided to wait until the doctor’s next available – 2 weeks later. During the intervening 2 weeks, lumpy moved from righty to lefty a few times – and he still didn’t see it as emergent!!! It turned out to be some kind of cancerous thing, and he had it excised and was fine, but still. WTF?

So, what say you? Does “it hurts to pee” rank on the get-me-in-the-office-today scale or are you of the “oh, I shall just wait until my testicles/vajayjay grow teeth and then whenever they fit me in will be ok” group?

2

Well, for me it’s a matter of, “Is it likely to become worse?” and “Can they do anything about it?” and “How much of my day will be wasted?” I’ve been known to go to the emergency room for nothing more than a neurotic complaint, but I’ve also been known to make that waving-away gesture at my wife when she suggests going to the doctor. It’s situational, in other words.

3

How bad and for how long? If it’s just a day or so it’s probably just one of those things. And, of course, how bad? Sometimes things just hurt for a while and then stop, and there’s no point in coughing up a copay if the doc is just going to say “call me back if it gets worse”.

Prior to the past year (long, uninteresting story that ends with an NSAID and 100 mg of Ultram/day), I’d go to the doc for a painful cough if it kept me up at night, a wound if I can’t stop the bleeding, bad burns (80% of both feet, I think it was), or eye-watering pain that lasts long enough to keep an appointment (this makes the burn clause redundant, actually). I suppose I would if I got conked on the head really hard, or if whatever was wrong kept me home from work for more than a day.

That last one, the staying home from work, is generally what gets me in. If I’m too sick to work, I need to be fixed. I may have missed 3 days in the past 3 years for my own health.

I’ll take my kids or try to get my wife to go (she’s worse than me) at the first sign that something wrong. I hate it when my family isn’t well, it angers me when there’s something I can’t fix.

But me? Eh, I’ll get over it.

4

What does it take?

Something hurts a lot for no good reason.

I fell on a rock, and I can’t raise my arm.

My prescriptions ran out.

It hurts to pee, when I can pee.

Dramatic change in my vision.

Yeah, stuff like that.

5

Anything that looks like it shouldn’t or hurts like it shouldn’t for more than a week, I go to my GP and if necessary to a specialist thereafter.

I am a hypochodriach, maybe.

I have outstanding health insurance, definitely. :smiley:

6

What does it take for me? Oh, I don’t know, maybe… HEALTH INSURANCE!!

As it stands as long as no bones are poking out and the blood quits flowing in a reasonable period of time I’m not willing to risk another medical bankruptcy–quite frankly I’d rather just die of whatever’s ailing me. It’s quicker and ultimately less painful. Sorry to be Jane Buzzkill, but that’s reality in America today.

7

Being raised by two doctors whose mantra was Thou Shalt Not Clog Up The Emergency Room Unless Necessary, I have to admit it takes a hell of a lot to get me to drag my ass to see a doc.

Blazing hot fever for more than 24 hours? Yep.
Projectile vomiting for more than 24 hours? Yep.
Any illness that refuses to go away after 7-10 days? Possibly.
Hurts to pee? Double yep! (I learned my lesson the hard way about dragging my heels over possible UTIs)
Broken bones, severed body parts or deep cuts that may require sutures? HELL YES!

Anything less severe than the above, over my dead body. My roommate once dragged me kicking and screaming to the walk-in clinic because I had strep so bad I couldn’t speak or swallow without extreme pain, because I was too stubborn to go on my own (yes, I’ve learned my lesson about that too).

8

Me too. I stay away if I can manage it, and almost always call our Nurse Line first for advice before anything.

I go if it looks like it’ll need stitches, if the bleeding doesn’t stop in 10 or 15 minutes (other then a period), or if it really, REALLY hurts and I can’t ‘walk it off’.

Oddly enough, I was presented with this type of situation earlier today. Around 9 am, I lost half the vision in my right eye. It was like a shimmery curtain pulled over my sight. It lasted for 30 minutes before I called the Nurse Line. I also felt sort of like I was in a dream. She told me I should go to the ER.

I waited another 30 minutes, my vision cleared, but I had an odd headache so I came home. I feel fine now.

So, like most men, I wait until the last minute.

9

I pretty much have to be convinced that I’m on my deathbed.

10

If anything is oozing out of me, I’m pretty quickly convinced.

That, or if the pain is bad enough to make me contemplate the entire jar of Tylenol.

11

Ah yes. My answer exactly.

When I do have health insurance it doesn’t take much. Any weird ailment that lasts longer than a week is getting checked.

12

Hmmm… Interesting. I’m pretty good about getting to the doctor for my routine stuff (checkups for diabetes etc), but other stuff? Not so much. Case in point, one Thursday at the end of November I fractured my thumb playing volleyball. I iced and strapped it up and carried on playing. By the next day it was covered in interestingly coloured bruises. Still I did nothing, and just took some painkillers. I couldn’t actually hold anything or even move my thumb. I lasted the entire weekend till Sunday evening when I ended up complaining to a good friend over MSN about just how much pain I was in. He spent over an hour convincing me to go to the ER as soon as possible and that if I hadn’t gone by Monday evening, he was going to get his arse over here and take me himself. So I went. And good job I did really… Course the irony of this situation is is that I’d been the one to convince him about a month prior that he should really go to the hospital himself to get his finger that he’d dislocated (and subsequently found to have fractured) playing rugby checked out.

13

Well, it has to last, first and foremost. I’ve been to the doctor for a lot of stuff, but I was still the guy who was shitting blood ten times a day for weeks before going there.

14

Female, used to universal health insurance.

If I don’t know what’s causing it, or if I do know it needs prescriptions/bandages/surgery to get fixed, I go to the doctor. I’ve also been known to call the doctor when what was causing Mom’s illness was (imo) the new meds. Our previous GP learned pretty fast that when I say “this is what the problem is,” I tend to be right. SiL (our current doctor) hasn’t learned it yet, but then, the reason Mom switched primary doctors was so her DiL would have no choice but to care about her many ailments… (SiL had tried to medicate her when Mom complained about being abused as a babysitter-housecleaner; “if she want to behave as my doctor and not my DiL then by Jove she shall be my doctor!”).

15

My grandmother. I was just there on Tuesday in fact, turns out she may have bursitis.

Now what would it take me me to make an appointment for myself? The hand of God himself I believe.

16

I’m a bit of a whimp when it comes to taking time off work for illness - if I don’t feel well I won’t come in. Going to the doctor is a bit different though, and for the times that spring to mind it’s been for chronic problems such as chest infection, regular problems sleeping, horrible horrible itching (turns out I had scabies) and yes, the wonderful hurts-to-pee (or more accurately my-pee-feels-superheated - turns out I had chlamydia). That’s not including things like check ups or follow-up appointments for prescriptions etc.

I’ve only been to A&E twice, once for a burn (as a child) and once because I was going off my nut (but as I was taken there by the police tied up I didn’t really have a great deal of choice in the matter).

17

Funny you should ask.

Back in mid-December, I ate some bad chicken & got food poisoning. After spending an entire day on the toilet, and another day of more-or-less continuous dizziness, I broke down & went to the doctor – I had to find one first, as I haven’t had an exam in probably 20 years, and I’ve only lived here for 15.

So I go to the doc, and she finds I have high blood pressure – not a big deal, just take some pills & it’ll be under control. Little did I know. The doc insisted I get a full exam – I’m 45, and a bit on the heavy side. During the exam, she picks up a heart murmur. Since Mom’s side of the family has a history of heart disease, I get referred to a cardiologist. On the plus side, my cholesterol & blood sugar are quite good.

Well, given the family history, the cardiologist orders ultrasound & stress tests. The stress test shows some circulation issues, suggesting at least one blockage. I have a cardiac catheterization scheduled for Good Friday; if they find anything, they’ll do an angioplasty on the spot.

On top of all that, my insurance is pushing back a bit – I started a new job 5 months ago and they’re trying to say these are pre-existing conditions so they don’t have to pay for them. :mad:

18

Ok, for those with insurance issues, I sympathise, I really do. Been there, done that for far too long in my life. Perhaps that’s why I am as stubborn as I am – a fever? Not worth the time to see the doctor. My rule with the fever is if it goes away with tylenol/motrin then there’s no need to see the doctor. A fever has to stay for more than 3 days and/or not be relieved with meds during that time for me to consider seeing the doctor.

Obviously, routine stuff was aside, too. I might not be bothered by the gravy poops that have now lasted 6 days, but I will be in the office next week for my blood work. You can take that to the bank – I will never let my thyroid get as out of whack as it was again. Never. Of course, ya know, I will probably mention to my doctor the whole gravy poop thing, if it’s still going on when I see him next week…

19

If I think I need one. Last year I hit my head, hard enough to make me worry about a concussion. I had my b/f run some simple tests on me, and they all came back normal, so I decided if I did have a concussion, it was extremely minor(note: I was trained as an EMT and helped my mom train as a Paramedic). After three days of headache, nausea and him nagging me I did go see a doctor.

She told me it couldn’t possibly be a concussion, and asked if I was pregnant. She’s been prescribing me bc pills for years. After a MRI and CAT scan she reluctantly agreed I may have an extremely mild concussion. And she didn’t offer any drugs for my headache or nausea, both of which lasted precisely one month.

So in the end I was out the co-pay(Insurance thankfully covered the rest), and had the same diagnosis I had made in the semi-drunk state I was in when it happened.

But I also went to the ER with an really bad stomachache my mom said was Appendicitis. It took half the night, because all my tests were inconclusive, but the next morning they took out my just about to burst appendix.

20

I’ve been sick (possibly pneumonia) for 5 weeks, and I’m just seeing the doctor today.

No health insurance.