oh *FUN*

[chhotii]

Having hit the big FIVE-OH my doctor has ordered me to get a colonoscopy. He always refers to people at Mount Auburn but it's a pain to get across the river to Cambridge. I had deliberately moved here to be near a hospital in the Longwood Medical Area, so I called the one that's in my plan to schedule this FUN.

Either you have to arrange for a responsible adult to meet you after the procedure in the department and drive you home, or you have to promise to do it without sedation. Even though I wouldn't be driving home in any case. When do I ever take the car to Longwood Medical Area? The traffic is crazed and parking is prohibitively expensive. I live along the route of a bus that goes right through there. This is not a coincidence. But no, they aren't willing to consider whether I could take the bus home by myself after sedation; either I have a responsible adult pick me up or no sedation or no procedure.

I know that at least one of y'all has done this without sedation and it was fine, maybe mildly interesting even. So I promised I would do this with no sedation.

But I'll have to cope with this weirdness after a day of no food other than jello and chicken broth. Maybe no coffee. I can have black coffee the day before, and the day of if I have it before 6:30 am. But if I'm going to be coping with fasting and ick and lying around anyway, might be a good opportunity for a bit of a caffeine holiday.

And, this is happening the day after the day that Daylight Saving Time does a thing. Clocks spring... in the direction that makes it even harder for Vic to get up and get to school on time by an hour.

wheeeeee.

Comments

[quietann]

I've always done sedation, but obviously I have Ben. (Ben actually might be willing to pick you up in the LMA, as long as it's not too early, or bumping up against afternoon rush hour.)

One thing re the bus vs. a car: if you are anything like me, you will not have a long interval between, um, colonic explosions by the time you get to the end of the prep. A taxi or Lyft may be a better idea. I actually used adult diapers when things got, um, runny the last time, "just in case"

I had it done at BIDMC, which was fine. I had been a loyal patient of the Drs. Falchuk, but they are both retired now. For the most recent, a few months ago, I used Dr. Feuerstein, who seemed very young, but he's not. He's very straightforward. You will *not* get a choice of nurses or other team members, but I've had 4 colonoscopies and an endoscopy there, and have yet to have a bad team. (My mom had colon cancer at 62, so I'm somewhat high risk.) We stayed overnight at the Longwood B&B, so I could walk there in the (very early) morning. Because I'm Type 1 diabetic, I pretty much am guaranteed the first or second slot of the day.

[chhotii]

Here's a question for you-- If I get a job within the Partners system, will it be expensive for me to continue with my BIDMC providers? As an employee of BIDMC, I found I could save money by going with a lower-cost plan that defined nearly anything Partners-affiliated as "out of network" but other than that had great coverage. MGH providers became unaffordable and finding BIDMC providers became the way to go. I wonder if it would be the same in the other direction.

[quietann]

I still see some of my BIDMC doctors. The copay is $70 instead of $15 and does seem to keep going up, so I've switched to Partners except for where I have a long-standing and positive relationship with a doctor or department. That ends up basically being my PCP*, anyone at Joslin Diabetes Center, and the GI docs.

*My BIDMC-affiliated PCP is awesome, and seems to know all the Partners/BWH clinics and doctors.

At one point there was no difference, but BIDMC and Partners both self-insure, so staying in network makes more sense -- for them. I'd really prefer to not have my doctors and I working for the same employer.