What you can do if your doctor won't order all the labs you need

What I do:

I write my own lab slip based on this: docs.google.com/Doc Then I present it to my pcp to sign.  On that lab slip I list my surgeon and my pcp for results to be sent to but I also write:  RELAEASE ALL RESULTS TO PATIENT.  Then I go get my own results directly from the source.  I wait 2 weeks because it does take some of those labs a while to come back.

My pcp is not going to order everything I want.  My surgeon isn't either.  This way I save my pcp TIME which is what being a pcp is all about.

I've had trouble getting my results from my pcp and I chose to avoid hoops whenever possible so that is why I started writing "release all results to patient" and getting the results myself.

Once I get my results I plug the results in a spreadsheet and email it to several peeps here on OH that know a lot about labs.

This is working for me, and worked for my last labs after a move to a new pcp and new lab.

I know that there are many ways to skin a cat, but this is what has worked for me.

~Becky

Great advice.

Tks!

Thank Becky!  How did you figure out what codes to use so that insurance would cover the labs?

I think 579.9 covers most of it.  Your pcp can also add diagnosis codes when she signs it if she wants.

 Great advice Becky! 

I appreciate your advice posts. I have these all bookmarked for when it's time to get my labs. What scares me the most is how do DSers who do not use this site, or other support networks of informed patients, avoid malnourishment? I don't see how they would know the proper vitamins to take and what labs need to be ordered.

They don't.  It's a huge problem. And it contributes to the "DS is a bad and dangerous surgery" ideas that are out there.

Without these folks here on OH I would be in bad shape.  I'm too old to be loosing bone.  I had this surgery to be healthy, not to be malnourished and vitamin deficient.

The vets here who pay it forward day after day help SO many people.

The folks who don't find this sort of help are screwed and I do feel badly for them.  And then there are the ones who DO find this help and chose to ignore it.  They just make me shake my head.  You can't really feel sorry for people who have access to information and ignore it.

~Becky

 Since I have had surgery the vitamin  protocols have changed according to these message boards. But the even 17 years ago, the Surgeon gave a list of what  we/ Mom and I should be taking, as well as what we are never to take. That is a pretty good way to start! Part of the surgery is to be informed about your procedure and the effects it may have on your system...and you educate yourself about them and how to avoid the pitfalls!     ANY other questions??/sweetpotato

Unfortunately, I had to delete this post due to privacy concerns.