I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Centers => Topic started by: paddbear0000 on March 26, 2009, 01:28:05 PM
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:rant; I was finally transferred to my new clinic this week (on Monday), and it is horrible! I think they were trying to kill me! I can not run any higher than a 250 pump speed and 600 dialysate without major problems. The new clinic has their own protocols and ran me at 350 speed and 800 dialysate. They fought me the whole way too. I started with a BP of 185/105, yet only half way through, I crashed bad. They stopped pulling off fluid (which wasn't even close to what is normally taken off), yet my BP kept going down, to the point where it hit 60/44 and I told them to take me off the machine. I was sick, had a horrible headache and leg cramps (I have never crashed that bad before). By the time i got home, every muscle and joint in my body hurt like hell. My back was spasming so bad, I was on the floor in tears. I had to take 2 vicodin to stop the pain. I was like this, including vomiting until my Wednesday treatment, but things were getting better. I had to have Greg call the dialysis center and yell at them. After that, they decided to change me back to normal treatment. The fact that I called Davita to see if I could switch to them may have helped too (Davita called them to get my info). I was in this condition until Wednesday morning. Then I had to go back!!
Everything seemed to be going much better yesterday. They didn't take any fluid off. But then again, I hadn't been able to keep anything down since monday morning and I hadn't gained any weight at all. As soon as I left, my headache came back, as did the intense muscle aches and back spasms. I don't know what the hell they are doing to me, but geez. I've spent the last 3 days either in severe pain, crying, sleeping or vomiting. I don't know how much more of this I can take.
This center also sucks because they do not have wireless internet access (or any internet for that matter). Nor do they have cable tv. All they have are 3 local channels, one of which is mostly snow. My chair is located in a corner, facing a closet! I would love to read, but I can barely read a sentence before my brain feels like it's getting foggy and I can't comprehend what I'm reading.
I want to switch so bad!! I called Davita, hoping to switch, but I later found out my insurance doesn't cover them. We have 2 companies that provide dialysis anywhere around here (except for the hospital where I started)--Davita, and the company that owns the one I'm at (owned by the same hospital I just mentioned too). And I can't do home hemo because the only place that offers it is the Davita clinic. Arrrgghhh!!! :rant;
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I'm sorry :boxing; in the eye next time they don't listen
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Sounds like a torcher chamber. How do they get away with this?
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I am so sorry
hope it gets better
you deserve so much more
sorry about all the pain and I know how it hurts like hell :bunny:
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Check with a nephrologist..they should be able to push any dialysis center to any insurance...this sounds crazy....Sounds like you are having the same dialysis problems I had when I started in ND...my partner says all the patients used to crawl out of there hanging onto the railings. I have never heard an insurance not covering a dialysis center :Kit n Stik;
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One thing I've learned about having your treatment done properly is you must speak up when things are affecting you so dramatically. You should proud that you had the courage to at least have someone speak on your behalf to get them under control.
Of all the stories I've read about Davita on IHD (always fortunate to have avoided them) it seems they live in Bizarro Dialysis World. They have no intent on treating patients properly, just shuffling them in and out so they can get their next check. That was proved by calling another clinic and having them attempt to transfer your medical files. Good move.
I was tired of being forced to listen to the TV of the patient next to me, so I wrote the clinic manager explaining what a safety hazard this was for everyone. A month later and you now can't hear the TV's without headphones.
The clinic is there for you, not the other way around. They may want to calll you "bitch" or "pain in the ass" but let them. Its not their life on call everyday, only their job.
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If I remember right, you have BC/BS insurance. If things do not improve, you have to self advocate yourself to your insurance so you can go to a center they do not cover in your area which only sounds like you have 2 outpatient. If you fight with the insurance, they usually make a specialexemption for you to go there. Explain to them what is going on and how it is affecting your life.
Hopefully your center improves, stays that way, or if you do move, I hope they have better ammenities.
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One thing I've learned about having your treatment done properly is you must speak up when things are affecting you so dramatically. You should proud that you had the courage to at least have someone speak on your behalf to get them under control.
Of all the stories I've read about Davita on IHD (always fortunate to have avoided them) it seems they live in Bizarro Dialysis World. They have no intent on treating patients properly, just shuffling them in and out so they can get their next check. That was proved by calling another clinic and having them attempt to transfer your medical files. Good move.
I was tired of being forced to listen to the TV of the patient next to me, so I wrote the clinic manager explaining what a safety hazard this was for everyone. A month later and you now can't hear the TV's without headphones.
The clinic is there for you, not the other way around. They may want to calll you "bitch" or "pain in the ass" but let them. Its not their life on call everyday, only their job.
Stacy, I'm not at a Davita center. Mine is so bad, I actually want to transfer to a Davita center! I don't have any other option.
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The ass kicking should start immediately. :Kit n Stik;
Good luck!
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:cuddle;
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Call your insurance company yourself. Don't rely on what "they" tell you. I was once told that my insurance would not cover DaVita, but I called and they certainly DID. I switched. DaVita isn't the best, but they do LISTEN to you and they know if you aren't happy with them you will switch back.
You are in HELL right now and I hope things get better. Have Greg go sit with you the whole time. Insist on it. They shape up when family is around.
Break down and buy a protable DVD player and get lost in the movies!
:cuddle;
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:cuddle; That stinks Paddbear.
I don't get the insurance crap. Do what Rerun suggested and ring them yourself.
All I can offer is {{hugs}}.
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Call your insurance company yourself. Don't rely on what "they" tell you. I was once told that my insurance would not cover DaVita, but I called and they certainly DID. I switched. DaVita isn't the best, but they do LISTEN to you and they know if you aren't happy with them you will switch back.
You are in HELL right now and I hope things get better. Have Greg go sit with you the whole time. Insist on it. They shape up when family is around.
Break down and buy a protable DVD player and get lost in the movies!
:cuddle;
I did find out from my insurance company that they don't cover Davita. And I'd love to have Greg there with me, but he has to work. I go MWF at 11:30. Plus, they don't allow anyone except patients in the treatment area.
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that is terrible. I hope it gets better for you.
did the DaVita clinic tell you that they don't take your insurance? they will have a specialized registration rep to go over your insurance plan and verify your coverage directly with the insurance, it's possible that they don't cover it but most BCBS plans are ok with DaVita. send me an IM if you don't get anywhere on your own :)
in the meantime, take care ... best wishes to you.
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I can't believe that they treat you so badly. I think that I've got it bad at my center. The people are so nice , except for the nurse practitioner ( I could rant about her for hours, days, weeks!) They ask me every 30 min if I'm doing ok. The TV is satellite. I've even thought about complaining that they don't have channels that they don't have, but after hearing about your TV I think that I'll keep my mouth shut. I've been on dialysis for a year and I've learned a little. But what I learned today ias how good I've got it at my center. It's a Fresenius facility. I really don't know about other centers.
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Davita ain't much better.
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Things have gotten somewhat better thankfully. I just don't even bother turning the tv on. My husband puts movies and tv series on my laptop which keeps me entertained most of the time. My battery only lasts about 2 hours if I watch video, so the rest of the time I read magazines. I bought a memory foam cushion to sit on, so my pain is gone.
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That's good about the pain, sucks about battery life though and a extra battery cost a lot too.
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http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10128.pdf - This link talks about Medicaid for ESRD patients on kidney dialysis - If you are on dialysis you should be covered under Medicaid no matter what age you are. So you're private insurance shouldn't be the deciding factor. Hope this helps and good luck to you!
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I been on dialysis almost a year now. My dialysis center is a Fresenius center. It is also has on the sign BMA OF POTTSVILLE. I read the post about other centers and I never seen what is going on at mine anywhere else. This girl started dialysis about 2-3 months ago and her boyfriend likes to cause trouble. The first time he did I was home sick. He didn't know I wasn't there and he asked another girl who is on first shift to sit by him cause he said I flirt with him (I don't) and if this girl don't sit by him I will sit there. Ok a bunch of told the lady in charge of the center and they talked to him and gave him a warning. Then on June 11,2009 I was rushed to the hospital because I was almost dead, the put me in critical care unit, he didn't know most of it or cared. So while I was fighting for my life he put it around dialysis center that this old guy and I are having a sexual affair. Well the lady said they can't or won't do anything to him cus nobody complained about him well I know for a fact most of everyone complained more than once. So my husband had enough and when I text him from dialysis that they aren't doing anything to him, he called her up and said since they aren't doing anything or won't do anything then he has no choice to sue them, she goes u can't sue us, he said yes he can. The guy harasses me to no end, us patients go there for our treatments and get this, he sits in the waiting room till she is done. They let him go back to where we get our treatments which is a privacy thing. A bunch of us complained and now he isn't allowed back there anymore thank goodness. It is to the point we don't want to go there and a lot of us get physically sick in our stomachs when we have to go. When I and another lady and 2 guys stand in between the doors waiting for them to open them he stands in the parking lot with his arms crossed and legs spread, we know he is trying to intimate us. One day he is gonna do what he does to make us mad and we (my click) is gonna go off on him, I told the guys I am gonna make him cry especially if he gets me when I am in a really bad mood.
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get in touch with the owner of the center -- and tell your doctors --- file a harassment report -
dialysis is hard enough without being treated like that --- he needs to find another unit --
call the main BMA of Pottsville --
I have a better idea -- pm Nurse Hachette and she will help you -- she helped me
I don't think I spelled her name correctly but she is a member of IHD and she will help you ---
I got so mad I replied before I finshed reading your post ------ sorry
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according to the dialysis center he can do what he wants, he is her support. He made the remark when they first started there that he is her support and cus our families have to work and aren't there we don't have any support... That is so wrong in my case I have a lot of friends and a husband,in fact one friend told me to smile when the diet lady yells at me, it did make her mad, I love it.. I thought GEEEZE my albumin is 3.7 and she yelled at me. my phosurous was normal limits and on weekend I only gained point 2 kelos. I think she needs to get a life. :clap;
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Sounds like the cops should be involved for sexual harassment since the center is not doing a thing and they would then have to be secondary to an investigation which could make it in the news (print or TV investigation) which then would make them embarrassed. They would just hate to be in the spotlight negatively. :rofl;
And what an idiot the girlfriend is to let this happen.
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today when I was there for my treatment I heard since we are suing them cus of him, they are suppose to bring in their lawyers this week coming. Sounds to me they are starting to get scared. Oh from my chair I caught him looking in the door 4 times, so much for privacy act. I am just really sick of him and his childlike behavior.
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Sorry I don't know a guy who knows a guy who could do something >:D:o ;D :rofl; :rofl; :rofl;
So in essence he's a peeping tom to which is a misdomeaner by law or something by law.
Grab them both by the horns of the law I say. If the center is not going to do anything, time to get the law in your hands against them both. Needs of many outweigh the needs of the few on this one. Support my :sir ken; he is giving her.
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Get what is called a "restraining order" it will throw him in jail if he breaks it. Tell the authorities you feel your life is in danger.
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Well here is an update on what is going on at my dialysis center as of right after my dialysis yesterday. My friend and I was sitting waiting for our rides to come cus we where finish (THANK GOD) when the girl (whose boyfriend is harassing me) comes out and tells her boyfriend they have to talk to the Social Worker and he looks right at me and my friend and said if it is bad he is gonna snap cus he isn't taking it any longer. OK after my dialysis lately I am so worn out that I didn't put to and to together that he was threatening me and I could have called the cops and had him arrested so on the way home it dawned on me then I text ed my husband and told him what he said and asked him if that was a threat cus I felt threaten. He told me yes but it was to late. So I had to promise him and my friend who we also sponsor that when I am around him that my cell will be in my pocket and to call state police cus the dialysis center is in their territory . My husband is also telling the lawyer that he threatens me and gets away with it. I feel now especially that I don't want to go back to my treatments cus of him but I know I have to go to everyone. :rant;
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Also, if your phone has it, or if you have a digital voice recorder or a tape recorder, record anything while waiting and have it out in the open. Secret recordings are not to permissable in court.
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chris I thought of that and am aware it is not allowed in court.
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Ask your lawyer about it. It may not be admissable, but maybe enough to get him away from you if you played it back in front of a cop if he was called there. Or if there is a way to trick the system, like maybe calling your voice mail to leave a message but he is heard in the background. Just say excuse me I'm on the phone which would catch him knowing and he's still not shutting up.
Just a random thought of an idea.
I do have a catlog of spy equipment sold in Florida if needed. :2thumbsup;
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ok update on my dialysis center. They was told on Thursday I was threatened by him and now they want a meeting with my husband and me and her and him and they scheduled it for august 4th. I called her back and said I can't make it that day cus I have a doctor appointment I have to be out of the building by 10:30. I told her it has gone to far now cus I am afraid or should I say terrified to go into dialysis and out cus I don't know what he will do. I said to her I will get a restraining order on him if I have to. Then he can't be in the building when I am, I have to be there. She goes oh you can't do that. I said yes I can. I told her I am not taking it anymore. I was pushed over the line. Oh the head lady said yesterday at my treatment how about we move you to 3rd shift on monday-wednesday-friday . I said NO. I am the victim. So when I got done my friends was out in the lobby waiting for me and I told them she wanted me to change. My male friend said he is gonna take care of him once and for all your not changing. So did everyone else including 2nd shift. Will let you know what happens next, I have a call in to my lawyer. :banghead; :sir ken;
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i just got off the phone with the courthouse and they said I don't qualify for a protection from abuse against him cus I am not intimate with him. I got really mad when she said if he does anything to me call 911.. I said am I still suppose to call if he kills me. I told her I need the life saving treatment he isn't even a patient there. They don't care. It is sounding more and more that the dialysis center is on his side. He knows he is getting away with stuff like hitting on the ambulance ladies.. that is sexual harassment, but he is getting away with it. I really don't want to go to my treatment tomorrow but it is suppose to be hot and I then have 2 days in front of that and since this is the first summer on dialysis I don't know how my body will react. I made my mind up about Tuesday though if they don't take me in earlier so I can make my Dr. appointment then I will get up and call my husband to come and get me or my transportation. I am really tired of the clinic. The staff hop at this guy and his girl demands we call them the king and queen. Right now I feel like I am all alone nobody besides my husband cares if I live or die. I can't afford to hire a bodyguard to go to dialysis with me. 3 times a week times 4 weeks that is 12 times. :banghead;
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Whoever at the courthouse said that, sounds like an idiot, but maybe each state has different laws regarding this matter.
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i told that to my husband and that I got yelled at cus I won't change my Dr. appointment cus this guy and girl said next Tuesday was ok for the meeting. I told her this is a very important Dr. appointment I have to be out of the building by 10:30 . She got really mad at me, so my husband called her back when he got home from work and made them change it to the 11th. They had no right yelling at me. but that is how they are. There is no other dialysis center I could transfer to and they know it. That is the problem.
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You did look at the Medicare website for facility listings right?
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I don't understand why you have anything to do with other people in your unit. I used to just go in, do my dialysis and leave again - I didn't care what other people did or didn't do. I didn't speak to them other than sometimes to say hi and bye, so there was no issue about what I did or didn't address people as. Whatever the person does or doesn't do to the ambulance staff is between them surely?
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I've read through this thread a couple of times and I am still confused. I guess I'll just sit back and await the outcome. Course, I'm a hardass...NO ONE threatens me. :waiting;
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Haha! If they don't listen to me, I just sick my husband on them. That usually works. If not, then I call my mother and let them deal with her. She has been an office manager in the medical field for over 20 years and has dealt with everything medical office related, including legal issues. Everyone caves to her! I may be in my 30's, but my Mom will still protect her daughter!!