mine says he sees patients undergoing treatment every 4 weeks. Does this sound about right?
The appt's are so expensive. I can do phone consults for a little bit less. I am worried how I am going to afford all this. I am a single woman with no help from anyone. I don't want to be homeless because of this!
Posted by djf2005 (Member # 11449) on :
I think the norm for chronic patients is more like 1-3 months.
I usually go in person 2-3x year. (due to cost, travel, and sense)
Posted by Florence1 (Member # 22960) on :
my first follow up was 5 weeks.....not sure after that....
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
The docs I know see patients monthly. After so many months, if there are no complications, they can see them every other month. Also, phone consults if no complications. Near the end, you see the doc every 3 months.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
At first every 2 months, the last time it was 3 months, now I am going for 4 months.
Posted by saved10 (Member # 18413) on :
I go every 2 months
Posted by txgirl09 (Member # 21612) on :
I go every month, and some times stretch it to 6 weeks.
Posted by IckyTicky (Member # 21466) on :
We go every month. Sometimes every other month if no complications or if we just can't afford it.
Posted by BackinStOlaf (Member # 23725) on :
What do they do at the followups? are they taking blood? what exactly do they do?
Posted by txgirl09 (Member # 21612) on :
Yes, mine does blood work every time to check all my levels. We also go over my symptoms, adjust medications, etc.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I used to go every 2 months since I was close by. Then later extended it to every 4, then every 6. Worked great for me!
I had Lymenet to depend upon for answering questions and my LLMD in the wings if I had any real trouble.
If I needed labs between appointments, I would get that done thru my local hospital lab.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
My LLMD goes over symptoms and adjust meds if he needs to.
Sometimes I get blood drawn at my GP and he faxes it to my LLMD.
Posted by LightAtTheEnd (Member # 24065) on :
My LLMD sees everybody every 3 months--I have my first follow up appt. in a few weeks.
I get my labs done locally and have the results sent to his office.
I can call him at his office or at home if I have questions.
He might charge a little if his office staff can't answer the questions for him or if I call after hours.
I think he would make more frequent appts. if I wanted them, but I am relieved to wait longer because I can barely afford the travel as it is.
My condition is not very bad, and my treatment is working slowly, so I don't have much to report after one month. If I were sicker or starting up risky medicines, I might want to go back sooner.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
I started out following up every month or two, often with phone consults in between.
The follow ups include regular blood work, discussion of symptoms and reactions to medications, and checking me for rashes.
Now I go less and less, and have "permission" to cancel my appointments or push them back as I'm doing a lot better and pretty much feel comfortable titrating my dosages, etc, without direct supervision.
I am fortunate, my LLMD is a less than 5 minute drive. It is still expensive, though.
Posted by Topaz (Member # 20216) on :
I've been seeing mine every 3 weeks since August. Seems like a lot compared to most of you. Although, months in between appointments sounds like a long time to me.
I have had so many symptoms pop up and go away, questions to ask, meds needing to be adjusted/added/discontinued, tests and bloodwork to be ordered, coinfections popping up, etc.
I don't know how he or I could keep track if we went so long in between. Maybe after a few months into treatment it's standard to space them out further? I do feel as if I've improved drastically in these few months. Not nearly as much to report at my visits now.
Last appointment he bumped me to monthly appointments instead of every 3 weeks. Sounds great to me!
Hopefully I'll get to that 2-3 or 4 month schedule some of you have very soon.
Posted by whimsy (Member # 24351) on :
We started at 1 month (in Nov 09, right before Tgiving). When we found the tachychardia at the last visit (1 Feb 10), he scheduled to see her again in just under 3 weeks.
I expect that this first year, we will have visits every 4 - 6 weeks, depending upon how things go.
Each visit he reviews the checklist that my daughter fills out compared to last visit, reads the "paragraph" she writes out about her symptoms, what has improved, what is new, how she is feeling, etc. Does a clinical exam, (last time an ekg when her heart rate was up), discusses any questions, comments, ect. Discusses med changes or planned treatment, and we go on our way.
Yeah, it's a lot of money, and it really seriously hurts us (we have 3 kids, all have special needs), we spend about $2000 each month, out of pocket for dr's and meds.
Unfortunetly my husband makes too much money for us to receive any assistance (with anything!), yet by the time the next paycheck comes, we're in the negative (and we don't have a lot of fancy "toys" to show for it). ~sigh~ That's just life for us right now.