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Do you know anything about medical billing? Why is putting a cast on coded as surgery? (I thought surgery was something a doctor did.) Why would a doctor put a new cast on every 7-10 days? Why would a doctor charge $75 for one visit and $300 for the next if he does the same thing at both visits?
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Kayla, billing is not something I understand very well, and practices tend to vary widely. Do I remember that you detailed this in a thread? (most days I've just had time to skim )
[on my way to the next shift, but I'll try to track down that thread later tonight, Kayla]
He asked me today if his arm would eventually straighten out. The doctor told him the bump would eventually go away, but didn't say anything about whether or not it would ever look straight again. I didn't know what to tell him about that, so I told him the more muscles he had, straighter it would look. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I'm afraid I don't know anything about procedural or surgical billing. I usually bill by diagnosis, as an internist.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Kayla, I'm off today, so I'll try to make some sense of it. But like Theca, the intricacies of billing really isn't my forte.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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Kayla I know when I broke my arm it took quite a while for the muscles to come back to hold it straight even though it healed normally. The doc told my mom that I should take warm baths and that she should massage it in the tub. CT is the pediatrician, though so she should know more. But it took maybe a month or so for it to straighten.
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Anna, his arm wasn't set the way one (or maybe it was just me) would expect. Like if this equal sign = were half of his bone and = one were the other half, only the top line of the first one and the bottom line of the second one would be touching. That's why he has the lump on his arm. It's the other half of that bone sticking out. The doc says that will eventually dissolve (?) and that bone will form on the other side. Personally, I don't get it, but I just went with it. When they took the x-rays after they set it, I seemed to be the only one who was concerned about this. That's the other thing I really hate about the way I am. I can't speak. I wish I had had more time to ask questions. Or just to question. Or research options. Not that I don't trust doctors or anything. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Should I worry because the fingers on my left hand have been asleep all day? I typically don't have very good circulation--no doubt this is connected to the diabetes all over my family--but I usually only notice it in my feet, and only if I've been sitting or laying still for a long time.
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The bump isn't only from however they set it. When a bone is broken, the little cells that come and regularly lay down the calcium on your bone are attracted to that place. They lay down bone tissue a LOT, and a lump is formed where the bone was broken. Then other little cells that normally do the job of smoothing out the bone come in and take down the extra bone. That is a long process, though.
Posts: 3495 | Registered: Feb 2000
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A little of both, I guess, but mostly tingly.
It's still there, but much fainter than it was this morning. I mostly notice it now on my pinkie and ring fingers.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Hm. I had a thing where my leg was going to sleep, in a horrible, dead feeling sort of way that really scared me, but it turned out to be nothing serious at all--my ilio-tibular band was too tight, and a series of stretches took care of it. Massage always helped to restore the feeling with that.
If I were you I'd not worry about it terribly, but would nonetheless go and see a doctor. You say that you have a history of diabetes in your family. Are numb extremeties a warning sign of the onset of diabetes, or more of a thing to worry about after the disease is already established?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Describe what it was like this morning. Which fingers, which part of the fingers. Which hand. Any weakness, etc. And how it has changed since you got up.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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The diabetic neuropathy occurs AFTER the diabetes has been present for a while. However, the average type II diabetic has had undiagnosed diabetes for several years by the time they get diagnosed so some people do present with both "new" diabetes and neuropathy at the same time.
This certainly doesn't sound like a diabetic problem, tho.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Icarus - I've had problems with numbness/tingling in the ring and pinky fingers in my left hand before. In my case, it seems to be tied to computer use - if I do A LOT of typing on a conventional keyboard, I have that problem. Using a split keyboard seems to have remedied that though. Have you been doing A LOT of typing lately? Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Hmm. I don't know how specific I can be, as I didn't take notes. Tingly and a little numb on the left hand. Right now it's just the pinky and ring finger, all the way up to (and including) the pinkie-side of the palm of my hand. No loss of strength. If I rub it on my jeans, it goes away for a second or two, but comes back.
All of the diabetes in my family is type one, even though it didn't manifest itself in my father until he was in his forties or so. Yeah, I know, type I is juvenile diabetes, but I'm just telling you what I heard, including from doctors.
It seems odd to think that any diabetes symptoms would be getting worse now, when my blood sugar must certainly be lower, since I've been losing weight (on purpose, not water-loss). But then again, maybe I'm just full of it. (zany smiley, as in AIM, not a razz at anybody here--except, perhaps, myself)
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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You aren't getting an A for that report, I'm afraid.
Has the entire ring finger been numb, or would you say that the pinky side of the ring finger is number than the thumb side of the ring finger? Because what you are describing sounds like a specific neuropathy, different from carpal tunnel but kind of similar, and occurs for similar reasons. Is it worse if you force your wrist to bend as deeply you can with the other hand? Did you sleep in a different position last night? Do anything different yesterday? Do you have hypothyroidism?
If there isn't any weakness and it is resolving, I'd just watch it awhile and then give me an aim update. Unless, of course, you are eating and drinking like crazy, peeing all the time, and losing weight without trying...then you should go directly to the doctor. But I know that isn't happening.
quote: Has the entire ring finger been numb, or would you say that the pinky side of the ring finger is number than the thumb side of the ring finger?
I guess the pinky side of the finger is worse. Every once in a while, the middle finger tingles as well, but it is muh fainter.
quote: Is it worse if you force your wrist to bend as deeply you can with the other hand?
Which direction? For how long? I bent it "forward" and held it like this for a while. It was not substantially worse, but it did seem to me that my middle finger's tingling was ever-so-slightly more noticeable on those moments. Or maybe it was all in my head. :-p
quote: Did you sleep in a different position last night? Do anything different yesterday?
Not that I'm aware of.
I do often use a laptop.
quote: Do you have hypothyroidism?
Um, no. I would know if I did, right?
quote: Unless, of course, you are eating and drinking like crazy, peeing all the time, and losing weight without trying...then you should go directly to the doctor. But I know that isn't happening.
Nope. No diabetes symptoms other than the usual ones. :-p
Thank you for all your attention, btw. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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