Glenda, I am so sorry, but glad the injection worked for you. I have been in so much pain for over a month...first, I made the mistake of going to a chiropractor for several treatments, then a week ago I went to a pain management doctor for an injection...praying for relief, but I did not work. Oh maybe for about a day, I felt some better...than to my PCP and he has ordered a MRI for next Monday..then I suspect I till be going to a neurosurgeon. Does your pain stay in your lumbar area or does it go out into your butt and thigh? I happen to have turned over in the night and ended up on that hip...leg and foot was numb and the hip throbbing. Man what pain! I am really struggling today..can not sit, walk, or lay.....and on top of that the pain meds have made me constipated, thus hemorrhoids. I am so much pain, I have not eaten all day. If surgery would make this better, bring on the knife! Please keep us posted and I hope you will have a wonderful cruise! Soak us sunshine and bring some back with you to share with the rest of us!

Could I ask if this was regular eye doctor, an eye specialist or an a eye super specialist? I ask because my husband has had appointments with one of Toronto's super specialists - appointments were booked for 9:00 a.m. and those in the know take lunch and dinner with them - they often turned into all-day events. But this specialist does Vitrectomies, detached retina eye surgeries, that type of thing and there aren't that many Toronto doctors who perform these surgeries. Most of the patients are diabetics - my husband is one of the few who is not, so on a first visit a person with diabetes has a problem with food. Food sharing then happens. Then we have the various levels of more junior eye specialists - some being too senior to do say cataract surgery so you are referred to a lower specialist. Quite the ordeal. The wait times differ depending on the specialist. The optometrist is very good - usually on time. She does Part 1 of the exam, then puts in the drops and has people return to the waiting room for a few minutes while she takes care of a few other matters and then is ready to see the patient with the drops as soon as the drops have done their bit. Of course with me, the drops burn off immediately and I never get blurry eyes. I think you should sleep on your letter and then decide what to do. Years ago I had to see a specialist - every time you would swear that you were in a bus terminal full of people. The receptionist would always tell people that the doctor had been called out on an emergency. So one day one of my fellow patients stood up and asked how many of us had an appointment booked for 5:00 p.m. - every hand in the room was raised. The receptionist looked scared - not her fault though. It is very common for a few people to have the same appointment time - I think doctors hope that some appointments will be quicker than others. Doesn't always happen though.

Rob333 - you have no idea what you are talking about. In fact, I think my brain may have even exploded just reading your posts. Our local hospital can not refuse emergency treatment. There is no federal or state assistance. You don't pay the bill, you get sent to collection. You can call the county "assistance" office. All they do is request years worth of records and receipts and formulate a monthly "payment plan". You will NOT be treated at a walk in clinic if you do not have insurance or cash. You give them your insurance card, they call the insurance company to make sure you have met your deductible. If you have not, you pay for the visit up front, 289.00, and wait while they call your bank for verification of funds before you are seen. If you have met your deductible, you make your copay before you are seen. If you do not have insurance, cash up front! And, again, wait while they verify funds. There have been times that the funds have been electronically transferred from my account before I even left the facility.

For dh's spot, I think a PCP could have done the biopsy and if the results are positive, then go to a dermatologist. It's a 45 min drive to the area of specialists we go to. I need to mention something else which is part of my question about PCP's. I've mentioned I have restless leg syndrome, and I've had it since my 20's. About 15 years ago I finally mentioned it to my late doctor, the one who did the biopsy on me, and he immediately gave me a prescription to take before bed. It was a life saver, because I had no idea a medicine would stop it. My new doctor let me continue the prescription but now I have to take a half pill more a day if I want to lay down to read during the day. My RL hits immediately, even when I'm not sleeping. At my appt. last week he upped the med by a half pill a day. Because I did a lot of research online about RLS I know there are other meds to take and I asked if I could try another one. I could tell he was looking it up on the computer and then he said to me, "I'm going to refer you to a neurologist because I'm not familiar with the medication." Then he continued to tell me they'd probably do an overnight sleep study/whatever. I looked at him and said I'm not going. Referring me to two specialists in one visit? Why couldn't he research the meds, or call his buddy the specialist where they make more money because of the referral and simply ask him what would be a good med for his patient? I'm not a doctor but I found that to be lazy on his part. He still referred me and I had to tell the lady no when she called.