Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

My thoughts exactly 🤣

I know. They do look weird. My childhood friend's father had some sort of clam chowder recipe, that he wanted to make. He always encouraged us to get one. It might have been like a snipe hunt, because we never did. The quiet parallel hole would of had to have been about 2 feet, (70 cm) deep, and we could never dig that quietly or quickly, before they jetted down. 😃But we spent a lot of time trying, while our parents were socializing at the beach house. 🤣

Edited April 16, 2023 by Coralc

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Dinner tonight.  Ribeyes, medium rare, with hassle back potatoes.

 

And here I am at work, with a frozen Stouffer's lasagna planned for lunch at 1am.  

 

 

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

If it's hard to understand this young southern girl she is saying, 

Hi Dani and friends! Have a great day!

 

Oh my heart, she is just BEYOND adorable.  

That's it -- we need a video greeting for the thread every time she comes for a visit now!  

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

Being a retired health care provider I will defend the quality and practice of care that was delivered by the hospital I worked at for over 40 years, and who by the way has achieved excellent ratings in almost all specialties by credentialing agencies.

 

That being said, I just experienced first hand the Control of patient care dictated by Insurance Companies.

 

My brother called on Monday, when I was out of town and told me he broke his ankle, and asked if I could take him to the ER. (He did not know I was not home)

 

Of course the private person that he is, I never got the details of the injury, but it must have been a good one.

 

So, he called his best friend and off they went.

He was triaged, and they immobilized his ankle.

Took him to x ray, took films, then back to ER to be discharged.

He goes, the report must show no fracture.

The nurse goes, it has not been read, you go home we will call you if you need followup.

 

My brother goes, so if it is broken and I have to come back for a cast or whatever that is another ER visit.............she goes, yes it is, and a new billing with co-pay.

 

He goes that was the quickest visit on record, and the call came 3 hours later that it was not a fracture.

 

But, I was so taken aback on how this was managed.

 

Is this the new trend on how medical care has to get reimbursement at the patients cash expense.

 

But I must continue.

 

The DH boss, woke up with sever ankle pain, and went to another facility closer to home and the same thing happened. Only he was not so lucky.  They told him the xrays showed something, not a fracture  and he needed a Cat scan and possibly an MRI, so to come back.  Being the cantankerous man that he is, and quite upset because of the pain, he said he will go outpatient and get them done tomorrow, so just put the orders in the computer.  They did.

He avoided a return ER fee, but was charged a hospital consultation fee because he was on the phone for over 7 min.  (about 3 of those were on hold).

 

What is health care coming too.

 

Be safe

 

 

 

I can see this from the other perspective, too, though.
 

A non-stat radiology report might take 2-20 hours to come through, depending on case load at any given time.  Is the patient going to be more comfortable sitting on a gurney (either in a room or in a hallway) in a loud ER, or at home in their recliner or own bed?  

And then from a throughput perspective, if that now-stabilized patient is going to be sitting on a gurney in the ER for several hours for no reason (because the ankle is already splinted), how many more patients are going to have to sit in the lobby, not receiving any care at all (beyond being triaged), because that bed isn't available while waiting several hours for the radiology report to come through?

 

However, the fact that a second copay/hospital charge will be incurred is baloney -- it should all be counted as the same visit for the same reason. 

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

@sgmn video worked for me.  I think you mentioned it originally but what are the Robins nesting in?

They built their nest inside an old flower pot which is on shelving in the greenhouse. 

Gary rigged up the dog cam in the shelf above. It's motion and sound sensitive, so will record if there's movement or sound. Love sitting on the sofa watching them on the cam app on our phone 

Edited April 16, 2023 by sgmn

[dani negreanu]

9 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

Haven't done that but will.  Some really good.  A spice I was recently introduced to is za'atar, think that would go good on there.

 

9 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Thanks.  I haven’t heard of that one but I will look for it.

 

It is widely used here. DH likes it, but then he's a "native". I don't like it, too strong a taste for me. Same with oregano.

 

Here's from "Wiki" --

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za'atar

[Jimbo]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

And here I am at work, with a frozen Stouffer's lasagna planned for lunch at 1am.  

 

 

Wow, you just start working there and they throw you right in on the overnight shift. Nothing like getting your feet wet before throwing you into the fire?

[grapau27]

12 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Granddaughter's birthday tomorrow.  Plan is for wife and I to take her to the mall to pick out her gift.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

Happy 12th birthday to your granddaughter tomorrow.

 

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

We had a nice church service this morning then went to the beach with a picnic.

I hope everyone is well and you all have a wonderful day.

[barbeyg]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

Is the patient going to be more comfortable sitting on a gurney (either in a room or in a hallway) in a loud ER, or at home in their recliner or own bed?  

Aww, we all love going to….and hanging around for hours….in the ER. 🤣

 

Not.  I remember a time when my hardheaded grandma, who refused to wear a seatbelt, took out a windshield with her (hard) head after my aunt had to slam on the brakes.  I sat in the ER picking pieces of windshield glass out of her (hard) head while we waited to see if she had a skull fracture.  Fortunately, she didn’t (hard head). After that, ALL of us would buckle her butt in for any drive, without argument. 🙂 She is where I get MY stubborn, hardheadedness. I come from a family of strong-willed, yet loving, Cajun women. 😁

 

Thanks @brillohead for the other perspective.  Most of the time, I’m sure many of us would rather be home as long as it isn’t too serious. I did have a friend sent home once, and it ended up being a giant aneurism.  Fortunately, that worked out, but it was terrifying for her.

[brillohead]

28 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Wow, you just start working there and they throw you right in on the overnight shift. Nothing like getting your feet wet before throwing you into the fire?

No, this is still at my old job.  And I'm one of those weirdos who PREFERS overnight shifts!  I'll have to do a lot of my training in the ER job on days, and I don't know how I'll survive it!

[brillohead]

6 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

Aww, we all love going to….and hanging around for hours….in the ER. 🤣

 

Yeah, it's definitely not the Schooner Bar!!!

[barbeyg]

7 minutes ago, brillohead said:

 

Yeah, it's definitely not the Schooner Bar!!!

I work in a corporate setting of a physician-owned company, and I often say it would be nice if we had standing Valium prescriptions from our fearless leaders….joking of course….mostly. 😂

 

Maybe a wet bar would make the ER more tolerable. 😁  The beer flight/wine flight bar at our local  Kroger sure has more husbands willing to go “grocery shopping” with the wife. 

[BonTexasNY]

9 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

I can see this from the other perspective, too, though.
 

A non-stat radiology report might take 2-20 hours to come through, depending on case load at any given time.  Is the patient going to be more comfortable sitting on a gurney (either in a room or in a hallway) in a loud ER, or at home in their recliner or own bed?  

And then from a throughput perspective, if that now-stabilized patient is going to be sitting on a gurney in the ER for several hours for no reason (because the ankle is already splinted), how many more patients are going to have to sit in the lobby, not receiving any care at all (beyond being triaged), because that bed isn't available while waiting several hours for the radiology report to come through?

 

However, the fact that a second copay/hospital charge will be incurred is baloney -- it should all be counted as the same visit for the same reason. 

How does someone who might have a broken ankle physically leave the ER to get home?  I sure couldn't when I broke my ankle.  It wasn't long after my xray in the ER that a surgeon was called and I was notified that I would need surgery.  There is no way I could have made it home and then back to the ER.  Pain was major even after they gave me pain meds since it was dislocated as well as broken.

 

 

[ATG]

20 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

How does someone who might have a broken ankle physically leave the ER to get home?  I sure couldn't when I broke my ankle.  It wasn't long after my xray in the ER that a surgeon was called and I was notified that I would need surgery.  There is no way I could have made it home and then back to the ER.  Pain was major even after they gave me pain meds since it was dislocated as well as broken.

 

 

I guess it depends on the break.  Almost 50 years ago my mother broke her foot.  She was under 5 foot, it was raining and she needed to pick something up at the store.  She had on one of those folding rain bonnets and was hurrying between cars.  She ran into the mirror of a truck and fell.  Her foot hurt but she went on into the store.  Later it got worse and Dad took her to the ER.  They did an x-ray and the tech told her there was a break.  He then handed her the x-ray and told her to take it back to the ER, no offer of a wheelchair.  She walked back and the nurse was livid they hadn’t helped her.  
 We had been married about a year and she asked Dad to call me.  Since phones back then didn’t store numbers, he looked it up in the phone book.  He told Mom we weren’t in the book.  Turns out he didn’t know how to spell my married name.

[reallyitsmema]

25 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

How does someone who might have a broken ankle physically leave the ER to get home?  I sure couldn't when I broke my ankle.  It wasn't long after my xray in the ER that a surgeon was called and I was notified that I would need surgery.  There is no way I could have made it home and then back to the ER.  Pain was major even after they gave me pain meds since it was dislocated as well as broken.

 

 

 

My DH walked into the ER on a broken ankle.  It was actually broken in two places.  He rolled it playing basketball and sat out a few plays and went back in the game and rolled it the other way.  Drove himself home (was right ankle), refused to have it looked at, went to Easter dinner at my sister's house, went to work the next day and promised he would meet me at the hospital to have it looked at.  I told him to come home and I would drive him to the hospital since he wasn't going to be able to drive with whatever they put on it, splint or cast.  Doctor at hospital was amazed he was walking on the ankle.  It was huge and all sorts of ugly colors.  He was in a cast for six weeks and we ended up cancelling a cruise because he was so miserable.

[HBE4]

12 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Being a retired health care provider I will defend the quality and practice of care that was delivered by the hospital I worked at for over 40 years, and who by the way has achieved excellent ratings in almost all specialties by credentialing agencies.

 

That being said, I just experienced first hand the Control of patient care dictated by Insurance Companies.

 

My brother called on Monday, when I was out of town and told me he broke his ankle, and asked if I could take him to the ER. (He did not know I was not home)

 

Of course the private person that he is, I never got the details of the injury, but it must have been a good one.

 

So, he called his best friend and off they went.

He was triaged, and they immobilized his ankle.

Took him to x ray, took films, then back to ER to be discharged.

He goes, the report must show no fracture.

The nurse goes, it has not been read, you go home we will call you if you need followup.

 

My brother goes, so if it is broken and I have to come back for a cast or whatever that is another ER visit.............she goes, yes it is, and a new billing with co-pay.

 

He goes that was the quickest visit on record, and the call came 3 hours later that it was not a fracture.

 

But, I was so taken aback on how this was managed.

 

Is this the new trend on how medical care has to get reimbursement at the patients cash expense.

 

But I must continue.

 

The DH boss, woke up with sever ankle pain, and went to another facility closer to home and the same thing happened. Only he was not so lucky.  They told him the xrays showed something, not a fracture  and he needed a Cat scan and possibly an MRI, so to come back.  Being the cantankerous man that he is, and quite upset because of the pain, he said he will go outpatient and get them done tomorrow, so just put the orders in the computer.  They did.

He avoided a return ER fee, but was charged a hospital consultation fee because he was on the phone for over 7 min.  (about 3 of those were on hold).

 

What is health care coming too.

 

Be safe

 

 

 

Another reason why I love my doctor. One of the advantages to him now belonging to a big medical group is that they have everything under one roof. Doctors in 40+ specialties,  an Urgent Care room, labs, imaging equipment, etc, all under 1 roof.

 

A few years after my father died of lung cancer, I developed a nagging cough that was particularly bothersome first thing in the morning. I never smoked but I did grow up in a family of smokers. Both parents were life long smokers, a lot of their friends,  my 3 older siblings & their spouses, etc. I remember many nights a a kid when the living room, kitchen, etc was filled with cigarette smoke. So while being around smokers never bothered me,  second hand smoke was a bit of a concern. 

 

At my annual physical, I expressed my concern. My doctor asked if I had time - I did as I took the day off from work - he placed an order for a x-ray, told me to go downstairs to the imaging lab and then my choice. I could go home & he'd call me with the news or I could go cross the street, have lunch and come back as he'd have the results by then.  Fearing the worst, I chose to have lunch and come back. I did have to wait about 20 minutes to get the x-ray & about 20 minutes when I cam back for the results. But he saw me in between patients, delivered the good news that nothing showed up and I was on m way.

 

While I did have a co-pay for the x-ray, the physical was 100% covered by insurance and there was no change for the 2nd "consultation".

 

Oh, and the cough went away a few days later.

 

 

[BonTexasNY]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

My DH walked into the ER on a broken ankle.  It was actually broken in two places.  He rolled it playing basketball and sat out a few plays and went back in the game and rolled it the other way.  Drove himself home (was right ankle), refused to have it looked at, went to Easter dinner at my sister's house, went to work the next day and promised he would meet me at the hospital to have it looked at.  I told him to come home and I would drive him to the hospital since he wasn't going to be able to drive with whatever they put on it, splint or cast.  Doctor at hospital was amazed he was walking on the ankle.  It was huge and all sorts of ugly colors.  He was in a cast for six weeks and we ended up cancelling a cruise because he was so miserable.

Sorry this happened to your husband. 

 

The only way I would have been able to get into the ER myself would have been to hop on my good leg. In fact, my ankle was so misshapen/crooked/swollen, the bone almost broke skin.  No cast for me.  Directly to surgery and 6 weeks of in-patient rehab where I was on no weight bearing on that foot for all that time.  I had to learn how to strengthen my good foot to take the place of my operated foot.  I had great medical insurance but premiums got so expensive we switched to a plan that only allows 21 days of in-patient rehab.....sigh.

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

How does someone who might have a broken ankle physically leave the ER to get home?  I sure couldn't when I broke my ankle.  It wasn't long after my xray in the ER that a surgeon was called and I was notified that I would need surgery.  There is no way I could have made it home and then back to the ER.  Pain was major even after they gave me pain meds since it was dislocated as well as broken.

 

 

It depends on the nature of the fracture. One size size does not fit all. There are plenty of fracture types that are simply immobilized, supply a set of crutches,  and the patient then follows up with orthopedics.

[reallyitsmema]

28 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

Sorry this happened to your husband. 

 

The only way I would have been able to get into the ER myself would have been to hop on my good leg. In fact, my ankle was so misshapen/crooked/swollen, the bone almost broke skin.  No cast for me.  Directly to surgery and 6 weeks of in-patient rehab where I was on no weight bearing on that foot for all that time.  I had to learn how to strengthen my good foot to take the place of my operated foot.  I had great medical insurance but premiums got so expensive we switched to a plan that only allows 21 days of in-patient rehab.....sigh.

 

I don't let him play basketball anymore!  He has broken his ankle and also ruptured his quadricep in each leg.  Three injuries that took him a long time to recover and didn't allow him to drive himself to work because he either couldn't fit behind the wheel of the car because the leg brace was to cumbersome or the injury was on his right leg. With two of the injuries, he was working in NH and we live in MA.  I had to drive him to and from work for months.  It was about a two hour commute for me in the morning and afternoon each day as he only took very little time off with each injury.

 

I remember your ankle injury was very severe and you had in-patient rehab. He didn't have to do in-patient rehab and only one of the quad repairs required him to stay in the hospital overnight.  His second one was 10 years later and the surgery is now outpatient with him being weightbearing the entire time, whereas the first quad he was non-weightbearing for months.  It is amazing how things change.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

It depends on the nature of the fracture. One size size does not fit all. There are plenty of fracture types that are simply immobilized, supply a set of crutches,  and the patient then follows up with orthopedics.

 

I was surprised several years ago to learn that most broken bones are not considered an emergency, since they typically aren't life threatening.  A visit to the ER for a broken bone using insurance that I had at the time would have an extra charge because it was not a legitimate ER visit, i.e. not a true emergency.  Absolutely ridiculous.  

[BonTexasNY]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

It depends on the nature of the fracture. One size size does not fit all. There are plenty of fracture types that are simply immobilized, supply a set of crutches,  and the patient then follows up with orthopedics.

Totally agree.  According to my surgeon, for me, crutches were not an option.  Probably because of my age and the fact that I fell in the first place.

 

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I don't let him play basketball anymore!  He has broken his ankle and also ruptured his quadricep in each leg.  Three injuries that took him a long time to recover and didn't allow him to drive himself to work because he either couldn't fit behind the wheel of the car because the leg brace was to cumbersome or the injury was on his right leg. With two of the injuries, he was working in NH and we live in MA.  I had to drive him to and from work for months.  It was about a two hour commute for me in the morning and afternoon each day as he only took very little time off with each injury.

 

I remember your ankle injury was very severe and you had in-patient rehab. He didn't have to do in-patient rehab and only one of the quad repairs required him to stay in the hospital overnight.  His second one was 10 years later and the surgery is now outpatient with him being weightbearing the entire time, whereas the first quad he was non-weightbearing for months.  It is amazing how things change.

Goodness!!  Your DH sure went through a lot.

[lenquixote66]

I have had fractures all over my body from face to coccyx ,hands and feet .36 falls causing more than 20 fractures.I have never had surgeries .The primary reason is that the majority were at a time of old age .

[Ocean Boy]

16 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

I can see this from the other perspective, too, though.
 

A non-stat radiology report might take 2-20 hours to come through, depending on case load at any given time.  

Any competent ER doc should be able to read an ankle x-ray and not have to wait for a report. I read the studies that I order and tell the patient I'll let them know if the radiologist sees something different from me.

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Wow, you just start working there and they throw you right in on the overnight shift. Nothing like getting your feet wet before throwing you into the fire?

That is typically where new people start in hospitals. Day shift positions that open up are taken by people who are tired of 2nd and 3rd shift.