Comments on: Heart Trouble and Insurance Woes

By: drtombibey

drtombibey — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:06:21 +0000

We’ve all got to have our vices. Good food (and not just country cuisine) is one of mine. I figure they make medicine to counter that. (Don’t tell the American Academy I said it. I doubt one could find such a position represented in their official policy statements, and they might get on me for saying such a thing.)

Dr. B

By: sshay

sshay — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:41:46 +0000

My dh (pharmacist) says kicking tobacco is as hard as getting off heroin or any hard drug.
Tell Snook I said way to go!
And if you find a way to give up cheeseburgers, let me know. To get off them would be like getting off oxygen. Impossible!
Susan

By: drtombibey

drtombibey — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:50:53 +0000

You know what Ms. Susan, it took Chantix and a lot of pestering, but he is now clean, and that ain’t fiction. They are hard to kick, and he started back in Jr. High, which was a long time ago.

Another funny story about Snook. He is scratch player. When he went to surgery they asked him if he was as good as Dr. Bibey. (I’m a 7 handicap.) I wish I coulda seen the look on his face. I’ll bet it was like “of course I am, what kinda question is that?” but at the same time I’m sure he didn’t want to diss his old buddy.

Neither one of us has given up cheeseburgers yet, though.

Dr. B

By: sshay

sshay — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:26:24 +0000

Please finish the story. Did Snook give up cigarettes?
Susan

By: drtombibey

drtombibey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:25:33 +0000

I guess I’ll find out for sure when I get to the Pearly Gates, but I also think the Good Lord allows us some latitude to do what we have to do. I reckon Snook sees it that way too. Come to think of it now I know what I want to say in my next post on this subject.

Dr. B

By: mrschili

mrschili — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:43:07 +0000

I’m not sure that what you did constitutes as “lying,” Doc. I mean, yeah, you were stretching the truth a bit, but the fact that the insurance companies can’t seem to move without a lot of (what I suspect is mostly) unnecessary paperwork and can’t trust doctors to know what’s right for their patients, it stands to reason that those (good) doctors, in the fight to get what their patients need, will do what needs to be done. You were asking a whole lot less forgiveness for lying than you would have been had Snook died while waiting for those office notes (which I’m telling you right now *I* would have fudged) and, sometimes, the end really does justify the means.

By: drtombibey

drtombibey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:41:11 +0000

They do a whole lot better for denying care than I do for trying to give it.

I’m lucky to know ole Snook, too. My handicap is a full three shots better than it’d been had I not known him. He is a player.

Dr. B

By: pandemonic

pandemonic — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:31:04 +0000

Dr. B, this is very entertainingly told, but contains a good message about having to fight the insurance company tooth and nail. I’ve been there myself. If I’d have had any sense in my 20s, I would have gotten into the insurance game. They’re definitely making money. Snook’s one lucky guy having you for a friend and doctor.