October 8, 2025 • 43 mins
- Listen Saturday mornings at 8 as Dr. Msonthi Levine discusses medical issues and takes your calls on News Talk 560 KLVI. Dr Levine is board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. His office is located at 3080 Milam in Beaumont, Texas. He can be reached at 409-347-3621.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, what Internet radio listeners Southeast Texas, Welcome to
other edition of the Doctor Levigne Medical Hour. Good morning.
I'm your weekly host, Doctor Levine, coming to you live
from the studios of KLVI here in Beaumont, Texas, cross
Street from Park Down Mall, taking your phone calls, answering questions,
if possible, about healthcare and medicine and your lifestyle and
(00:24):
how you can you and your family can stay alive
and stay healthy as long as possible. It's tough out there,
it's confusing, it's disorienting, and it always changes the new
recommendations of the month, week, minute in terms.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Of how you're going to stay alive.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And we're here to just answer questions, get you some
information and make it as simple as possible so you
can do your part and your health. There's no guarantee,
but certainly you can impact your risk in terms of
staying out at the hospital and not having to take
(01:04):
a ton of meds all the time. So I give
us a phone call eight nine to six kV I
one one hundred three three zero kV I. I'd love
to hear from you and see what we can do
for you. Weather is good outside sonny but cool. Thankfully,
we got through September without any hurricanes as when we
(01:26):
get hit and thankfully man lucals on our side and
we did not have any issues. And it doesn't look
like we're going to have any issues this year, you know,
as things cool off and again the weather is it's
cool outside and I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures in
(01:47):
the next few months as we head into our holiday season.
We're already in October, so Halloweens around the corner, and
then it'll be Thanksgiving and Christmas in the New Year's
I mean, it rapidly comes at us. So this is
the time of year that folks tend to like just
(02:08):
because there's a lot more celebrating with family and just
taking off vacations. A lot of people take summer vacations
as well, but at the end of the year, a
lot of that happens also to sort of rest your
heels and rejuvenate your body so that you can get
(02:30):
ready for the next day. Remember this is also flu season,
so we want everybody out go out and get that vaccine,
if possibly in all the other vaccines that are out there,
and again if you forget about one and you want
to get another one, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
And get it.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I have yet to come across someone who O deed
on a vaccine. Yes, you can have physical complaints from vaccines.
I'm not taking that away from those who have suffered
some of those ill effects from vaccines. And the vaccine
(03:10):
world is again always trying to improve the technology to
generate vaccines, make it more precise, make it less adverse
reaction risk, meaning reduced to risk of that. That's with
any of the new products that come out in terms
of prescription medications or surgeries or chemotherapy or whatever the
(03:37):
treatment therapeutic is, it's always trying to improve and get
better so that you feel neutral. Although you're taking this
IV or this tablet or this liquid, you feel neutral
only the problem goes away and otherwise you're left feeling normal.
That's the goal of any prescriber out there is to
(04:02):
give you something that resolves your issue, but not create
more issues. And the medicines that they come out with
are getting better and better, and the medical therapeutics get
better and better so that you more quickly get better
without any injury are harm. So that is the goal
(04:25):
with all of that same thing with vaccines. There have
been issues over the years, but man, they're working on
them all the time so that when you do get
the injection, you don't feel bad. And yes, you can
get multiple vaccines on a given day. I think most
of the entities out there that are providing the vaccines
(04:46):
try to keep it to one at a time, But
according to my understanding, you can take multiple different vaccines
on the same day, like a flu shot at an
ammonia vaccine.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
You can take them together on the same day.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I think the shingles is sort of a two part injection,
and some of the others might be a two part injection,
but for the most part, it's just sort of a
one time thing. But like I said, i'd be cool
if it was a tablet version of that. That would
be super convenient and easy to do and again, increase
(05:26):
compliance with all that. So hope if you haven't a
good Saturday morning. One thing that comes up all the
time questions about just these insurance companies that send patients
out to your house. I'm sorry, don't send patients. They
send health care providers. Yeah, they send patients to us. No,
(05:49):
they send health care providers out to your office. And
I've had a lot of conversations to my with my
patients about that when insurance companies would like to send
someone out to talk with you and maybe do a
physical or an examination, and some of the patients have
been a little reluctant to do that, and there's some
(06:13):
trepidation with that interaction. But I'm here to tell you
that they're just trying to help you out. And if
depending on what insurance you have, you may have already
had this phone call or a lot of my patients
are starting to receive the stool kits in the mail
just automatically are urine kits in the mail. It just
(06:38):
comes in the mail, and I guess I haven't seen
the actual packaging, but the patients are saying that it's
the insurance companies sends it to them and they need
to collect their urine and then send it off to
them to get checked out. And this is really the
insurance company's attempt to sort of fill in the blanks
(07:03):
or make sure that every client that they have, every
customer that they have, is getting their proper screening performed
every year. We all know that going to the doctor's
office or healthcare professional's office, it's not easy sometimes it's difficult.
(07:24):
I mean a lot of people put off going to
their health care provider's office because it normally, I would say,
the average visit to a healthcare profession is going to
take at least an hour, maybe two or three just
to get there and be seen. And then normally, depending
(07:49):
on what's going on with you, there's sort of some
post visit care or post visit orders or recommendations that
might consume more time, meaning you have to do testing
that day, you might have to be sent to another
provider that day, whatever the case may be. It's just
it's a time consuming event. An hour to three hours,
(08:13):
hopefully not four hours, but I can see how sometimes
that can turn into a four hour visit, and especially
if that provider is not in your neighborhood, you might
have to drive to that provider maybe for thirty minutes
to get to the office, could be traffic, but again
(08:35):
just coming and going, that's already one hour there of commitment.
So bottom line is it's inconvenient. A lot of times
ago and see a healthcare provider and a year will
go by, you haven't had your lab, you haven't had
any of your screening, you know, and these are simple
things that need to be done in order to try
(08:56):
and put you in a much better situation with your health.
And the insurance companies know all this stuff. I mean,
to be honest with you, They've been in the game
for a long time and they've been following patient care
and sort of habits of patients, habits of physicians, and
(09:20):
they sort of know where the big gaps are and
the deficiencies. All this documentation that is happening every single
second of the day. When you're interacting with the healthcare world,
you see that a lot. And I know that sometimes
it's a little irritating when you're interacting with a healthcare
(09:42):
provider and they're not really looking at you. They're looking
at their computer and their screen. You're just sort of
talking at them, and they're in the computer chart sort
of going at it with all the clicking and the
mouse going here and there and the keyboard, and they're
just sort of listening to you talk and they're just
(10:03):
doing all this stuff, but they're not really looking at you.
It seems like maybe you're talking to a wall sometimes
because of all of this documentation that the medical world
is requesting or requiring from any healthcare provider that interacts
with a patient no matter where you're in this country.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
We love data. I mean, we.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Love paperwork, we love graphs, we love the numbers, and
insurance companies want more and more of it every year.
And yes, it does change the dynamic of the interaction
with the patient, just because we as healthcare providers have
to get this information in the computer to sort of
(10:53):
verify and document what happened. And insurance companies, again trying
to be proactive with the entire situation, they send healthcare
providers to you, but they also send workers that work
for the insurance companies to our office to sort of
(11:13):
look in the computer and look at the notes and
see what information is being gathered. So they're doing both
of those and so there's just a lot of emphasis
on this sort of data gathering skill and data gathering
event with each interaction. So it is time consuming for us.
(11:35):
But they take all this information and just crunch the
numbers to sort of generate an idea of you know,
where the gaps are, where are the deficiencies, and then
try to work on these deficiencies. All the time, I
have conversations with representatives from insurance companies about these things,
just going over my data, my information, and offering suggestions
(12:00):
about how to get better and do this different, do
that different again, trying to make their product and the
delivery in their mind as efficient and as fruitful as possible.
So don't be too offended when you get your stool
kit in the mail or your urine cup in the mail,
(12:20):
or they call you or send you a message saying
they want to send a health care provider over to
do a visit or an exam. Again, some of my
patients get a little upset just because they feel like
the insurance companies kind of butting in their relationship with
their health care provider, and that's a special relationship that
they have with their provider and they don't want any interference.
(12:41):
They're happy with the interaction, they're happy with things that
have happened, and don't feel like they need another person
coming into that relationship sort of messing things up, if
you will. And I'll have to ask my patients if
it's mandatory. Would I would think that it's not mandatory.
(13:03):
It's an optional visit if you want it, meaning you
can decline it or defer it, and that's okay. But again,
I try to help them look at it a different way,
because again, even when you drive your thirty minutes to
your doctor's office, you sit for an hour and then
you finally get in to see the healthcare provider, whether
(13:25):
it be an MD or an NP or a PA,
there's still time crunch, right, There's still some issues with time.
There's pressure to get in and get out, get the information,
and get your complaints, do this, do this, do this,
do this, and in this sort of compressed period of time.
(13:46):
So there's pressure. And anytime that happens where there's pressure,
some things may not be covered like they should. You
may forget to talk about certain things, and then your
next visit might be six months from now, a year
from now. They know all this stuff right again, they've
been looking at data for many years, have been crunching
(14:08):
information from the years. With all this computer information that
they have, I mean, they just take it and gobble
it up and spit it out into these big graphs
that sort of paints this picture of what's actually happening
out there and how one thing leads to another. And
they're just trying to help out. To be honest with you,
(14:29):
I don't really have a problem with it, I mean healthcare.
As we all know, we're upset that healthcare in this
country is super inflated. It's expensive, I mean every it
seems like everywhere you turn. I mean it's just super high.
To do this and to do that, I mean, nothing's cheap.
And they're trying to again do their part to limit
(14:52):
the expenditure of healthcare. Honestly, is what they're doing, because
we all know that if we can maybe do some
preliminary testing and check some things out, that we can
see things happening before it gets really bad, and a
lot of this can keep you out of the hospital,
can keep things to minimum, just like with vaccines. They're
(15:14):
just trying to keep you out of the hospital and
keep the severity of the infection to a minimum so
that you're less likely to end up in the hospital,
end up injured or maimed, or out of work for
two or three months, which can sometimes happen if you
get super ill from some sort of infection. It's the
same thing with someone coming out of your house. You know,
(15:37):
it's it's calm, it's the pace is slowed down, you
have all day, everything is comfortable, Whereas again in a
health care provider's office. There's a lot of movement, there's
a lot of activity, there's a lot of patience there,
there's health care providers there. I mean, it's sort of
a tense can be a tense environment, and when you
(15:59):
sit down, you gotta be ready to go because when
the provider comes in, there's like again, it's this time,
and you got to get it in and you gotta
you know, it's already been an hour and you got
to get to another pointment, you got to go here,
and you got to pick up this person, and this
is all the stress and things just sort of I
forgot to ask that I forgot you did as well,
Yeah we're gonna order this, but I gotta go and
(16:21):
I'll do it next time. Then you never do it,
and so they know all that stuff. So their answers, Hey,
let's come to your house, let's make it convenient, let's
slow it down, and let's have a person come out
and just talk with you and make sure that this
year you've gotten all that you need. You're up to
(16:44):
date with all of your screening. They even bring a
folder with explanations of all the tests and all the
things that they recommend, and they sort of document as
they go about all the things that they did, and
they said, hey, take this sheet, it's yellow, most of
the sheets yellow, the ones I've gotten, and bring it
(17:05):
to your provider so I can go over it. I
think it's a great idea. I really think it's a
great idea, trying to really again help the patient, help
the provider, because again, yeah, all intent is when I
go into the office to talk with my patient, I'm like, okay,
I have my gender and then the patient has their
agenda in terms of what they're trying to get out
(17:27):
of the visit, and we try to blend the two
so that I get my part in, they get their
part in. But it doesn't always work out that way
for various reasons. And we're just trying to take this
opportunity at your leisure. A lot of times it's I
guess at a more convenient time for you and they
(17:49):
can chat about it, and then you again bring it
to your primary care physician's office and like, okay, we
need to do this, we need to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We haven't done this yet, and you get it in.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And even then you still might have some problems, right,
because then let's say you want a mammogram. Well, you
schedule a mammogram and then well they can't get it
for three months and then you finally it's it's the
day is supposed to get in and then something happens
to you and you have to cancel, and then you
got to cancel again, and so forth and so on.
(18:23):
So it's not one hundred percent compliance with all this
stuff that insurance companies wanting to do, but they are
really trying to improve that and so that's that's what
that's all about.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
So don't take it personally.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Maybe be open minded to it because they're just trying
to help you sta out of trouble and find things
sooner rather than later so that you don't have a
bad outcome.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Glenn from London and I can we help you?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yes, sir? Why can you tell me about prostate problems
or possible problems. They're going to do a sonogram me
next week. What are they looking for They're.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Gonna do an ultrasound of your prospects?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yes, sir, Yes sir?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Uh huh okay?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Are you are you having any particular physical complaints?
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (19:19):
No, In fact, I didn't know it until we did
the blood work and that bloodwork was a little bit
uh off limits, and and I have been losing a
lot of weight lately, so that was kind of a concern.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And so your your healthcare provider has scheduled an ultrasound
of your prostate.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Is that sure okay?
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, well, Glenn, that that's a little that's a little
odd from my standpoint, I don't think I've ever ordered
an ultrasound of the prostate. Ever, I wouldn't know what
the indication would be to order an ultrasound of the prostate,
just because the prostates in an anatomical position that ultrasound
(20:07):
is surely.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Not the best test for.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I don't know if your healthcare provider is looking
for something else in the prostate area. But what most
prostate experts are doing now if they want to image
the prostate is an MRI of the prostate. So if
they're trying to visualize your prostate, MRI right now seems
(20:34):
to be the best imaging modality that you know, prostate
experts are using. So I would assume your practitioner is
looking for something else not at your prostate, because that
would not, in my opinion, be the best exam to
image the prostate.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Well, I think.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
That's his next stay up afterwards if he doesn't see
anything unusual, and I think as what he said, will
go next step, we'll go to the MRI.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I but yes, sometimes so again go.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Ahead, I should Evidently he seems to say that the
eltsound will kind of show any admiralty or maybe something
that that not normal, and then he would probably go
further than that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Okay, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Sometimes insurance companies dictate some of that decision making, meaning
they will not approve the MRI unless there is a
preliminary test that is either negative thought as are that
has been done. We find this a lot with MRIs
of the of the spine where patient comes in with
(21:46):
back pain and a lot of practitioners will go right
to MRI, but the insurance companies will kick it back
and say, hey, you haven't had just any regular x
rays yet, so then we have to do the regular
x ray first, get that RESID, go back.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
And then order the MRI. Then they'll do it.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
So maybe that's the reason he's doing it that way,
so that he can eventually get to the MRI and
it'll be approved. But I've personally never ordered an ultrasound
for the prostate ever, and I was never taught to
do that. So maybe he's again he or she is
(22:23):
looking for something else other than prostate aftermath, maybe your
testicles or maybe something in and around that area, just
because the anatomical location of the prostate just it's the
ultrasound is just not the best examination to perform. And
(22:43):
we normally, yeah, we'll either do sometimes we'll do a
CT scan that would that would be a better one
than the than the ultrasound. But again MRI seems to
be the goal standard right now to image the prostate.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
If you worried about that, all right, well I'll question
him about that, okay, Glenn, all right, appreciate it, brother.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And just like with medications, we have options in the
healthcare world about which imaging modality we want to use,
and there are some hierarchy in terms of choices with that,
and there are advantages and disadvantages to all those imaging studies.
So we'll hop into that a little bit. On the
(23:28):
second set. We're going on our first break. Phone lines
are opened eight nine to six k v I win
one hundred three three zero kovy. I'll be back in
two minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
All right, Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
To talk with me and medical Our phone lines are
open eight nine to six k V.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I win one hundred three three zero ko V.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I chatting about those pesky little visits that you might
get at your home. It's for a good reason, and
I would encourage all of you to be open minded
about that and engage in that visit. You might find
out something that you didn't know, or maybe something that
(24:18):
was overlooked in terms of your healthcare of maintenance that
needs to happen. So yeah, don't be resistant. We have
Michael from Pasten. How can we help you?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Oh, good morning, Thank you for taking my call.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yes, sir, I.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Hate I have back problems or curvature of the back,
and I've seen one doctor earlier this year and he
basically said there was nothing like he could do, and
then he gave me a referral to doctor Francis Uh.
He's got an office in Beaumont and he's got wine
(24:56):
in off the Southwest Freeway over on the other side
Houston from where I'm at. Uh. I'm I'm not sure.
I was gonna go see him Tuesday, but he's so
far away. I just wondered if you have any recommendations
for somebody closer. And what do you think of doctor Francis? Uh,
(25:22):
I think you know him. And uh, what I was
diagnosed with was kyposis. I might be pronouncing that wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Uh huh type K.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Y P H O S I S. And uh, I'm
really not in pain. I just I just bent over
most of the time. I'll tell you to stay up,
straighten up when I'm more pain then when uh, unless
(26:04):
I'm you know, it's better to be bent over. And uh,
last night I tried to lay flat in a bed
and I did for a while, but when I tried
to get up, it took me a while to get
It was very slow and painful to stand up. And
(26:26):
so I'm I fat well. I ought to myself to
maybe go see doctor Francis or somebody else closer to me.
I don't know if you've had you I'm sure you
have had tations that I have had the same problem,
and maybe I'm just gonna have to live with it.
(26:47):
But I went to see physical therapists and basically they
told me they couldn't straighten me up. And I already
exercised at the gen and I walked two or three
quarter miles every other day, and work out the gym
(27:07):
with way for for about two hours every the days
I don't walk, and so I'm not sure what to do.
I guess I'm trying and get your doctor and you
could give me an opinion on maybe a recommendation where
I should do. At this point, I'm pretty much convinced
(27:30):
I'm nobody's going to be able to help me. But
what do you think, doctors?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
The location doesn't matter a lot, and you want to
make it as convenient as possible. I'm unfamiliar with the
Pasadena area, but certainly I think it's a bigger medical community,
so there should be some other options out there. Obviously,
it has to talk with your primary cave provider. They
would obviously be more familiar with the availability of other
(28:03):
practitioners in the Pasadena area. We do have a large
orthopedic group here in Beaumont called Beaumont Bone Joint. I
don't think they do a lot of spine work. We
do have a few neurosurgeons here and they primarily do
spine work. So if you are wanting to drive to
(28:27):
Beaumont area, there are some spine surgeons. A lot of
Beaumont patients if they can't find a spine surgeon here,
they go to Houston. The Fondrin clinics seem to be
very popular with a lot of the Southeast Texans here.
If they are one a second opinion or an option
(28:48):
they would like to go somewhere else, they go to
the fondre In clinic. I don't know how far you
are from that clinic. I think it's in Houston. They
may have some satellite clinics in and around the Houston area,
So that that would be my advice to you. And
you know, if you're concerned about any physician that would
be that would include me or your healthcare provider. They're
(29:11):
they're normally reviews of.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Just about all doctors.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
There's a lot of platforms out there where you can
go and read up on your doctor. And again, this
is the importance of your primary care provider is most
of the time they have these relationships and they've been
in a community for a long period of time. They
sort of have a feel for whether or not the
physician that they're referring you to is a good one
(29:39):
or can help you out. And so you always want
to get back to your primary care provider and ask
that question, and normally even everybody, any every doctor out there,
we're people too.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
We have bad days just like anybody else.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So I think just about with any doctor, you can
find someone that was unhappy with their their service or
didn't go as plan.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That that's just the way that is.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Unfortunately, most doctors are out there trying to do their
best as it pertains to outcomes, but it's just it's
it's difficult to do. Just like with anything in the world,
there's nothing that's perfect. But yeah, he's uh, that doctor's
been here for a long time, he's been in business
for a long time. So I think he's a great
physician and he's a good option for you to try.
(30:30):
But if it's if you're having difficultiness getting to him,
then yeah, just get with your primary care provider and
they would sort of know the landscape out there in
terms of the options for you if you can't get
to this person or another person.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
So he would would he be honest, And I hope
he'd be honest with me and tell me, you know,
give the proof whether I don't want just I don't
want to be I don't want somebody waste, I don't
want to waste his time. I don't want him to
waste my time as far as getting help if he
(31:06):
can't help me or if it can't be fixed. That's
the way I want to know. I want to know
up front, and is he that type of a person.
He would he would tell me that as well. I'm asking.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I believe every doctor would be as honest with you
as possible. I mean, that's what we're taught, and that's
how we're taught to interact with patients who're trying to
just give you the best information.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
At the time.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
And yes, I feel like he would be honest with
you to let you know. Even the surgeon whoever, whatever
surgeon you go to, whether Doctor Francis or someone else,
they want a good outcome as well. I mean, they
want you to feel well, they want to help you,
and they want everything.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
To go well.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
That's always our position as well. I'm just saying that
we can We can never guarantee that. I don't I
don't really care how many sort of checks and balance
as you go through before procedure is done. Just no
one can guarantee, honestly what's going to happen. So it's
always a risk. Even when your doctor gives you a
prescription medication or they recommend something to you, there's always
(32:13):
a risk that it may not go well and that
something inadvertently might happen. But making these decisions all the time,
we tend to get really good at avoiding those situations
and keeping it to a minimum so that for the
most part, it doesn't happen, or it's unlikely to happen.
And if a surgeon, especially surgeons, if they really feel
(32:36):
like they can't help you surgically, they'll tell you that
they will be very honest with you because again, they
want a good outcome, just like you want a good outcome.
They keep records of all that stuff. Your insurance company
probably has records on doctor Francis. They keep records of
all that stuff, so you can pretty much look up
all these things that you're concerned about because they want
(32:59):
to know what's going on going on out there, and
they spend time doing that. Not that he's a bad person,
just that sometimes these things happen with any doctor, even
including myself, so is something you can't get away from.
But certainly, yeah, your doctor is going to be as
honest with you as much as they can in terms
(33:20):
of guiding you to certain providers or making certain recommendation recommendations, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Where do you? Where do you? Where were you to
look for information on doctors?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, you know, there's not one in particular that I recommend.
I just know that there are a lot of reporting
platforms out there. I certainly you have to be careful
about the legitimacy of some of these platforms that you
go to. I would say that some are not as
truthful as they need to be. So I would probably
(33:57):
start with your insurance company and talk with them and
see what they recommend. Just because insurance company is sort
of the middleman and they sort of listen or they
get reports from physicians maybe that patients are unhappy with.
So I'd probably start with your insurance company. That would
(34:18):
be a good, solid, reliable source that you can go to.
Every state has a medical board that, again bad outcomes
or information that patients might have with certain physicians can
go to. So you can start with the medical board.
Likes we're in Texas, So Texas has a medical board,
(34:39):
and there's probably sort of a patient line or a
patient number that any patient is concerned can call and
get information about a particular physician. I would say start
with those two. Those would be very legitimate, solid sort.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
I'm in I was gonna say, I'm in my late seventies,
I'm on Medica. Your so, uh, do you know anybody
othern't mean an interrupt, but do you know anybody in
uh like Webster, Texas or Lake City place like that?
Speaker 3 (35:14):
No?
Speaker 4 (35:14):
Probably no, No, that's closer to me.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, No, I apologize, I don't.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Okay, all right, Well you're always a big help, and
I appreciate your help.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yes, sir Michael, Well appreciate your phone call. You have
a good evening. Phone lines are open eight nine to six.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Kalva.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I want one hundred three three zero O Kalvia. I'll
be back in two minutes. All right, welcome back to
(35:53):
talk from doctor Lavina and medical Hourerphone lines are open
eight nine six Kova. I want one hundred three three
zero Kalova. I you know, chatting about these healthcare providers
that come to your home to sort of clean things
up if you didn't get your proper testing that you're
supposed to get once a year, which are very important
(36:14):
to finding diseases at an earlier stage rather than later stage. Again,
almost like vaccines, getting those it's all about prevention. That yeah,
that's something that I would recommend you engage in and
have them come because a lot of times you can,
since you have the time, you can bring out other
issues that maybe that were bothering you that you were
(36:37):
not able to talk with your healthcare provider about. It's
something that can be looked into sometimes during those Hysits
not always. I think they really try and keep it
focused on your prevention side of your health, not necessarily
to address acute problems. But again, it's a healthcare provider.
(36:59):
It's it's someone you can talk with and chat with
if you're having issues with your primary care provider for
whatever reason. Understand that it's sort of bottlenecks sometimes at
the primary care provider level in terms of phone calls
and refills and the management of acute crisises that might
(37:21):
come up with you during the day or the month
or the year that sometimes the primary care provider's office
sort of gets a little bogged down and they can't
really address them in a time and manner, which is
why we have all of these freestanding minor care ers
that are out there now, such that if you cannot
(37:45):
get in touch with your healthcare provider for acute medical problems,
which happens frequently weekend nighttime. Again doing the meat of
the day when the primary care provider's office is on lockdown,
just because they have a lot of patients themselves. They
have these minor cares eers that you can go to.
And again, these are great outlets for our inlets for
(38:09):
you to engage in in order to see what is
going on with your physical body depending on the complaints.
And again they're handling you so much information now that
a lot of times you can bring that information back
to your healthcare provider and sort of continue the evaluation. Again,
most of the time they're just trying to cool things off,
(38:32):
but it could be the tip of an iceberg. It
could be something else that's more problematic, and it may
maybe need a referral to a consultant, or you need
additional imaging, additional labs. And as I've mentioned to you before,
just like with a caller last time, our decisions are
(38:52):
not always accurate and that again might require reassessment of
your situation. So yes, you might have to always go
back to the doctor or go back.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
To the emergency department.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
You go to the er, you go to a doctor,
you get a diagnosis, here's a prescription.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
You go home, you.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Don't get better, get worse, Yeah, you gotta go back
and get reassessed, just because sometimes a lot of these
diagnoses is the overlap with how they present, meaning you
could have two or three processes going at the same time,
but they all sort of present very similarly, and just
depending on the labs and the physical examination and what
(39:34):
you complained about, the provider might think one thing when
something else might be happening. And if you don't get better, yes,
you have to go back and get reassessed. That's unfortunately
built into the system, and it's hard to make that
decision every single time. Just like with the surgery, you
can get all the pre opt testing, you can get
(39:56):
your heart checked out, you can go see this doctor
that doctor, get clear, get all these forms, all this paperwork,
you can get this and that, and then during the operation,
after the operation, things happen that are unforeseen, that come
up that my keep in the hospital for a.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Week or so.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Even though you sort of got prepped for everything, you
got cleared for everything, it's just not perfect. We do
our best to try and keep those events to a minimum.
But unfortunately those things still happen despite all of the
care we take to sort of prep the situation before
(40:35):
you have, like I say, a surgery. But again, all
these decisions that are being made every day in terms
of medications with your primary care provider, your health care
provider er Monecares.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Some things that just doesn't work out, you got to
go back and get reccessed. So phone lines are open.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Eight nine six kV I won one hundred three three
zero O kovy. I'll be back our last. But all right,
welcome back to doctor Rinu Medical. Our phone lines are open,
and how it goes by so quickly. Remember, if there's
(41:14):
a topic that you'd like me to discuss, you can
either call my office or you can call the radio
station and we can dive into that and get you
that information. Again, this is the genesis of the show,
is to provide this information to you to again try
to make things as easy and as simple as possible,
because it is pretty difficult out there to figure out
(41:36):
what to do in terms of staying alive. But we
did have some good conversations about them coming out to
your house to check on you. I do approve that,
and I do agree with that. We need all the
help we can get to make sure that every year
you're getting your proper testing and that you're aware of
(41:57):
the information and results. When we do x rays in
the office, we do bring patients back into the office
to have a face to face, one on one conversation
about these results. Again, it just improves the patient's understanding
of what is going on with them. It reduces the
chances that patients have fallen through the cracks with some
(42:17):
of these results. Again, and for getting blood, we're getting
x rays, you should know that your results, have them
in your hand, get copies of them. I mean, I
do endorse all of that. And the medical world is
getting better at that, patients are getting better at that.
You're going to have a better outcome if you are
more engaged with your healthcare delivery. In particular, like I said,
(42:41):
knowing all this information that you're getting the results what
it means. So I think it's a good idea and
lessens the possibility that you sort of get surprised one
day about some results or some exam that you got
eight months ago and you never talked about it or
you don't remember it. Or maybe they did talk about it,
(43:03):
but you forgot to follow up. Just stuff like that
happens every day. It's no one's fault, but it's just
human nature, human behavior, and we're trying to engage systems
so that it's more automatic and those things are less
likely to happen. But yeah, if you want to check
on a doctor just to check their records, see how
(43:26):
they're doing. You know, maybe your doctor's referring to somebody else,
you don't know them, you want to check on them.
There there are good reliable websites resource you can go to.
You can always check your insurance company can check with
the medical board. Those are two good websites that you
can probably start with first. But you got to be
careful out there, just because there's a lot of information
(43:46):
that might not be legitimate or have a little bit
more emotion to it. So thank you for joining us
on the edition of the show. Member, don't drink and drive,
Eat some vegetable, drink some water. We'll see guys next week.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Take care,
All right, what Internet radio listeners Southeast Texas, Welcome to
other edition of the Doctor Levigne Medical Hour. Good morning.
I'm your weekly host, Doctor Levine, coming to you live
from the studios of KLVI here in Beaumont, Texas, cross
Street from Park Down Mall, taking your phone calls, answering questions,
if possible, about healthcare and medicine and your lifestyle and
(00:24):
how you can you and your family can stay alive
and stay healthy as long as possible. It's tough out there,
it's confusing, it's disorienting, and it always changes the new
recommendations of the month, week, minute in terms.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Of how you're going to stay alive.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And we're here to just answer questions, get you some
information and make it as simple as possible so you
can do your part and your health. There's no guarantee,
but certainly you can impact your risk in terms of
staying out at the hospital and not having to take
(01:04):
a ton of meds all the time. So I give
us a phone call eight nine to six kV I
one one hundred three three zero kV I. I'd love
to hear from you and see what we can do
for you. Weather is good outside sonny but cool. Thankfully,
we got through September without any hurricanes as when we
(01:26):
get hit and thankfully man lucals on our side and
we did not have any issues. And it doesn't look
like we're going to have any issues this year, you know,
as things cool off and again the weather is it's
cool outside and I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures in
(01:47):
the next few months as we head into our holiday season.
We're already in October, so Halloweens around the corner, and
then it'll be Thanksgiving and Christmas in the New Year's
I mean, it rapidly comes at us. So this is
the time of year that folks tend to like just
(02:08):
because there's a lot more celebrating with family and just
taking off vacations. A lot of people take summer vacations
as well, but at the end of the year, a
lot of that happens also to sort of rest your
heels and rejuvenate your body so that you can get
(02:30):
ready for the next day. Remember this is also flu season,
so we want everybody out go out and get that vaccine,
if possibly in all the other vaccines that are out there,
and again if you forget about one and you want
to get another one, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
And get it.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I have yet to come across someone who O deed
on a vaccine. Yes, you can have physical complaints from vaccines.
I'm not taking that away from those who have suffered
some of those ill effects from vaccines. And the vaccine
(03:10):
world is again always trying to improve the technology to
generate vaccines, make it more precise, make it less adverse
reaction risk, meaning reduced to risk of that. That's with
any of the new products that come out in terms
of prescription medications or surgeries or chemotherapy or whatever the
(03:37):
treatment therapeutic is, it's always trying to improve and get
better so that you feel neutral. Although you're taking this
IV or this tablet or this liquid, you feel neutral
only the problem goes away and otherwise you're left feeling normal.
That's the goal of any prescriber out there is to
(04:02):
give you something that resolves your issue, but not create
more issues. And the medicines that they come out with
are getting better and better, and the medical therapeutics get
better and better so that you more quickly get better
without any injury are harm. So that is the goal
(04:25):
with all of that same thing with vaccines. There have
been issues over the years, but man, they're working on
them all the time so that when you do get
the injection, you don't feel bad. And yes, you can
get multiple vaccines on a given day. I think most
of the entities out there that are providing the vaccines
(04:46):
try to keep it to one at a time, But
according to my understanding, you can take multiple different vaccines
on the same day, like a flu shot at an
ammonia vaccine.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
You can take them together on the same day.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I think the shingles is sort of a two part injection,
and some of the others might be a two part injection,
but for the most part, it's just sort of a
one time thing. But like I said, i'd be cool
if it was a tablet version of that. That would
be super convenient and easy to do and again, increase
(05:26):
compliance with all that. So hope if you haven't a
good Saturday morning. One thing that comes up all the
time questions about just these insurance companies that send patients
out to your house. I'm sorry, don't send patients. They
send health care providers. Yeah, they send patients to us. No,
(05:49):
they send health care providers out to your office. And
I've had a lot of conversations to my with my
patients about that when insurance companies would like to send
someone out to talk with you and maybe do a
physical or an examination, and some of the patients have
been a little reluctant to do that, and there's some
(06:13):
trepidation with that interaction. But I'm here to tell you
that they're just trying to help you out. And if
depending on what insurance you have, you may have already
had this phone call or a lot of my patients
are starting to receive the stool kits in the mail
just automatically are urine kits in the mail. It just
(06:38):
comes in the mail, and I guess I haven't seen
the actual packaging, but the patients are saying that it's
the insurance companies sends it to them and they need
to collect their urine and then send it off to
them to get checked out. And this is really the
insurance company's attempt to sort of fill in the blanks
(07:03):
or make sure that every client that they have, every
customer that they have, is getting their proper screening performed
every year. We all know that going to the doctor's
office or healthcare professional's office, it's not easy sometimes it's difficult.
(07:24):
I mean a lot of people put off going to
their health care provider's office because it normally, I would say,
the average visit to a healthcare profession is going to
take at least an hour, maybe two or three just
to get there and be seen. And then normally, depending
(07:49):
on what's going on with you, there's sort of some
post visit care or post visit orders or recommendations that
might consume more time, meaning you have to do testing
that day, you might have to be sent to another
provider that day, whatever the case may be. It's just
it's a time consuming event. An hour to three hours,
(08:13):
hopefully not four hours, but I can see how sometimes
that can turn into a four hour visit, and especially
if that provider is not in your neighborhood, you might
have to drive to that provider maybe for thirty minutes
to get to the office, could be traffic, but again
(08:35):
just coming and going, that's already one hour there of commitment.
So bottom line is it's inconvenient. A lot of times
ago and see a healthcare provider and a year will
go by, you haven't had your lab, you haven't had
any of your screening, you know, and these are simple
things that need to be done in order to try
(08:56):
and put you in a much better situation with your health.
And the insurance companies know all this stuff. I mean,
to be honest with you, They've been in the game
for a long time and they've been following patient care
and sort of habits of patients, habits of physicians, and
(09:20):
they sort of know where the big gaps are and
the deficiencies. All this documentation that is happening every single
second of the day. When you're interacting with the healthcare world,
you see that a lot. And I know that sometimes
it's a little irritating when you're interacting with a healthcare
(09:42):
provider and they're not really looking at you. They're looking
at their computer and their screen. You're just sort of
talking at them, and they're in the computer chart sort
of going at it with all the clicking and the
mouse going here and there and the keyboard, and they're
just sort of listening to you talk and they're just
(10:03):
doing all this stuff, but they're not really looking at you.
It seems like maybe you're talking to a wall sometimes
because of all of this documentation that the medical world
is requesting or requiring from any healthcare provider that interacts
with a patient no matter where you're in this country.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
We love data. I mean, we.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Love paperwork, we love graphs, we love the numbers, and
insurance companies want more and more of it every year.
And yes, it does change the dynamic of the interaction
with the patient, just because we as healthcare providers have
to get this information in the computer to sort of
(10:53):
verify and document what happened. And insurance companies, again trying
to be proactive with the entire situation, they send healthcare
providers to you, but they also send workers that work
for the insurance companies to our office to sort of
(11:13):
look in the computer and look at the notes and
see what information is being gathered. So they're doing both
of those and so there's just a lot of emphasis
on this sort of data gathering skill and data gathering
event with each interaction. So it is time consuming for us.
(11:35):
But they take all this information and just crunch the
numbers to sort of generate an idea of you know,
where the gaps are, where are the deficiencies, and then
try to work on these deficiencies. All the time, I
have conversations with representatives from insurance companies about these things,
just going over my data, my information, and offering suggestions
(12:00):
about how to get better and do this different, do
that different again, trying to make their product and the
delivery in their mind as efficient and as fruitful as possible.
So don't be too offended when you get your stool
kit in the mail or your urine cup in the mail,
(12:20):
or they call you or send you a message saying
they want to send a health care provider over to
do a visit or an exam. Again, some of my
patients get a little upset just because they feel like
the insurance companies kind of butting in their relationship with
their health care provider, and that's a special relationship that
they have with their provider and they don't want any interference.
(12:41):
They're happy with the interaction, they're happy with things that
have happened, and don't feel like they need another person
coming into that relationship sort of messing things up, if
you will. And I'll have to ask my patients if
it's mandatory. Would I would think that it's not mandatory.
(13:03):
It's an optional visit if you want it, meaning you
can decline it or defer it, and that's okay. But again,
I try to help them look at it a different way,
because again, even when you drive your thirty minutes to
your doctor's office, you sit for an hour and then
you finally get in to see the healthcare provider, whether
(13:25):
it be an MD or an NP or a PA,
there's still time crunch, right, There's still some issues with time.
There's pressure to get in and get out, get the information,
and get your complaints, do this, do this, do this,
do this, and in this sort of compressed period of time.
(13:46):
So there's pressure. And anytime that happens where there's pressure,
some things may not be covered like they should. You
may forget to talk about certain things, and then your
next visit might be six months from now, a year
from now. They know all this stuff right again, they've
been looking at data for many years, have been crunching
(14:08):
information from the years. With all this computer information that
they have, I mean, they just take it and gobble
it up and spit it out into these big graphs
that sort of paints this picture of what's actually happening
out there and how one thing leads to another. And
they're just trying to help out. To be honest with you,
(14:29):
I don't really have a problem with it, I mean healthcare.
As we all know, we're upset that healthcare in this
country is super inflated. It's expensive, I mean every it
seems like everywhere you turn. I mean it's just super high.
To do this and to do that, I mean, nothing's cheap.
And they're trying to again do their part to limit
(14:52):
the expenditure of healthcare. Honestly, is what they're doing, because
we all know that if we can maybe do some
preliminary testing and check some things out, that we can
see things happening before it gets really bad, and a
lot of this can keep you out of the hospital,
can keep things to minimum, just like with vaccines. They're
(15:14):
just trying to keep you out of the hospital and
keep the severity of the infection to a minimum so
that you're less likely to end up in the hospital,
end up injured or maimed, or out of work for
two or three months, which can sometimes happen if you
get super ill from some sort of infection. It's the
same thing with someone coming out of your house. You know,
(15:37):
it's it's calm, it's the pace is slowed down, you
have all day, everything is comfortable, Whereas again in a
health care provider's office. There's a lot of movement, there's
a lot of activity, there's a lot of patience there,
there's health care providers there. I mean, it's sort of
a tense can be a tense environment, and when you
(15:59):
sit down, you gotta be ready to go because when
the provider comes in, there's like again, it's this time,
and you got to get it in and you gotta
you know, it's already been an hour and you got
to get to another pointment, you got to go here,
and you got to pick up this person, and this
is all the stress and things just sort of I
forgot to ask that I forgot you did as well,
Yeah we're gonna order this, but I gotta go and
(16:21):
I'll do it next time. Then you never do it,
and so they know all that stuff. So their answers, Hey,
let's come to your house, let's make it convenient, let's
slow it down, and let's have a person come out
and just talk with you and make sure that this
year you've gotten all that you need. You're up to
(16:44):
date with all of your screening. They even bring a
folder with explanations of all the tests and all the
things that they recommend, and they sort of document as
they go about all the things that they did, and
they said, hey, take this sheet, it's yellow, most of
the sheets yellow, the ones I've gotten, and bring it
(17:05):
to your provider so I can go over it. I
think it's a great idea. I really think it's a
great idea, trying to really again help the patient, help
the provider, because again, yeah, all intent is when I
go into the office to talk with my patient, I'm like, okay,
I have my gender and then the patient has their
agenda in terms of what they're trying to get out
(17:27):
of the visit, and we try to blend the two
so that I get my part in, they get their
part in. But it doesn't always work out that way
for various reasons. And we're just trying to take this
opportunity at your leisure. A lot of times it's I
guess at a more convenient time for you and they
(17:49):
can chat about it, and then you again bring it
to your primary care physician's office and like, okay, we
need to do this, we need to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We haven't done this yet, and you get it in.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
And even then you still might have some problems, right,
because then let's say you want a mammogram. Well, you
schedule a mammogram and then well they can't get it
for three months and then you finally it's it's the
day is supposed to get in and then something happens
to you and you have to cancel, and then you
got to cancel again, and so forth and so on.
(18:23):
So it's not one hundred percent compliance with all this
stuff that insurance companies wanting to do, but they are
really trying to improve that and so that's that's what
that's all about.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
So don't take it personally.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Maybe be open minded to it because they're just trying
to help you sta out of trouble and find things
sooner rather than later so that you don't have a
bad outcome.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Glenn from London and I can we help you?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yes, sir? Why can you tell me about prostate problems
or possible problems. They're going to do a sonogram me
next week. What are they looking for They're.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Gonna do an ultrasound of your prospects?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yes, sir, Yes sir?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Uh huh okay?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Are you are you having any particular physical complaints?
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (19:19):
No, In fact, I didn't know it until we did
the blood work and that bloodwork was a little bit
uh off limits, and and I have been losing a
lot of weight lately, so that was kind of a concern.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And so your your healthcare provider has scheduled an ultrasound
of your prostate.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Is that sure okay?
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, well, Glenn, that that's a little that's a little
odd from my standpoint, I don't think I've ever ordered
an ultrasound of the prostate. Ever, I wouldn't know what
the indication would be to order an ultrasound of the prostate,
just because the prostates in an anatomical position that ultrasound
(20:07):
is surely.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Not the best test for.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I don't know if your healthcare provider is looking
for something else in the prostate area. But what most
prostate experts are doing now if they want to image
the prostate is an MRI of the prostate. So if
they're trying to visualize your prostate, MRI right now seems
(20:34):
to be the best imaging modality that you know, prostate
experts are using. So I would assume your practitioner is
looking for something else not at your prostate, because that
would not, in my opinion, be the best exam to
image the prostate.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Well, I think.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
That's his next stay up afterwards if he doesn't see
anything unusual, and I think as what he said, will
go next step, we'll go to the MRI.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I but yes, sometimes so again go.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Ahead, I should Evidently he seems to say that the
eltsound will kind of show any admiralty or maybe something
that that not normal, and then he would probably go
further than that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Okay, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Sometimes insurance companies dictate some of that decision making, meaning
they will not approve the MRI unless there is a
preliminary test that is either negative thought as are that
has been done. We find this a lot with MRIs
of the of the spine where patient comes in with
(21:46):
back pain and a lot of practitioners will go right
to MRI, but the insurance companies will kick it back
and say, hey, you haven't had just any regular x
rays yet, so then we have to do the regular
x ray first, get that RESID, go back.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
And then order the MRI. Then they'll do it.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
So maybe that's the reason he's doing it that way,
so that he can eventually get to the MRI and
it'll be approved. But I've personally never ordered an ultrasound
for the prostate ever, and I was never taught to
do that. So maybe he's again he or she is
(22:23):
looking for something else other than prostate aftermath, maybe your
testicles or maybe something in and around that area, just
because the anatomical location of the prostate just it's the
ultrasound is just not the best examination to perform. And
(22:43):
we normally, yeah, we'll either do sometimes we'll do a
CT scan that would that would be a better one
than the than the ultrasound. But again MRI seems to
be the goal standard right now to image the prostate.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
If you worried about that, all right, well I'll question
him about that, okay, Glenn, all right, appreciate it, brother.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And just like with medications, we have options in the
healthcare world about which imaging modality we want to use,
and there are some hierarchy in terms of choices with that,
and there are advantages and disadvantages to all those imaging studies.
So we'll hop into that a little bit. On the
(23:28):
second set. We're going on our first break. Phone lines
are opened eight nine to six k v I win
one hundred three three zero kovy. I'll be back in
two minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
All right, Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
To talk with me and medical Our phone lines are
open eight nine to six k V.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I win one hundred three three zero ko V.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I chatting about those pesky little visits that you might
get at your home. It's for a good reason, and
I would encourage all of you to be open minded
about that and engage in that visit. You might find
out something that you didn't know, or maybe something that
(24:18):
was overlooked in terms of your healthcare of maintenance that
needs to happen. So yeah, don't be resistant. We have
Michael from Pasten. How can we help you?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Oh, good morning, Thank you for taking my call.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yes, sir, I.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Hate I have back problems or curvature of the back,
and I've seen one doctor earlier this year and he
basically said there was nothing like he could do, and
then he gave me a referral to doctor Francis Uh.
He's got an office in Beaumont and he's got wine
(24:56):
in off the Southwest Freeway over on the other side
Houston from where I'm at. Uh. I'm I'm not sure.
I was gonna go see him Tuesday, but he's so
far away. I just wondered if you have any recommendations
for somebody closer. And what do you think of doctor Francis? Uh,
(25:22):
I think you know him. And uh, what I was
diagnosed with was kyposis. I might be pronouncing that wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Uh huh type K.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Y P H O S I S. And uh, I'm
really not in pain. I just I just bent over
most of the time. I'll tell you to stay up,
straighten up when I'm more pain then when uh, unless
(26:04):
I'm you know, it's better to be bent over. And uh,
last night I tried to lay flat in a bed
and I did for a while, but when I tried
to get up, it took me a while to get
It was very slow and painful to stand up. And
(26:26):
so I'm I fat well. I ought to myself to
maybe go see doctor Francis or somebody else closer to me.
I don't know if you've had you I'm sure you
have had tations that I have had the same problem,
and maybe I'm just gonna have to live with it.
(26:47):
But I went to see physical therapists and basically they
told me they couldn't straighten me up. And I already
exercised at the gen and I walked two or three
quarter miles every other day, and work out the gym
(27:07):
with way for for about two hours every the days
I don't walk, and so I'm not sure what to do.
I guess I'm trying and get your doctor and you
could give me an opinion on maybe a recommendation where
I should do. At this point, I'm pretty much convinced
(27:30):
I'm nobody's going to be able to help me. But
what do you think, doctors?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
The location doesn't matter a lot, and you want to
make it as convenient as possible. I'm unfamiliar with the
Pasadena area, but certainly I think it's a bigger medical community,
so there should be some other options out there. Obviously,
it has to talk with your primary cave provider. They
would obviously be more familiar with the availability of other
(28:03):
practitioners in the Pasadena area. We do have a large
orthopedic group here in Beaumont called Beaumont Bone Joint. I
don't think they do a lot of spine work. We
do have a few neurosurgeons here and they primarily do
spine work. So if you are wanting to drive to
(28:27):
Beaumont area, there are some spine surgeons. A lot of
Beaumont patients if they can't find a spine surgeon here,
they go to Houston. The Fondrin clinics seem to be
very popular with a lot of the Southeast Texans here.
If they are one a second opinion or an option
(28:48):
they would like to go somewhere else, they go to
the fondre In clinic. I don't know how far you
are from that clinic. I think it's in Houston. They
may have some satellite clinics in and around the Houston area,
So that that would be my advice to you. And
you know, if you're concerned about any physician that would
be that would include me or your healthcare provider. They're
(29:11):
they're normally reviews of.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Just about all doctors.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
There's a lot of platforms out there where you can
go and read up on your doctor. And again, this
is the importance of your primary care provider is most
of the time they have these relationships and they've been
in a community for a long period of time. They
sort of have a feel for whether or not the
physician that they're referring you to is a good one
(29:39):
or can help you out. And so you always want
to get back to your primary care provider and ask
that question, and normally even everybody, any every doctor out there,
we're people too.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
We have bad days just like anybody else.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So I think just about with any doctor, you can
find someone that was unhappy with their their service or
didn't go as plan.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That that's just the way that is.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Unfortunately, most doctors are out there trying to do their
best as it pertains to outcomes, but it's just it's
it's difficult to do. Just like with anything in the world,
there's nothing that's perfect. But yeah, he's uh, that doctor's
been here for a long time, he's been in business
for a long time. So I think he's a great
physician and he's a good option for you to try.
(30:30):
But if it's if you're having difficultiness getting to him,
then yeah, just get with your primary care provider and
they would sort of know the landscape out there in
terms of the options for you if you can't get
to this person or another person.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
So he would would he be honest, And I hope
he'd be honest with me and tell me, you know,
give the proof whether I don't want just I don't
want to be I don't want somebody waste, I don't
want to waste his time. I don't want him to
waste my time as far as getting help if he
(31:06):
can't help me or if it can't be fixed. That's
the way I want to know. I want to know
up front, and is he that type of a person.
He would he would tell me that as well. I'm asking.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I believe every doctor would be as honest with you
as possible. I mean, that's what we're taught, and that's
how we're taught to interact with patients who're trying to
just give you the best information.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
At the time.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
And yes, I feel like he would be honest with
you to let you know. Even the surgeon whoever, whatever
surgeon you go to, whether Doctor Francis or someone else,
they want a good outcome as well. I mean, they
want you to feel well, they want to help you,
and they want everything.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
To go well.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
That's always our position as well. I'm just saying that
we can We can never guarantee that. I don't I
don't really care how many sort of checks and balance
as you go through before procedure is done. Just no
one can guarantee, honestly what's going to happen. So it's
always a risk. Even when your doctor gives you a
prescription medication or they recommend something to you, there's always
(32:13):
a risk that it may not go well and that
something inadvertently might happen. But making these decisions all the time,
we tend to get really good at avoiding those situations
and keeping it to a minimum so that for the
most part, it doesn't happen, or it's unlikely to happen.
And if a surgeon, especially surgeons, if they really feel
(32:36):
like they can't help you surgically, they'll tell you that
they will be very honest with you because again, they
want a good outcome, just like you want a good outcome.
They keep records of all that stuff. Your insurance company
probably has records on doctor Francis. They keep records of
all that stuff, so you can pretty much look up
all these things that you're concerned about because they want
(32:59):
to know what's going on going on out there, and
they spend time doing that. Not that he's a bad person,
just that sometimes these things happen with any doctor, even
including myself, so is something you can't get away from.
But certainly, yeah, your doctor is going to be as
honest with you as much as they can in terms
(33:20):
of guiding you to certain providers or making certain recommendation recommendations, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
Where do you? Where do you? Where were you to
look for information on doctors?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, you know, there's not one in particular that I recommend.
I just know that there are a lot of reporting
platforms out there. I certainly you have to be careful
about the legitimacy of some of these platforms that you
go to. I would say that some are not as
truthful as they need to be. So I would probably
(33:57):
start with your insurance company and talk with them and
see what they recommend. Just because insurance company is sort
of the middleman and they sort of listen or they
get reports from physicians maybe that patients are unhappy with.
So I'd probably start with your insurance company. That would
(34:18):
be a good, solid, reliable source that you can go to.
Every state has a medical board that, again bad outcomes
or information that patients might have with certain physicians can
go to. So you can start with the medical board.
Likes we're in Texas, So Texas has a medical board,
(34:39):
and there's probably sort of a patient line or a
patient number that any patient is concerned can call and
get information about a particular physician. I would say start
with those two. Those would be very legitimate, solid sort.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
I'm in I was gonna say, I'm in my late seventies,
I'm on Medica. Your so, uh, do you know anybody
othern't mean an interrupt, but do you know anybody in
uh like Webster, Texas or Lake City place like that?
Speaker 3 (35:14):
No?
Speaker 4 (35:14):
Probably no, No, that's closer to me.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, No, I apologize, I don't.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
Okay, all right, Well you're always a big help, and
I appreciate your help.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yes, sir Michael, Well appreciate your phone call. You have
a good evening. Phone lines are open eight nine to six.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Kalva.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I want one hundred three three zero O Kalvia. I'll
be back in two minutes. All right, welcome back to
(35:53):
talk from doctor Lavina and medical Hourerphone lines are open
eight nine six Kova. I want one hundred three three
zero Kalova. I you know, chatting about these healthcare providers
that come to your home to sort of clean things
up if you didn't get your proper testing that you're
supposed to get once a year, which are very important
(36:14):
to finding diseases at an earlier stage rather than later stage. Again,
almost like vaccines, getting those it's all about prevention. That yeah,
that's something that I would recommend you engage in and
have them come because a lot of times you can,
since you have the time, you can bring out other
issues that maybe that were bothering you that you were
(36:37):
not able to talk with your healthcare provider about. It's
something that can be looked into sometimes during those Hysits
not always. I think they really try and keep it
focused on your prevention side of your health, not necessarily
to address acute problems. But again, it's a healthcare provider.
(36:59):
It's it's someone you can talk with and chat with
if you're having issues with your primary care provider for
whatever reason. Understand that it's sort of bottlenecks sometimes at
the primary care provider level in terms of phone calls
and refills and the management of acute crisises that might
(37:21):
come up with you during the day or the month
or the year that sometimes the primary care provider's office
sort of gets a little bogged down and they can't
really address them in a time and manner, which is
why we have all of these freestanding minor care ers
that are out there now, such that if you cannot
(37:45):
get in touch with your healthcare provider for acute medical problems,
which happens frequently weekend nighttime. Again doing the meat of
the day when the primary care provider's office is on lockdown,
just because they have a lot of patients themselves. They
have these minor cares eers that you can go to.
And again, these are great outlets for our inlets for
(38:09):
you to engage in in order to see what is
going on with your physical body depending on the complaints.
And again they're handling you so much information now that
a lot of times you can bring that information back
to your healthcare provider and sort of continue the evaluation. Again,
most of the time they're just trying to cool things off,
(38:32):
but it could be the tip of an iceberg. It
could be something else that's more problematic, and it may
maybe need a referral to a consultant, or you need
additional imaging, additional labs. And as I've mentioned to you before,
just like with a caller last time, our decisions are
(38:52):
not always accurate and that again might require reassessment of
your situation. So yes, you might have to always go
back to the doctor or go back.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
To the emergency department.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
You go to the er, you go to a doctor,
you get a diagnosis, here's a prescription.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
You go home, you.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Don't get better, get worse, Yeah, you gotta go back
and get reassessed, just because sometimes a lot of these
diagnoses is the overlap with how they present, meaning you
could have two or three processes going at the same time,
but they all sort of present very similarly, and just
depending on the labs and the physical examination and what
(39:34):
you complained about, the provider might think one thing when
something else might be happening. And if you don't get better, yes,
you have to go back and get reassessed. That's unfortunately
built into the system, and it's hard to make that
decision every single time. Just like with the surgery, you
can get all the pre opt testing, you can get
(39:56):
your heart checked out, you can go see this doctor
that doctor, get clear, get all these forms, all this paperwork,
you can get this and that, and then during the operation,
after the operation, things happen that are unforeseen, that come
up that my keep in the hospital for a.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Week or so.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Even though you sort of got prepped for everything, you
got cleared for everything, it's just not perfect. We do
our best to try and keep those events to a minimum.
But unfortunately those things still happen despite all of the
care we take to sort of prep the situation before
(40:35):
you have, like I say, a surgery. But again, all
these decisions that are being made every day in terms
of medications with your primary care provider, your health care
provider er Monecares.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Some things that just doesn't work out, you got to
go back and get reccessed. So phone lines are open.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Eight nine six kV I won one hundred three three
zero O kovy. I'll be back our last. But all right,
welcome back to doctor Rinu Medical. Our phone lines are open,
and how it goes by so quickly. Remember, if there's
(41:14):
a topic that you'd like me to discuss, you can
either call my office or you can call the radio
station and we can dive into that and get you
that information. Again, this is the genesis of the show,
is to provide this information to you to again try
to make things as easy and as simple as possible,
because it is pretty difficult out there to figure out
(41:36):
what to do in terms of staying alive. But we
did have some good conversations about them coming out to
your house to check on you. I do approve that,
and I do agree with that. We need all the
help we can get to make sure that every year
you're getting your proper testing and that you're aware of
(41:57):
the information and results. When we do x rays in
the office, we do bring patients back into the office
to have a face to face, one on one conversation
about these results. Again, it just improves the patient's understanding
of what is going on with them. It reduces the
chances that patients have fallen through the cracks with some
(42:17):
of these results. Again, and for getting blood, we're getting
x rays, you should know that your results, have them
in your hand, get copies of them. I mean, I
do endorse all of that. And the medical world is
getting better at that, patients are getting better at that.
You're going to have a better outcome if you are
more engaged with your healthcare delivery. In particular, like I said,
(42:41):
knowing all this information that you're getting the results what
it means. So I think it's a good idea and
lessens the possibility that you sort of get surprised one
day about some results or some exam that you got
eight months ago and you never talked about it or
you don't remember it. Or maybe they did talk about it,
(43:03):
but you forgot to follow up. Just stuff like that
happens every day. It's no one's fault, but it's just
human nature, human behavior, and we're trying to engage systems
so that it's more automatic and those things are less
likely to happen. But yeah, if you want to check
on a doctor just to check their records, see how
(43:26):
they're doing. You know, maybe your doctor's referring to somebody else,
you don't know them, you want to check on them.
There there are good reliable websites resource you can go to.
You can always check your insurance company can check with
the medical board. Those are two good websites that you
can probably start with first. But you got to be
careful out there, just because there's a lot of information
(43:46):
that might not be legitimate or have a little bit
more emotion to it. So thank you for joining us
on the edition of the show. Member, don't drink and drive,
Eat some vegetable, drink some water. We'll see guys next week.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Take care,
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