Do you ever use your "MS card"?

[jbell2435]

I was getting a bug last week that has been going around the office and feeling really crummy by Thursday so I left work early. Decided I would just show up at my PCP office and see if she would see me and give me antibiotics as this thing had people down and out for at least a week.

So I get there and of course, no openings, and I say, "look I have MS and getting sick worsens my symtoms, I really need to see her if I need antibiotics to get over this bug".

Shameful, yes and no. I got in and she did call in a rx for me, but luckily it seemed to get better by yesterday.

[SNOOPY]

Do you ever use your "MS card"?

No, I never have.

Getting colds, viruses, infections is part of life. Just because I have MS does not give me the right to push my way into my PCPs office.

Having MS does not make getting sick an emergency that cannot wait for the next available appointment.

[jessiesmom]

Exaggerating MS Effects

I must echo what SNOOPY said. I feel that it is unethical to "play the MS card" when seeking medical treatment. It is kind of like using a handicap parking space when you do not really need it. I am sorry if you are offended by my response but I was offended by your post.

[quotefanatic]

No, personally I don't think I've ever done that..

Though, viruses do often worsen peoples symptoms. And even at times can land you in the hospital depending on how bad it affects your symptoms..

Squeezing you in doesn't seem like such a large deal honestly.

Best wishes to you!

[katvar]

I have never used my "MS card" with my PCP. I go to a small family practice and generally I can leave her a message and she has the nurse get back to me with her opinion.

I did use last month when calling The Veterans Affairs neuro clinic because I have been waiting 9 months for a neuro appointment and I will wait for at least another month.
I know that they are very busy and I needed a way to get them to understand that I need ongoing care. I need them to give me certain referrals that only they can give regarding treatment.
During those 9 months I have paid for private practice visits 2 rounds of steroids and other medications, physical therapy, an MRI and an AFO. All out of pocket because I am uninsured. So, yes I did play the "MS card".

[Hawkgirl]

I've never used it to get in to see a dr but I've used it in other ways. Everybody's got an arsenal. We all use something to get a leg up.

I also use my handicap parking hanger most of the time. There are always so many handicap spaces standing empty, while other spaces are hard to find. So I am doing the non-handicapped people a favor by leaving a space open for them. See what a good person I am?

I don't think you did anything so bad.

[Cat Mom]

On a lighter note, I do not play the ms card but I have a few healthy friends that offer to drive me to social functions. They love having me as a passenger because they have a reason (legitimate) to leave early and not look rude because "Jen is getting tired" or "Jen has to get home to do her needle".

One friend even used my MS to get out of a lunch with one of those annoying relatives who won't take no for an answer. She said that she was taking her friend with MS, who doesn't drive, shopping. This was 100% true, but we were going shopping for pleasure.

This is all with my blessing of course. At least someone can benefit from this rotten disease of mine.

[valeriem2220]

I have never used it with any Drs, but am ready to use it for work when I have to.
We have a room that has 6 machines in it that we have to run with one other person and sometimes you have to climb ladders clear to the ceiling to unjam lines. I am deathly afraid of heights, hate ladders and avoid them at all costs.
If they try to put me in that room again at any time...you bet I'm pulling the MS card. I can't even keep my balance on level ground let alone 12 feet up a ladder trying to unjam a line while holding onto nothing.
Some people are a little upset that I am not put in there because my boss doesn't want to risk it, nobody likes it in there, but I will surely give them my MS if they want kept out of that room. Fair trade I would say....
So far my bosses have been understanding, but if they decide I should try it, I will make a legal request to be kept out of there.

[gomer]

A NO here, so far anyway.....

My fam doc considers me a "high risk patient" anyway,and that was before my formal MS dx. I have not had any problems getting in to see him on short notice, not yet.

I can only think of three times I walked in w/o an appointment to a docs office wanting to see him/her.
One was when I learned they had been keeping my cancer Dx from me, another was when I had a UTI and simply dropped a sample off and continued to work (he called me back to come in that afternoon), and once my diabetes puled a switch-er-roo on me. I was great that morning, then before lunch I was having control BG problems, and that afternoon after classes I popped into the the hospital clinic. I got seen quickly and had to change my insulin routine.

In the original posters situation, I would have CALLED and explain the situation, then let THEM decide what to do. I am inclined to AVOID just dropping in, unless I consider it SERIOUS.

WHY? Because if I started just dropping in for minor or routine issues, I fear I would be taken less seriously in the future, when I REALLY needed to be seen.

Well that's my 2pence opinion anywho.......

Gomer

[aitch10]

To get sent to the front of the line at the DMV: yes.

To get seen before a bunch of other sick people in need of care: no way.

[Burtnsienna]

Using MS card

I have low IgG and take an monthly infusion of it as well as low Alpha-1 now probable MS since there are lesions on the brain and MS symptoms. Last November, I knew I was getting sick and I am one of those people whose body temperature is 107 so when I have a 99 temperature, I really am running a fever. I made an appointment with my GP because my immunologist had been out sick for over a week and he was backed up, first day back. I saw the GP who asked me what antibiotic the immunologist usually gave me. Now, I am paying them not the reverse. After I finished, I went to the immunologist's office and I saw my doctor standing behind the receptionist. I nicely asked what he wanted me to do that I understood his back-up but I was really sick. He told me to go the the ER and have them call him and I did and I was hospitalized for a week, ran all sorts of tests and little came back. Then after I left the hospital I was sent a week later to a neurologist. That was the only thing they didn't examine in the hospital. I did have lesions on the brain. I am glad I pushed the envelope. But at the same time, if I'm n a doctor's office waiting two hours to see him or her, I bring a book and don't complain because there are people maybe that time that need help as I did.

[lynnepynne]

Jessiesmom said

Exaggerating MS Effects
I must echo what SNOOPY said. I feel that it is unethical to "play the MS card" when seeking medical treatment. It is kind of like using a handicap parking space when you do not really need it. I am sorry if you are offended by my response but I was offended by your post.

I didn't really hear from the original poster that she exaggerated her situation.
From what I have read here some people really do get much sicker (psuedo-excerbation) when they catch a bug.

Luckily this "bug" cleared up even without the antibiotics. While it is true that (as Snoopy honestly puts it) bugs, viruses and illness are part of life, I have heard these can carry risks of greater discomfort and a rougher time for people with demyelination illnesses if they get a fever etc.

I am not sure the OP was "pulling the MS card" as much as protecting herself from a potentially rougher time than folks who "just" get bugs or whatever (without the additional not being able walk or numb or what not during that time.) Is that really so bad?

I guess if she was pushing her way in through exaggeration and maybe lied or was manipulative about what MS + a bug does to her, it wouldn't be fair or kind to the other patients, but I'm not sure this is the case... Maybe she just honestly underestimated the seriousness of her symptoms?

I don't really want judge anyone for being scared about what a simple cold or virus can do to you when you have fragile health and acting on it.

[MelissaQ]

IMO I don't feel you were "pulling the MS card" The office staff in your drs office aren't going to be aware that you are a special circumstance when you are ill unless you tell them.

And I feel it is more necessary for a person that has MS or other chronic illness to take control of their health care.

Yes, for most people a cold or flu virus is part of life and no big deal. But it can result in a big deal for a person with a chronic illness. So don't feel bad about the situation - I think you did the right thing. Like I said, because of your MS, a simple virus could end up sending you into a relapse.

It would be different if you were lying, but it doesn't sound like that is the case at all. I don't think what you did was unethical, I think it was taking control of your health.

[jbell2435]

Thank you for the replys and I am truly sorry if my post offended anyone.

I did not play up my illness due to the bug or my MS, nor was there anyone in the waiting room...I just know they would not have seen me that day without an appt. and the weekend was coming and feel at much greater risk going to an urgent care center. My doc is well aware of my MS and condition and felt she would know best how to treat the bug.

My doc ordered the Z-Pak, but told me CDC recommends to wait 7-10 days to see if it clears on its own, so I didn't pick it up until Sunday just in case I started relapsing on the bug.

[jbell2435]

Oh, and for those who said it was unethical, really? Getting in to see your dr when you are sick is unethical??

Living in So. Cal, a reg dr visit can take 2-3 weeks to get in.