Obamacare, which I have passionately criticized, might have just saved my life today...

[Demo_Chris]

Gonna make this quick...

I have a bad toothache so I went to the Dentist. They take my BP and it's shockingly high, like 200/120. The Dentist says he isn't gonna touch me and that I need to see my doctor, which I of course do not have. He also won't even offer advice. So I check the web and both sites say this is 'holy shit call 911' high, so I head to the local ER.

I gave them my Insurance card and the pearly gates opened. Now I have been to ERs before, more times than I would like, and prior to today and having insurance they have always just looked for a pulse and if they found one out the door you go. Today, because I have insurance, they did TESTS. They tested my blood for a bunch of stuff, they X-Rayed my chest and heart, they did a fancy EKG. They kept me there for hours asking lots of questions. The entire time I was on a machine to watch my BP and pulse and other stuff. You would have thought I was Mitt Fucking Romney they way they acted.

Anyway, the end result is that they decided that my high blood pressure wasn't caused by anything of instant concern, and that I just have high blood pressure. So they gave me some pills to lower it and told me I need to find a regular doctor to monitor things while I get my BP under control. They talked like it was important to get on top of it, but not immediately life threatening.

They even gave me a freaking tote bag when I left.

Now some of you are medical experts and can no doubt tell me how fucked I am, but if so please refrain. I am still really kind of freaked out right now and I don't need any horror stories. I hope they are right and I am not about to drop dead. If not, I wnjoyed the time we spent together.

And that's my Obamacare story. Thanks for reading.

[MattBaggins]

1. That BP will destroy your kidneys. See your doctor

High BP can be managed quite well if you lose weight, eat better, and take your medicines.

[KittyWampus]

8. why does HBP hurt kidneys specifically? I didn't know that.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. It affects the blood vessels throughout the body.

One of the first areas to show damage can be the blood vessels of the kidneys. The high pressure of the blood moving through the kidneys' veseels can cause rather quick, really devastating results...ending in complete kidney failure.

[KittyWampus]

79. thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. ScreamingMeemie is right.

The kidneys are the first organs the blood encounters after it leaves the heart. So the pressure in the bloodstream hits the kidneys full blast, and if that pressure is too high, it can and often does, damage the kidneys.

[Zen Democrat]

25. You can be skinny as a rail and have dangerously high blood pressure. Runs in my family that way.

[Lobo27]

39. Recently my father came down with Kidney cancer.

He had to have a radical nephractomy, the kidney was removed. But we were told that his high blood pressure might be responsible for the cancer. So yeah high blood pressure sucks.

[SnowCritter]

67. As a survivor of the same cancer (9 years cancer free)

I wish your father well.

[REP]

68. Untreated high blood pressure is the #1 cause of kidney failure

#2 is diabetes

Weight isn't really an indicator of hypertension. My BP is 96/40 and I have advanced non-diabetic kidney disease (I have primary idiopathic FSGS).

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. You bet your bottom dollar it saved your life today.

That blood pressure? Stroke city at the very least.

Take your pills.
Lose some weight.
Get a doctor, pronto.

You were lucky.

[bravenak]

3. I am glad you got the care you deserved.

The ACA will get even better over time until we all get the care we need.
I am glad you are alive too.
Take care of yourself.

[malaise]

4. Nice

[Adrahil]

5. Glad they caught that! K&R

[TexasTowelie]

6. Hello, I'm glad that they were able to take care of you.

My father had issues with blood pressure and came up with a case of nephritis (kidney issues) when he was in his upper sixties.

I'm going through a set of problems myself, but I'm also working on the SSDI filings that came in the mail today. One down and two to go.

I had a Skype interview yesterday and think that I'm still in the running for a good job, but it has been a busy week filling out job application forms for myself, my brother, etc.

[VanillaRhapsody]

7. and just think how many other people are being saved every single day that same way!!!

THAT is the miracle that is Obamacares....Is is perfect? No....Could it be improved upon? Absolutely....but it IS saving lives right NOW...(not to mention it is a jobs program....getting more people educated and hired into new and good paying healthcare positions will soon be very important).

The moral to this story is....

Do not let the good be the enemy of the perfect!

Glad you are here....please take care of yourself Demo_Chris.

[JNelson6563]

31. This^^^^^

[BlueCaliDem]

41. ^^^ This! ^^^ times TWO. eom

[hueymahl]

49. "Do not let the good be the enemy of the perfect"

So true.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

52. this^^^ times a whole lot.

The perfect really is the enemy of the good. In everything, really... not just ACA

[calimary]

64. THIS ^^^^^^^ times a MILLION!!!

Do NOT spit in the eye of the good - because it may not be the absolutely perfect!!!

We finally have this. We finally have at least a good start. NO it's not perfect. But it's SOMETHING!!! It's a good start! Where, before, we had NOTHING. I'll take something over nothing ANY day.

[Trekologer]

82. Is the ACA perfect? No

There is clearly lots of room for improvement. But it sure beats the Republican's alternative heath care plan: do nothing.

[KittyWampus]

9. Glad you made it through the day and hope you can manage your BP successfully.

[freshwest]

10. You are one of millions saved without flourishes, and we're very happy for you! Take care. n/t

[RandySF]

11. To me, Obamacare is the first big step toward my goal of single-payer.

[Jim Lane]

12. Congratulations! But I want to know why *I've* never gotten a tote bag.

Maybe Darrell Issa should investigate this scandal of selective distribution of tote bags. I think this could be another Benghazi....

[okaawhatever]

29. F#@k they mistook him for a Republican. That is why his experience was so different. Google

or Facebook or someone had him down as a Republican who didn't approve of Obamacare so the hospital thought he was one
of "them". lolz. Just kidding.
Issa will investigate to find out why a Democrat was treated so well at a hospital.

[niyad]

14. glad that you were given some actual help, and that you are still around. please take care of

yourself.

[Lex]

15. Glad you are ok! My BP

was 200/100 once when I took it on a friend's BP cuff. So I went straight to my doctor the same day and I immediately went on BP meds--high BP runs in my family, even the skinny ones have it, so it's not always weight related. That day, they even gave me a BP med right in the doctor's office and made me stay for a while to make sure it dropped some. Then I went back every day for a week so they could check it. Anyway, it is well controlled with meds now and has been for years. I ended up buying my own BP cuff (one made by "Omron" that my doc recommended) and I keep a check on my own BP and take my BP med every day. Good luck to you! And thank goodness for Obamacare!

[Aristus]

16. No horror stories. I see this all the time.

Hypertension is a chronic disease. There's no cure for it. But it can be managed. Just take your medication every day, exercise, eat right, moderate alcohol intake, and no smoking. Also, cut down on the salt. If you keep your b/p below about 140/90, you should be okay, and you can avoid the kidney problems mentioned above.

As a Physician Assistant, I'm curious. If it's all right with you, could you PM me the name of the medication they prescribed for you? I might be able to give you some pointers.

[brewens]

53. My BP creeped up until they finally put me on meds for it. I'm a regular blood platelet donor

so I got my BP checked about every two weeks for several years and saw exactly what it was doing. I saw it getting closer to donation denial level and kept telling myself, I gotta quit smoking and lose a little weight!

Now that it's under control, I have quit smoking and am at least keeping from gaining any weight. I've been taking some pretty serious walks and can feel my stamina is increased and I look more solid. My last platelet donation my BP was down some from what it's been running. I have a feeling it may be looking even better tommorrow when I donate again. I'm hoping I can get off the BP meds.

[Aristus]

54. I have a lot of patients who are able to treat their blood pressure successfully

with conservative measure alone, diet, exercise & no smoking. You can do it.

[Demo_Chris]

74. Lisinopril 10mg.

[babylonsister]

17. And THAT is why I have Obamacare. It's the times in life you

can't anticipate. Hell, that's what insurance is all about. Now it's affordable, and sounds pretty good!

I'm glad you're okay; lay off the salt.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. Glad you got treated, and it is not serious.

Please do get a regular doctor and follow through. BP meds can help for the rest of your life, but you want to make sure that you have the right one and it is doing good for you.

Now, about that toothache......get that taken care of since a bad toothache can't help your BP.

[No Vested Interest]

20. Hope they gave Demo Chris something to ameliorate the toothache.

Don't want induce horror, but bad things can (and sometimes do) happen as a result of infected teeth.
Like serious infection in the blood, thence to the heart.

I'm not a physician, but surely someone on these boards can clarify the potential dangers of dental infections.

[Delver Rootnose]

37. Yes keep you teeth and gums clean...

...there is more and more research saying gum infections greatly increase you chance of heart disease esp valve infections if I remember correctly. Actually any type of chronic inflammation is bad.

[tblue37]

19. I am confused. Is this actually what you meant to say?

"Now I have been to ERs before, more times than I would like, and prior to today and having insurance they have always just looked for a pulse and if they found one out the door you go."

That phrasing sounds as though you had insurance prior to today, but that for some reason, even with insurance they just looked for a pulse and nothing more, but that somehow with Obamacare insurance it is different.

Or did you mean that you did not have insurance before, but with Obamacare you are finally treated appropriately at the ER?

[CJCRANE]

70. I assume he means "prior to having insurance", which he now has today. nt

[Demo_Chris]

75. Sorry, I meant prior to having insurance, etc. nt

[tblue37]

21. BTW, it took several different tries before my doctor found a drug that

would control my BP. You must keep seeing a doctor and being checked until your BP is controlled! If this drug doesn't work, then they need to try others, until they find the right one.

[TBF]

22. Take your BP meds-

I finally got on generic pills for $5 month after trying for a couple of years to do it myself with diet/exercise. I did lose 60 lbs. but still borderline high BP (150/90 without meds - with meds 110/80). So, take them. It's not worth a stroke or heart attack (also I am allergic to aspirin so that aspirin-a-day fix that sometimes helps borderline patients couldn't help me).

[Flying Squirrel]

23. Just a tote bag, no pony?

[denbot]

24. Glad you got help, stay on it

Now the obligatory; Why do you hate freedumb!?!?

[mackerel]

27. green smoothies, juicing, cut meat

Out of your diet and you'll be grand.

[MineralMan]

51. Bad advice. This person needs a physician to help

get that BP under control. Amateur diagnosis and treatment is not the answer. Please don't give medical advice to other people. It's unwise and unhelpful. Seriously.

[stopbush]

84. Agreed. Woo is no substitute for professional medical advice and treatment.

[mackerel]

86. It works for me but I do have a dr. and she is the one who told me to cut

the meats & increase the veggies and fruit. I found that green smoothies and juicing is the way to do it and my dr. isn't
againstthis method plus she's been happy with my weight loss. Took me about a year to get off the hpb rx.

[stopbush]

87. And that's the point - it took you a year. Yet, you're telling a person with dangerously high BP

to drink a smoothie, as if that's going to help them lower their BP in the immediate short term.

You also did this under the supervision of a doctor, just as the OP is following a course of treatment prescribed by their doctor.

[mackerel]

88. I'm sorry I don't get your point. The OP didn't want to hear any omgee your dying stories.

I just wanted to share encouragement that it is reversible and I do believe that to be true. (Btw my bp was as high as the OP four years ago. Still blows me away that I didn't notice the signs sooner.) I forgot hydration is very important too. Drink lots of water especially when your on the meds.

[cap]

28. Don't need to freak out but do what the docs are telling you

Do what they are telling you and you will be OK more than likely. Don't and you will end up in a heap of whoop a--

Take your meds, monitor your bp , change it diet and exercise are the way to go.

[okaawhatever]

30. Congrats on your 7,000th post. nt

[cap]

55. Thank you

[Demo_Chris]

32. Thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear. nt

[cap]

56. Your welcome

[CBHagman]

33. I hope you will follow up with a good internist and also that dentist.

Congratulations on the insurance, and I'm glad you got your tests and shared all this with us.

[Half-Century Man]

34. Welcome to the world of an acceptable level of healthcare.

What you experenced was the bare minimum that should be given for every ER visit. One more of the things denied too many of us for too long by the few with too much money.

Vote left.

[okaawhatever]

35. The good news is that you will likely feel better than you've felt in a while. While high blood

pressure is largely asymptomatic, hypertensive crisis (over 180 or over 110 bottom number) has some ugly side effects.

In addition to extreme readings, a person in hypertensive crisis may experience:

Severe headaches
Severe anxiety
Shortness of breath
Nosebleeds

Pain increases blood pressure so being in pain in the past may have caused a hypertensive crisis. Now you won't experience that anymore! Yay!

I'm glad you got the help you needed, and I'm glad that the solution was something folks here at DU were supportive of. Take care of yourself, things are going to get better now.

[bigwillq]

36. Glad you were checked out.

Hope you feel better.

[Stellar]

38. aww (((Demo_Chris)))

I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Raine1967]

40. Wonderful post!

Glad you are still with us Demo.

I'm also glad you had proper care when it was needed!

[RiffRandell]

42. Glad to hear you're okay, and thanks for sharing!

Keep us posted on how you are doing!

[mountain grammy]

43. Great story. Thanks for sharing. Glad your HBP is diagnosed. Take care of yourself.

[DebJ]

44. Yep on the kidney comments. Destroyed my husband's kidneys.

He thought 160/95 was a 'good' number. Life with kidney disease is not fun.
Extremely restricted eating. Don't go there!

[riqster]

45. Good for you! Glad the ACA is working for your benefit.

And speaking as a person with some really huge fucking cardiac issues, PLEASE follow up. High Blood Pressure can be easy and cheap to manage, and doing so can pay huge dividends to the rest of your body.

Not doing so, on the other hand, can really fuck one's shit up.

[valerief]

46. Avoid processed foods. They're loaded with sodium. Get used to cooking real food.

It's not so bad once you get used to it. Good luck.

And tell everyone you meet why they should not vote for Republicans. If the Congress and White House were Republican-heavy, there'd be no ACA. Or Medicare. Or Social Security.

[rtracey]

47. your story

Your story and countless other stories only proves the ACA will work...Faults, yes, some that need fixing, and in the future they will be fixed, look at Medicare, Social Security, still not perfect.... but the thing that bothers me more then anything, is the people who deny that the ACA is helping them, they have it, and still side with the Fox News hounds. I am extremely bothered by Ben Carson, and his on-going attempt to put ACA and slavery in the same sentence. He and other MD's who keep hitting the panic button on healthcare.... These people are not doing any good tho this country, except division.

[Warpy]

48. The ACA kicked in too late for me

I qualified for Medicare first. I do have to agree with you that it's a whole different experience when you've got that all important insurance number even if it's (sneer) Medicare.

Your blood pressure was indeed at life threatening levels. It could have killed you quickly if you'd had a congenital aneurysm in your head burst. It happens more often than you'd think. Long term, say a year or three, it would have damaged your kidneys beyond the point of repair and trust me, living on dialysis is a crappy way to live. You do need to find a doc (internist, general medicine, family practice) to stay on top of it. Blood pressure pills might make you a little dizzy when you first stand up, but they're far better than the alternatives.

Cutting out salt might help you reduce the dosage. Everything tastes like cardboard for a couple of weeks but six months, out, you won't be able to believe you ever ate things like salty chips.

[SteveG]

71. agreed

After my previous doctor moved out of the area, I got lazy and didn't bother to find a new one. Until last summer when all of a sudden I had no energy, I would get short of breath after walking from my car to the front door. I found a doctor, went in and found out my blood pressure was out of sight, and the EKG was going haywire. My new Doctor made a call to his cardiologist friend and I was in to see him the next day, turned out I had Congestive Heart Failure. I was immediately put on meds, lectured appropriately, given a written note to my employer that I was out of work on sick leave for an undetermined period and sent home to rest. I was then scheduled for an echocardiagram and an angiogram. Both had my heart running at about 20%. this was all at the beginning of August. By the end of August, I was stabilized sufficiently to be allowed back to work, and by the end of November my heart was back to 68%. (it is apparently rare to get such a good result, they would have been happy with anything over 30%). Now the reality is that I will never get back to where I was before I got ill, but at least I am still alive and my condition is managable. I was very lucky that I have good insurance and I have only myself to blame for ignoring my health for as long as I did. Don't screw around, get that checkup, find a good doc, and maybe you won't have to survive your own stupid like I did.

[IronLionZion]

50. Please book an appointment with a doctor

and listen to their advice. Get your BP under control. They'll put together some sort of plan for you. There should be no copay for your checkup. A walk in clinic or urgent care center might work as well if you don't want to wait for a family practice doctor.

Glad the PPACA is working out for you.

[Brigid]

57. See your doctor. And another suggestion:

Get a home BP cuff so that you can watch your BP too, along with your doctor checkups.

[Hissyspit]

80. +1

[myrna minx]

59. I'm so glad you received the proper medical care.

I too was hoping for single payer, but I'm so grateful that so many people are being helped and their lives are *saved* due to Obamacare. All of my best (and take your meds!)

[cap]

60. My family experience

I know this from experience with my own family.

Uncontrolled bp leads to kidney failure. Hubby is on kidney transplant list. Not a fun life. We are doing an Indiegogo campaign ( http://igg.me/at/savethegeek) to get him to a transplant center where he can get a kidney sooner than later . If stress is a problem, do yoga, meditate, and that will help a lot.

On the other hand, mom tried to keep her bp under control, couldn't do it, had a heart attack and quintuple bypass. Then she got religion. Diet and exercise did it. She ended up living on boiled vegetable and baked potato. But got her bp under control got off of most bp medication (under doctor supervision) and did not die of heart disease.



You got a wake up call, use your time wisely, and chances are you will be ok.

[msanthrope]

61. Glad you are getting this taken care of. Be well. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

62. And the anti-ACA crowd says ...

See ... This is exactly what we are talking about. The ACA doesn't bend the cost curve; it merely enriches the medical industry by encouraging them to order more, and more, expensive and unnecessary tests! Had you NOT had insurance, they would have checked for a pulse and sent you out the door, perhaps with some bandaid meds that might have brought down your BP.

[stopbush]

83. Because the anti-ACA crowd's definition of a NECESSARY test is a test that THEY need,

not the lowlifes on Obamacare.

My family got on CalOptima through Obamacare's Medicaid expansion. We are in the Kaiser network, which I had at my last job 3 years ago.

I started back to seeing them two weeks ago. Kaiser takes your blood pressure every time you show up. Mine was 149/85, which was higher than it was 3 years ago when I last had Kaiser - and last had any serious tests done. I had a bunch of tests run last week and have seen the dermatologist and my primary care physician (blood work all came back great). As my BP was pretty stationary at that higher level over two different exams, I've been put on a low level BP medication to see if I can get down to the below-140 range where I used to be. They also ran an EKG. Today, I went for an echo and am currently wearing a holter monitor for 24 hours. (On edit: echo results came back fine).

Are they running too many expensive tests because they can bill CalOptima under Medicaid? At 59 years of age, I don't think so. Consider I haven't had ANY real medical tests in 3 years. I will accept their erring on the side of caution by checking all of the angles to come up with the best diagnosis they can. I am getting to the age where such tests are the norm, UNLESS you don't have any insurance, which is where we would be as a family were it not for the ACA.

I'm lucky as I live in CA. There's millions of poor slobs who live in red states who are my dopplegänger but who still have no health insurance. Those people will be a real drag on the system when they end up in an emergency room with major problems that could have been detected and treated, the way my problems are being detected, evaluated and treated.

In the meanwhile, I continue to take my 3-mile walk every morning. I'm cutting back on "white food" (sugar, salt, potatoes, processed) as much as possible, cutting down on sugar by drinking water in place of juice. I'll get my weight back down along with my BP. Were it not for Obamacare, I would be unaware of any potential problems, literally rolling the dice with my health and my family's future.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Obamacare is the law of the land. Without it, I could be heading to an early grave.

Sure, I'm nervous about what the test results might say. But better to know and have a plan of attack than to pray to Jeebus and imagine everything is gonna be peachy.

[tofuandbeer]

63. Oh well...there goes Demo_Chris' plea to not post horror stories about blood pressure.

Great story! We all hope you get it under control!

[Demo_Chris]

77. Yeah heh-heh...

"Yeah, my BP was half that and my eyes exploded, they just fucking exploded like mini hand grenades. Good luck!"

I was trying to skip the horror stories because I have panic issues brought on by post traumatic stress, but in this case the well wishes and positive reports were more powerful than any nightmare scenario. I am going to listen to everyone here and my doctor (once I manage to find one) take my medicine religiously and completely change my diet. Hopefully that will be enough.

And thanks for the well wishes.

[mettamega]

65. I am happy for you, you are now empowered to find a good doctor

[greatlaurel]

66. That is really good news about fixing your blood pressure.

Have you gotten your tooth fixed yet? Take care of yourself and do the hard work of keeping on your meds and going to your follow up doctor's appointments. That gets tough to do sometimes. Good luck and keep us up to date on how you are doing. It helps to have people who care checking up on you.

Hurray for the ACA!

[Demo_Chris]

78. No, the Dentist cannot fix my tooth (he has to pull two or three I guess) until my BP comes down...

BUT, he did give me some antibiotics which should kill the infection and help the pain. I am thinking those things might also contribute to an elevated BP.

[meadowlark5]

69. That's great that your dentist even bothered to check!

I'm so glad you able to get proper medical treatment and get your BP under control.

Yay ACA

[DesertDiamond]

72. This is the complaint I have with ERs - they never actually do anything for you, unless it's sewing

up a wound, setting a broken bone, or like that. I don't know about your ER, but the ER in my town actually has it in the papers you sign before admission that they aren't going to do anything for you.

But, more importantly -- I'm so glad you get the point of Obamacare now, and you are an awesome human being to have posted this!

[stage left]

73. Glad you were able to get some help.

Hope you get the tooth fixed soon, too. Toothaches are bad news.

[randys1]

76. Dont know why you would have criticized Obamacare other than to say it isnt Universal Care

but can you now imagine if all americans could do that?

I am glad it saved you or made you feel saved, lets work on making sure ALL people in this country NO matter whether they are citizens or not can get the same.

[eridani]

81. ACA will save 24,000 lives a year. Glad that you are one of them

However, after full implememtation, 30 million will remain uninsured, and that will lead to 36,000 people a year still dying. Please--let's finish the job! Medicare for All now!

[stopbush]

85. The next step is MediCAID expansion in the red states.

Too bad all of those asshole RW govs and legislatures think they're doing the work of the lord by denying health coverage to their citizens.

Expand Medicaid as provided for in the ACA NOW!