Good plan! I wish they would do those multi panels automatically with multi year check ups. Here, we have to ask for this and ask for that and generally none is recommended by the physician's office.
I'm searching for the thread where someone mentioned being able to get a complete vitamin panel done without a doctor having to write the order. I think they (or their daughter) had it done at Lab Corp. I can pay for it out of pocket, I just need to find the logistics.
I depends on the state as to whether lab tests can be self-ordered. I don't know about Virginia, but you could contact a local LabCorp draw station to find out. Walgreens up here have them in the stores, but the hours are not the same as the stores, so you would have to check.
I looked at Lab Corp's website, and they offer a bunch of individual vitamin tests, but no collection or array of things. I may wait until I see the nephrologist after I have these tests done and ask his opinion on what I should do. He was a GP in Missouri before UVA brought him into the Kidney Care Center.
I am pretty sure that was @Mary Stetler that talked about her daughter having the lab tests done. You might want to PM her for more info about it, instead of trying to find the thread posts. I remember reading it, too; but not in which thread.
Some doctors will initially get angry when they're told they're wrong by the patient, but they'll re-think it later, out of your presence. When I saw a dentist for a root canal several years ago, I told him which two teeth were infected. He disagreed & told me the X-Ray showed that the biggest infection was on the tooth next to it. He also asked me how much medical training I had. I said, "None, but I know which tooth hurts the most. And after 28 root canals & 30 crowns, I can tell." I also said, "Start drilling the tooth I indicated & I won't hold you responsible if I'm wrong & I'll be glad to sign a liability release." A minute after he started drilling the tooth I indicated, he stopped & stared. I said, "What's wrong?" He said, "I can't believe it; the tooth you said was worse has the most infection coming out of it. The tooth I thought was the worst has hardly any infection; just the opposite of what the X-Ray shows." I said, "Well, ya know, your patients have lived in their bodies for many years; you've only known them for a few weeks or months."
This guy was perfectly fine the next time I saw him. The morning of the surgery he told me he was gonna clean stuff out to see if that will put a halt to the bacteria coming back. These are the doctors you want, because they will learn from experience (in addition to doing the right thing by us.)
This might be what you are looking for @John Brunner. It goes though Quest instead of LabCorp. Use this to find the nearest site by using your zip code.
You rang? The test I had done at lab corp was for a platelet count after cancer treatment because insurance was a big muddle but they required a doctor's order even if out of pocket. This is in Wisconsin. I did march into an mri's are us and get one without an order tho.
As always, thank you, Don. It appears that they use LabCorp for the collection centers in my region. For the curious, I have attached a sample test result report. The test costs $399. Their website states No testing in MD, NJ or RI. This is great! I would not normally halt my regime for this testing, but since I'm already doing it for other reasons, I'll just swing by LabCorp after I have my blood drawn as UVA. I've always wanted to do this.
John Brunner, this is an excellent route, if cost was not a current factor, I would want to pursue and have this testing.
I mentioned in my Urodynamic thread that I had to chase down a compounding pharmacy (one that actually mixes the drugs) to get a script filled for an antibiotic catheter/bladder flush. It has been (and continues to be) a goat rodeo. -Walmart initially received the script, realized the could not fill it, so deleted it out of their system without notifying anyone -Neither Walmart nor CVS nor Walgreens nor any compounding pharmacy "near" me could fill the script -I ended up going to a pharmacy near my urologist, 40 miles from home -They operate on a goofy text system (will not answer the phone or return calls) that left me uncertain as to whether they received my OK to proceed with my order -I called them to verify that my order was proceeding, and I was told it would be compounded at their other location...70 miles from home. -I received a text on a Friday afternoon: "Your order is ready to pick up." But pick up where??? I called and had to leave a voice mail message, and they never called me back. I replied to the text and they never responded. -I rolled the dice and drove to the far-away location, which was the only location open on Saturday. -They had my order there, and the guy offered to put it on auto-refill to ship to my home. I thought I was good-to-go. It's time for my first refill. I was at my urologist's today, and because of the to-date goat rodeo, I drove up the road to the nearby location to verify that everything is OK (and to ask why they show 24 refills when my doctor only ordered 4.) -The woman at the counter told me their system can't do auto-refills -The woman at the counter told me that they do not ship to people's homes Keep in mind that they custom-mix this stuff...it is not sitting on the shelf in a bottle as pills are. There is a manufacturing lead time. So had I not gone there in person, I would be waiting for the UPS guy to deliver my meds that are never gonna arrive. No one called me when they tried to put that refill order in to tell me that they don't operate that way. And no one answers their damned phone or returns calls or returns texts for me to verify that things are on track or that my refill is actually in process. I am so livid. If this flush does the trick, I am going to be engaged in this mess every single month, forever. I am searching to find a way to contact the owner.
I agree, Janine. I've been on supplements since 1990 and have never really had anything like this done. I'll dig into savings.
The refills for my compounded antibiotic flush are all screwed up, and would not have happened had I not stopped by a branch of the pharmacy today to check status. See my rant here.
*Livid, I can appreciate feeling that way John, what a frustration for you, I'd be feeling similar for sure...