consultation vidéo

[mint]

Has anyone had one of these with their doctor via the doctolib site?

My doctor is now offering these and I would certainly take advantage if I thought it would go smoothly and I would not mess up.

If anyone can explain to me how it's done, what is involved, could they please take me through the procedure?  Thank you.

[Lori]

My doctor suggested this for me.  We had an appt. scheduled for 26 March.  She called me to ask if it was urgent.  It wasn't, but it is important.  We discussed the issue at hand.  She asked me to mail her some lab results with the expectation that we could do a tele-service appointment and she could prescribe the necessary treatment.  I sent her the documentation.

We rescheduled the appt. for 20 April.  So, I expect I will likely hear from her before that or on that day for a tele-service appt.

Don't know exactly what it requires.  Possibly an app on my phone, possibly by Skype.  I guess I'll find out. 

I'll let you know if I get any further details in the meantime.

[mint]

Thanks, Lori.  It would be good to know what your experience is like.

I don't need a RV yet but the pharmacien pointed out that my prescription will have run out by the time I need more medication towards the middle of next month.

[NormanH]

But the pharmacy is supposed to renew a prescription without having to see a Doctor again to relieve the burden on Doctors during the present situation

https://www.bfmtv.com/sante/coronavirus-les-personnes-atteintes-de-maladies-chroniques-pourront-obtenir-leurs-medicaments-sans-ordonnance-1875289.html

[Lori]

Yes, but that would be for an existing prescription.  If you need a new prescription you may need a new prescription.  I will.

[mint]

Yes, I mean to ask the pharmacien if he could just renew the ordonnance.  But I do have 2 products fairly new to me and the doc is reviewing those.

[Lori]

Hi Mint:  I had my video consultation today.  It was very simple.  I just signed on to my Doctolib account and connected to my set video appointment.  I opened the video and waited for the doctor to join.  She did.  Lovely she was.  All went well.  We were disconnected briefly and she called me on my cell phone, but we were then reconnected online.  All worked well.  She then sent me my prescriptions via the Doctolib site.  Excellent.  Couldn't be happier.

[mint]

Thanks for coming back Lori.  Yes, that sounds excellent and so glad you are happy, after all the kerfuffle with sending your documents.

Now you have this lovely doctor, you won't want to leave Paris!

[Lori]

Yes, Mint, you are right.  Though, as long as Mr. Trump is in power, I will not step foot in America and will feel safer for it.

Doctor was quite sweet and wanted to hear why I moved to France, in addition to asking all the required health questions.  She, of course, did not know that I had lived here previously.  But, she wanted to hear all about it.  Her daughter lives in Washington, DC and she related her concerns about that.  She really spent a lot of time with me.  I like her very much.  She offered an enormous amount of treatment options and explained each one in detail.

I hope if you have a video conference, yours goes as well as mine did.

[mint]

Wow, Lori, that is truly impressive.

Just for interest, you might like to have a glance at this post from an American lady on a cancer forum that I am a member of.  It was posted yesterday.  I never cease to be horrified and shocked at what some people have to go through with their worry about their medical treatment ON TOP OF their cancer[6]  It is truly a dreadful, dreadful dilemma...

So here it is, my biggest fear of my entire life, come to fruition right

before my eyes. I was diagnosed in March, with TNBC as well as her2+

tumors. The TNBC HAS spread to my lymph node, but no where distant. TNBC

is what killed both my mom and my grandma. I always knew this is what

would get me, I had a plan of action, it didn't include treatment (or

even diagnosis) when the cancer came.. But then I met my husband. So

when I found the lump.. my instinct was to continue with my plan of

inaction, but I realized how devastated I would be if he knew he had

some thing killing him and chose to pretend nothing was wrong. So we

discussed it. I got diagnosed, the irony is that the lump I found is the

her2+ tumor.. its 2x as big as that TNBC, but the TNBC is already in my

lymph node. It's so insidious. I call my her2+ cancer my 'good cancer'

now. Sooo my oncologist told me chemo. Now. Like last week. Covid or

not. But my insurance company decided to fk me over, they've opened a '

pre-existing condition investigation' which freezes all my benefits, and

could take "some time" to complete under normal non covid

circumstances. So the hosp is now considering me self pay- so they want

1/2 the cost of chemo up front to start (35k.. is  50% of the self pay

discounted rate of 70k) and so that's where it stands.. I can wait out

but who knows how long they can drag this out, or to hire a lawyer (but

courts are closed) , or try to come up with a way to finance this. Or I

guess they will refer me to the state hospital, get whatever random Dr,

but they will start treatment and I'll just owe the money, this is all

so flipping crazy. And I'm terrified.

[Gardengirl]

Oh my heavens, that poor woman, just terrible! No wonder she’s terrified!

It made me feel so glad I ‘only’ had tumours!

[mint]

Yes, GG, I couldn't get her story out of my head. 

I thought about what a relatively easy time I had in comparison.  All those RVs made for me by kindly unseen, unknown people and the VSL that ferried me back and forth over months.

Somtimes you read an account like that and it leaves you shaken and humbled and, of course, impotent ultimately.

[Lori]

Sadly Mint, the American woman's post comes as no surprise to me at all.  There are literally thousands and thousands of people under similar circumstances in the U.S.  Few politicians could give a cr*p.  Look at all of those that want to block / destroy the basic care coverage created under Pres. Obama.  It is unfathomable.

During my video consultation this evening, my doctor related a story of her going to a pharmacy in the U.S. while visiting her daughter, to pick up a basic medication for her grandchild.  It normally cost 15 euros in France (which she considered on the expensive side).  She said it was $98 in the U.S.  I considered that on the low side for the U.S.

She recommended a medication here that is not yet covered by the French system as it is not yet approved in France (but approved in northern Europe).  But, she said it was quite expensive - 30 euros per month.  I had to laugh as a similar medication I was prescribed in the U.S. was $200 per month....

So sad and not likely to change as long as the current administration remains.  Costs so many lives each day/year..  People simply cannot afford health insurance and / or the drugs to treat whatever health issue they might have.  So, they die.

[mint]

So, Lori, we can expect hundreds of thousands to die from the coronavirus in the US then?[:'(]

[nomoss]

[quote user="mint"]So, Lori, we can expect hundreds of thousands to die from the coronavirus in the US then?[:'(]

[/quote]

Unless they are friends with Trump's son-in-law and he puts in a word for them.

The ginger man becomes more like a dictator in Bongo Bongo land every day.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jared-kushner-says-nyc-hospitals-only-received-n95-masks-after-trump-heard-about-shortages-from-friends

[Lori]

Of course, I have no idea how many people will die in the U.S. OF Coronavirus.  It is obviously going to be a huge number.  I think it will also depend on when Mr. Trump insists on 'reopening the country."  Ignoring all the Scientific advice on the subject would almost certainly cost more lives.

Also, as far as I can tell, the numbers of people dying of other illnesses simply because the hospitals/doctors/surgeons are all so overwhelmed and unavailable to help, are not being counted.  I suspect, in the end, these numbers will be very large; particularly in the U.S.

It is looking more and more likely that some sort of confinement will be needed until a vaccine or proved treatment is developed.  Considering getting tested, even in France, seems to be very difficult to accomplish, unless you're half dead, I don't see how rolling out blood tests to check for antibodies to determine if you have HAD the virus is remotely possible.  I hope I'm wrong as it seems both tests are an integral part of trying to return to any form of 'normal.'

I don't believe we will ever be the same again.

[Gardengirl]

Lori said, “I don’t believe we will ever be the same again.”

I think that is so for us all. I’m sure that getting ‘back to normal’ won’t really be what we know at all. Some things will stay the same, but this pandemic must change things and people - for the good, I hope.