Dumb question - seeking medical care

[Flamingo13]

Originally Posted by car54

Yes, they are still around. A year or so ago, I felt awful and my regular doc was out of town. So I went to the urgent care place near my house (LRT in Annandale) and the doc said he thought I had pneumonia. He suggested I go get a chest X-ray, but also gave me a rx for a heavy-duty antibiotic. I went to Inova Fairfax and the X-ray confirmed the diagnosis....and they prescribed a full course of the same drug that the urgent care doc prescribed.

Here's the kicker, the doctor from the urgent care PERSONALLY called me a couple times to ask how I was doing. I have NEVER had a doctor do that, EVER !!! I hope he wasn't just passing through, because I will definitely go there the next time...

Wow (can I get the name/add. of the place?)

[car54]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Wow (can I get the name/add. of the place?)

Yeah, it's called Annandale Urgent Care at 7611 Little River Tp....near the LRT & Hummer/Heritage intersection (Heritage Dr side).

I've only been there once.....YMMV.

[seiketsu]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

When I first moved to Woodbridge, I didn't have a GP. I got a sore throat/fever and had company coming. So I ran to an independent urgent care. The doctor there diagnosed me with a virus, but also during her exam noted that my thyroid felt enlarged. She urged me to find a doctor and pursue further. I did that and learned I had thyroid cancer. I went back to her about a year later and thanked her for being so thorough. I had been to a few other doctors not too long before her and no one said a word. She told me she had felt numerous "weird" thyroids and about 5-6 of them turned out to be cancer. She ended up leaving there and going to work for an Inova Urgent Care in Centreville.

Some of those docs can be very good.

Wow. That's amazing.

I went to a Minute Clinic. They were able to rule out a few things but couldn't diagnose any further. The doctor did encourage me to seek further care and arranged an appointment for me tomorrow. It's a bit of a hike but much better than waiting several weeks or getting stuck with a hefty ER bill.

[persnicketygal]

Def. go to the CVS service as your first step.
If you have anything more than, say, a rough cold or if you think you have the flu -- book the appt with the doctor who had an opening for next week.
Then talk to your co-workers to find out where they go. That's how I found my doctor.

There are practices out there that offer "open access," "advanced access" or "same-day scheduling."
When you are going through your insurance list of doctors, besides asking if they are accepting new patients, ask if they offer this kind of scheduling. What I've experienced is that if you just need a physical or annual appt, they schedule you for a couple weeks or a month or two down the line, but if it's a more urgent situation (like yours seems to be -- maybe you need to be on meds stronger than what you're using), they will try to get you in either same day or the next day.

(And actually, waiting a week for an appt with a primary physician isn't bad! I had to wait 4 months for slot at the ophthalmologist's!)

Feel better.
If you have the cold that's going around (like I do), you're smart now to not let it play out any longer. It can quickly lead to bronchitis, or worse. I've been out a week and still can't shake it.

[Flamingo13]

Thanks Car54!

OP - did you go anywhere?

[austindoxie1972]

Someone may have mentioned this already, but I think Inova Urgent Care is almost like an Emergency Room admittance. I could be wrong. Look up a local "walk in" medical clinic in your area. I've been to one in McLean (the day after Christmas -- no one was open). The visit was $70. I've also been to Inova Urgent Care, and the cost was $130 + change.

[ViennaSausages]

Invoa Urgent Care is urgent care. Inoval Emergency Care (the one in Fairfax and Reston) is considered akin to an ER.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by ViennaSausages

Invoa Urgent Care is urgent care. Inoval Emergency Care (the one in Fairfax and Reston) is considered akin to an ER.

Yes, my husband and mother have both been to the Fairfax one and it is like an ER. The other ones, though, run like Urgent Care centers.

[seiketsu]

Thanks for all of your comments. It went like this:

CVS -> referral to doctor -> sent to Inova for tests -> waiting for radiologist to get back to doctor -> ?

[Denton56]

You went to INOVA hospital? Are you still sick? I hope that it's nothing serious.