Cool Website
June 3, 2009
I saw my PCP today so I could get a refill on my levothyroxine. He, of course, wanted blood work done to confirm my TSH levels. Since I don’t have medical insurance, I dread when doctors tell me I need blood work done. Dollar signs with exclamation points after them grow bigger and bigger in my mind.
But today my doctor told me about a company called DirectLabs. Essentially you sign up with this company and you can have any test you want done at the same reduced price that insurance companies pay. For example: The blood work I had done today was a thyroid panel with TSH. Normally (supposedly) this costs $174. I only paid $54. On a side note, I just now checked and the site is showing a price of $45. I emailed them to see if I could get a refund of the difference. Seems only fair, right?.
Anyway…the really interesting thing about the site is that you can order any test you want without a doctor’s order. This site is going to create hypochondriac junkies! 
At the lab, I used their restroom and saw an assistive device I’d never seen in a public bathroom before. My first thought: “Oh, that’s a cool one!” After a moment of horror, I quickly added, “But I hope I never need it!” The crazy RA really changes how you think. 
This is kind of what it looked like. To my eyes it just looked so much more practical than the ones you normally see in handicapped stalls. Better leverage to get up and down with.
The Invisible,
S.
Entry Filed under: invisible illness. Tags: assistive device, bloodwork, chronic disease, chronic illness, chronic pain, directlab.com, doctor, doctor appointment, hypothyroidism, RA, rheumatoid arthritis.
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Terry | October 4, 2009 at 9:44 am
Oh boy, a site where you can order any test without a doctor! Considering that I feel like I know more about my RA than the doctors at this point that could be dangerous in my hands
. I also hope I never need one of those toilets, but they are pretty cool. One thing that I’ve used for my RA that I thought you and your readers might benefit from is the ChiliPad – It’s a mattress pad that lets you cools or heats the bed, mine lets me set any temperature between 46 and 118 degrees. They also make ones with two temperature zones. It really helps with pain and swelling – and sleeping problems.