I went in this morning for my annual Medicare Wellness Exam.

[MineralMan]

I deliberately scheduled my appointment to be the first available, at 7:20 AM, to limit the number of people around in the waiting room. I saw the doctor's assistant and the doctor. Now, those exams are pretty cursory. BP and pulse check, a look in the eyes and ears, and a brief stethoscope heart and lung exam and a cursory abdominal palpation. A stop in the lab for a blood draw, and I'm done. I never touched my face the entire time I was in the clinic.

Once again this year, my regular doctor and I chatted briefly during the exam and then he refilled my prescriptions for the next year. That's how it goes. I have no new problems at age 74. The doctor said, as we were leaving the exam room, "Hope I don't see you until next year." I headed for the lab. By the time I got there, there were half a dozen people in the lab, waiting for blood draws or whatever. Three of them had masks on. I sat in the seat as far from them as I could.

After the blood draw, I left. The waiting room, at 8 AM, was about half full, and many masks were in evidence. Everyone was sitting as far as possible from the nearest person. I stopped at the hand sanitizer station and used my butt to open the doors as I left. Nothing about the visit concerns me. It's flu season, and everyone is trying to avoid that and this coronavirus thing. BTW, the doctor's assistant said that they've had fewer flu patients than last year.

Oh, yes, they changed the three words they use to test the geezers' short term memories. Last year, it was banana, breakfast, chair. This year it was breakfast, chair, window. They also skipped making people draw the circle when drawing a clock face. Now, you just have to write in the numbers and draw the hands on the clock. As always, the time is 11:10.

Getting old is interesting.

[monmouth4]

1. OMG!!! What an interesting life you have, seriously. Haven't had that exam yet but you have now

made me look forward to it. I love the clock face part. What a hoot..LOL.

[Boxerfan]

2. I just turned 62

And the whole wellness test seemed like a cognitive decline test. I think that is something that should be given if indicated. Not just at 62 we think you are loosing it.
My BP was spiking & I was annoyed. I finally told the care worker to stop after she brought out the clock face. I refused & told her I can build those things. And I can.

[MineralMan]

11. Once you're on Medicare, the exam components are dictated by Medicare.

Before that, it's not.

There are also three of questionnaires you have to fill out. One is a general health assessment. The next is a depression and mental state standard questionnaire. There is also one designed to indicate whether you are living in an unsafe environment.

They do a fairly comprehensive blood screening as part of it, which pleases my internist primary care doctor. He, like most internists, thinks he can detect most problems from its results. That's fine. There's also a stool sample test if you don't want a colonoscopy, which I do not. As long as it is negative, they leave you alone about the colonoscopy.

The annual wellness check is absolutely free, and that's a good thing. So is the initial Welcome to Medicare exam, which is far more thorough. Mine involved an electrocardiogram and a chest x-ray. It takes about an hour, and is designed to establish a baseline set of data for reference purposes.

If you're in good health, generally, it's still important to do the annual Wellness check. It gives the doctor an opportunity to adjust dosages of medications if there have been changes over the past year. Normally, you leave that exam with prescriptions good for a year, and most Medicare plans call for 90-day prescriptions that are automatically refilled.

That's how I want to see my doctor. Once a year. However the few times when I've needed to see him for something acute, I can get a same day or next day appointment with my PCP.

[Captain Zero]

3. Kids today can't tell time on an analog clock

Lots of flunk outs coming in 60 years.

on edit: Hey if we draw the clock face do we get extra credit now?

[MineralMan]

5. No doubt they'll change the test by then.

[Walleye]

4. The clock I draw always looks like a Salvador Dali

[cornball 24]

6. Thanks, Mineral Man. I go for mine on the 20th. I can now practice the clock thingy

and nail the memory one.👵

[MineralMan]

13. Well, your clinic might use different words.

Pay attention to them and repeat them internally a couple of times, if you're concerned about forgetting them.

I don't know if everyone has a pre-drawn circle for the clock.

[FM123]

7. I love this - not just your common sense but the optics as well!

"I stopped at the hand sanitizer station and used my butt to open the doors as I left"

[secondwind]

8. I love my old age... 73, and not a single ailment.. no diabetes, no heart problems, blood pressure

on the low end, etc.

I retired at 50, maybe that's the clue, have been enjoying my retirement for a long while. Have traveled all over.

[abqtommy]

9. When Sonny Boy and I went in for his doctor check not too long ago we were sitting in the

examining room when her nurse came in to check Son's vitals and immediately coughed several times.
When the doctor finally came in and asked us how we were I told her we were fine and her nurse already coughed on us. It's true, can't make this stuff up!

[tavernier]

10. Damn, had to search for "chair" after reading through post and replies.

Took me a few secs but I got it.

That’s what pisses me off about watching Jeopardy these days. I know the answers mostly, but by the time my brain unscrambles them and puts them in my mouth, they’re off to the next question!

[lpbk2713]

12. My doctor's office does the same as yours.

But they include reading an eye chart. And in addition to the three non-related words they they
also give an address (ex: 1372 South Hickory) that they will ask at the end of the session.

[DinahMoeHum]

14. I turn 64 today. One more year to go for me.

And that "promised land" of Medicare had damn well better be there for me or else there will be a few broken necks.

Just sayin'.

[MineralMan]

16. My wife will be 64 this month.

She can hardly wait for the next birthday. It will be like a raise in income for us.

[DinahMoeHum]

23. Heh heh. she and me both.

[Hoyt]

15. Those 3 words and drawing the clock are more intimidating than needles. The Annual Wellness Exam

is pretty much a joke.

Unless you complain about something deemed serious, medicine nowadays pretty much comes down to lab tests and a few questions.

[MineralMan]

17. It's really a health maintenance visit, and the blood tests are worthwhile.

If you have a new health issue, it's best to make a separate appointment to deal with that.

[Raven]

18. Did they make you walk up and down a hallway? At my last wellness check they

made me draw a clock but I did have to point out to the nurse that there was a clock on the wall right above her head.

[MineralMan]

19. The clock test is independent of seeing a clock on the wall.

It's a cognitive test. People with cognitive deficits can't draw the clock, even if there is one to look at. Their brains won't let them do it correctly. They don't distribute the numbers properly and make other errors. It's not about being able to copy a clock. Apparently, a lot can be told from that test.

[Raven]

24. Thanks. I didn't know that.

[MineralMan]

20. Sure. The doctor's assistant follows you down the hall, and into the

scale and height measurement room and exam room. The assistant also observes you after calling your name and sees you get up from a chair and walk toward him or her. That's enough.

[virgogal]

21. I have been on Medicare for 20 years and

have never been given three words or been asked to draw a clock.I had 1 doctor for 15 years,she retired,and another for the past 5 years.....never asked those questions.

[SharonClark]

22. My Medicare exam is early tomorrow morning.

Although it's not the closest to my home, I still go to the medical clinic my parents took me to as a child. It's been a teaching clinic for decades so I'm usually assigned a resident student for a couple of years until they move on. The staff get us in as quickly as possible and the waiting room is large enough that clients aren't cheek to jowl.

The building and cliental have changed from European immigrant/working class in the 50's to Spanish-speaking immigrant/working class now. My mother claims that she's learned Spanish just by going to the doctor.

I've never been asked the three word question but I remember the doctor once asked my dad, who had some dementia, to write a 3 word statement on a slip of paper. He wrote "I am brilliant" so I guess he passed the test.

It will be iteresting to see how many people are wearing masks.