[doctor] hi , james , how are you ? [patient] hey , good to see you . [doctor] it's good to see you , too . so , i know the nurse told you about dax . [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] i'd like to tell dax a little bit about you . [patient] sure . [doctor] james is a 57-year-old male with a past medical history significant for congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes who presents today with back pain . [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] so , james , what happened to your back ? [patient] uh , i was golfing and i hurt my back when i went for my backswing . [doctor] okay . and did you feel a pop or a strain immediately or ? [patient] i f- felt the pop , and i immediately had to hit the ground . i had to just try and do anything to loosen up my back . [doctor] okay . and how long ago did this happen ? [patient] this was saturday morning . [doctor] okay . so , about four days ago ? [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] okay . um , and what have you taken for the pain ? [patient] uh , i took some tylenol . i took some ibuprofen . [doctor] mm-hmm . [patient] i tried ice . i tried heat , but nothing really worked . [doctor] okay . and , h- how are you feeling now ? are you still in the same amount of pain ? [patient] uh , by monday morning , it loosened up a little bit , but it's still pretty sore . [doctor] okay . any other symptoms like leg weakness , pain in one leg , numbing or tingling ? [patient] uh , i actually felt , um ... i had a struggle in my right foot like dropped foot . i had some struggling with my right leg . i felt that for a while , and it got a little bit better this morning but not much . [doctor] okay . all right . um , so , are you ... how are you doing walking around ? [patient] uh , uh , uh , i'm , i'm not going anywhere fast or doing anything strenuous but i can walk around a little bit . [doctor] uh- . [patient] not too fast . [doctor] all right . okay . um , and any history with your back in the past ? [patient] i actually had surgery about 10 years ago on my lower back . [doctor] okay . all right . now , tell me a little bit about your , your heart failure . you know , i have n't seen you in a while . [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] how are you doing with your diet ? [patient] um , been pretty good t- taking my medications , watching my diet , trying to , uh , trying to exercise regularly , too . [doctor] okay . so , you're avoiding the salty foods like we had talked about ? [patient] yes . [doctor] okay . and any weight gain or swelling in your legs recently ? [patient] a little bit of weight gain over the summer but nothing , nothing too radical , nothing more than five pounds . [doctor] okay . all right . and any problems laying flat while you go to bed ? [patient] no . [doctor] okay . uh , and lastly , what about your diabetes ? how are you doing with , with that diet ? i remember you have somewhat of a sweet tooth . [patient] yeah . [doctor] jelly beans ? [patient] i love jelly beans , yeah , yeah . that's been a struggle , but i'm getting through it . [doctor] okay . all right . um , and you're watching your blood sugars at home ? [patient] mm-hmm . i monitor it regularly . not always, i can forget, , but i'm pretty good about my measuring it . [doctor] okay . and you are still on your metformin ? [patient] yes . [doctor] okay . all right . all right . now , i know the nurse did a review of symptoms sheet when you checked in . [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] i know that you were endorsing the back pain- [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] . and maybe a little weakness in your right leg . um , any other symptoms ? i know we went through a lot . [patient] no . [doctor] okay . um , so , i wan na go ahead and move on to a physical exam , okay ? [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] hey , dragon , show me the vital signs . so , here in the office , you know , your vital signs look great . they look completely normal , which , which is really good . [patient] good . [doctor] okay ? so , i'm just gon na check you out , and i'm gon na let you know what i find , okay ? [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] lean up . okay . all right . so , on your physical exam , everything seems fine . [patient] good . [doctor] on your heart exam , i do appreciate a 2 out of 6 systolic ejection murmur , which we've heard in the past- [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] . so that's stable . [patient] okay . [doctor] on your back exam , you do have some pain to palpation of the lumbar 5 or lumbar spine- [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] at the level of l5 . [patient] okay . [doctor] you have , you know , decreased range of motion with flexion and extension , and , um , you have a positive straight leg raise . uh , for your strength , you do have a 4 out of 5 on your right and 5 out of 5 on your left . [doctor] so , what does that mean ? what does all that mean ? so , that basically means that , you know , i , i think that you probably , you know , have injured your , your back with a muscle strain , but we're gon na look at some of your results , okay ? [patient] okay , sure . [doctor] hey , dragon , show me the back x-ray . so , in reviewing the results of your back x-ray , this is a normal x-ray of your lumbar spine . there's good boney alignment . i do n't see any abnormality there , which is not surprising based on the history , okay ? [doctor] hey , dragon , show me the diabetic labs . and this is just ... i just wanted to check your last , uh , diabetic labs that we did on you . uh , it looks like your hemoglobin a1c has been a little high at 8 . i'd like to see that a little bit lower around 7 , okay ? [patient] okay . [doctor] um , so , let's just talk a little bit about my assessment and my plan for you . um , so , for your first problem , i think you have an acute lumbar , um , strain . [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] and i wan na go ahead and prescribe meloxicam 15 milligrams once a day , and i'd like to refer you to physical therapy to kind of strengthen that area . now , if you're still having symptoms , i wan na go ahead and , uh , order an mri- [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] . just to make sure that you do n't have any disc herniation or anything like that , okay ? [patient] that's fine . [doctor] how does that sound ? [patient] no problem . [doctor] hey , dragon , order meloxicam 15 milligrams once a day . for your next problem , your type 2 diabetes , i would like to increase your metformin to 1,000 milligrams twice daily- [patient] mm-hmm . [doctor] . and i wan na go ahead and order another hemoglobin a1c in a couple weeks , or , i'm sorry , a couple months . [patient] okay . [doctor] all right ? hey , dragon , order a hemoglobin a1c . and for your congestive heart failure , uh , i think you're doing really well with it . um , you know , i wan na just continue you on your current medications , your lisinopril and your lasix . now , do you need a refill- [patient] actually , i- [doctor] of the lisinopril ? [patient] actually , i do . [doctor] okay . hey , dragon , order a refill of lisinopril 20 milligrams once a day . and so , the nurse will come in . she's gon na help you get checked out . i wan na see you again in a couple weeks , okay ? [patient] that's fine . [doctor] um , any questions ? [patient] not at this point . [doctor] okay . hey , dragon , finalize the note .
ASSESSMENT AND PLAN

James Allen is a 57-year-old male with a past medical history significant for congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes, who presents today with back pain.
 
 Acute lumbar strain.
 • Medical Reasoning: The patient reports feeling a 'pop' and immediate pain while golfing approximately 4 days ago. He has tried Tylenol and ibuprofen without significant relief.
 • Additional Testing: If he continues to have pain, we will obtain an MRI for further evaluation.
 • Medical Treatment: Initiate meloxicam 15 mg once daily.
 • Specialist Referrals: We will refer him to physical therapy to work on strengthening the area.
 
 Diabetes type 2.
 • Medical Reasoning: He has been compliant with metformin and dietary modifications, but his recent hemoglobin A1c was 8.
 • Additional Testing: Repeat hemoglobin A1c in a couple of months.
 • Medical Treatment: Increase metformin to 1000 mg twice daily.
 
 Congestive heart failure.
 • Medical Reasoning: He is doing well from this standpoint. He has been compliant with his medications, dietary modifications, and regular physical activity.
 • Medical Treatment: Continue lisinopril 20 mg once daily and Lasix. Lisinopril was refilled today.
 
 