Welcome to the Community About Nothing, and Yet Everything.
I have been experiencing shoulder pain for over 3 months now, and some of the characteristics changed and indeed intensified this morning. So, I logged into my regular family doc's page through the hospital conglomerate website to find that my primary care physician can't see me until February 27th. Next step, send a direct message through the system. Crickets. Phone call? Nope. Can't clear through the human automaton scheduler who, conveniently, can't do any better than the online automated system.
I was completely frustrated. After all, I don't hurt later, I am hurting NOW. Should I go to an urgent care for some good old fashioned cookbook medicine from a well-intentioned, highly trained and skilled but under authorized nurse practitioner? Wait a second here. I met a doctor through work with whom I thoroughly enjoyed a conversation while servicing his car. He's a DO, and I have a strong preference for DO's. I'll give his office a ring. The nice lady who answered said he wasn't in yet, but I could call his other number. I did...
The doctor himself answered the phone!! Flabbergasted, I asked him when he might be able to fit me in. "What are you doing this afternoon around 4:00?" he asked. "I guess I'll be at your office," I replied.
If that were not enough, how about this? For my $40 copay, I got over an hour of one on one with this physician. He had a paper chart upon which he wrote notes with a pen! He asked questions, he listened. He even put his hands on me and did - dare I say it? - a PHYSICAL EXAMINATION!!! He dug deep into my history, treated me as if I were a whole person instead of a group of systems flying in close formation. It was the best physician-patient encounter in which I have participated....in DECADES.
As I prepared to depart with my freshly minted instructions, I looked at him and then his office manager wife and said, "Wow. It feels like I have found a home." He held out his hand to shake mine, then pulled me into a man-hug and said softly, "Welcome home, my friend."
Real doctors still exist!
"I am standing on the Mountain of Right, and you are standing in the Valley of Wrong." Deputy Frank Sloup, Pinal County, AZ
Why do I like this one? I have a primary residence on the Mountain of Right.
Of you who read my previous post, how many of you caught the quote I stole from a movie? Can you name the movie and who said it?
Bet you didn’t know there would be a test…..
So, I have completed 4 of 6 chemo infusions, and I have to say that the last one seems to have caused almost no side effects that cannot be otherwise explained by the disease itself. I remain exhausted all the time, and I go home at the end of the workday positively depleted. That, however, seems to be due to the anemia that somewhat existed before chemo started but certainly seems to have been exacerbated by it.
I presently sit at a 40% disability rating with the Veterans Administration with some big stuff pending. I am awaiting a decision on my hearing loss and the PTSD/Depression. The cancer aspect takes a step forward with an exam by a VA contracted provider who will provide a recommendation as to the service connection to the cancer. If it goes my way and I get to 100%, then as soon as the first check hits the bank, I’m retired. While this exam is scheduled for Monday, I have no assurance that a VA determination will be quickly forthcoming. Patience is the key.
My spirits ...
