The letter that I got was from the Indiana University Health network, announcing that my Primary Care Physician is leaving her practice, as of April 29th. That kind of threw me into a tizzy because I really liked this gal, and her office was local. In the letter, some other doctors were recommended, but they were all in the community to the north of us. Not something I really wanted.
For many years, I didn't have a PCP--someone we used to call a Family Doctor. Those, of course, were in the years when I was younger and didn't have many health problems. Once I was eligible for Medicare (government-funded health care for the elderly in the U.S.), my supplemental insurance required that I have a PCP, so they appointed one for me. I saw him exactly once before he left his practice for an administrative position somewhere. Then there was the heart attack, so I was scheduled to meet with my cardiologist on a regular basis for my heart and blood fat levels, etc. If I had any other problems, I would head down to the immediate care center down the road from me, or the Emergency Room if I felt particularly scared. At one point, my cardiologist looked at me and said, "I'm your only doctor, aren't I?" I confessed that he was, so he got busy to recommend some to me; thus, I established with the one I have now who is leaving at the end of April.
Truth be known, I have left a number of doctors because they were problematic to me: one I left because he was treating me and my young daughter condescendingly and had questionable manner; one I left because she told me I had a sexually transmitted disease and that I needed to alert all of my sex partners. When I tried to tell her I didn't have any sex partners so wasn't sure how I could have an STD, she waved me off as if to say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah....I've heard it all before." I never went back--not out of embarrassment, but anger. And one I left because I had asked for some answers about my back. He ordered an x-ray. When the results returned, he told me that my back showed "weakness", as if my muscles weren't strong enough to support it. I'm sorry. I'm not an idiot. X-rays don't show weakness. They show bones. He never mentioned a word about the bones. Nothing about bulging disc or arthritis or degeneration. Nope. Just weakness. Thereafter, he departed his practice, at the same time that I departed his practice. But I digress...
Okay, so I called my current PCP (about whom I had gotten the letter), to make an appointment, just to check in one last time. I got in the very next day. It had been awhile since I'd had blood work done, and I just wanted a check-up. I'm so glad I did that! Of course, she ordered the blood work, etc., but she also suggested that the letter I had received failed to mention other doctors right there in her own office facility that she would recommend. Huge relief! I didn't have to do the dance to figure out doctors who were still taking new patients who were also local enough not to have to drive out of town just for an appointment. I left Dr. Dunn's office with a June appointment for the new doc. Yay!
My blood work results came in two days later. They show me as "pre-diabetic", which means I need to get with the program and get my weight down, among other things. I know how to lose weight. I just need to quit making pandemic excuses and just do it.
And everybody said, "Amen"!
No comments:
Post a Comment