Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Hmmm....maybe he should have asked

I went back to the clinic today. It was the three month point, at which I was to return to have my cholesterol and iron retested. Or so I had thought. I showed up and was ushered into the little room....it's a walk-in clinic, if I haven't mentioned this before...doc bustles in and asks what he can do for me. I tell him I have simply come to get the piece of paper that say I need the tests. He reads my file and asks when I had my last physical exam. I tell him I'm not sure (it's been a really long time....probably about 3 1/2 years?). He turns slowly and asks "Don't you have a family doctor?". No. No I don't. You, sir, would be the one I have been seeing for the past 3 years. He looks at my file again, and says very steadily "You really NEED to have a family doctor, to do the full checkups, you know, the pap smears....the mammograms..." He shoves a paper into my hand of doctors that are possibly taking new patients and tells me to call one and see. He does give me the form, as well, to have the tests done. But what is on that sheet concerns me. Very much.
You see, I was just to have my cholesterol and iron tested. The paper I have to take to the blood lab tomorrow is asking for ALL the stuff they tested 3 months ago....when he told me after a 10 second glance that my lumps were lipomas and nothing more....and he's pushing me to get the family doctor, stressing the pap and mammogram....and over the last week or so my breasts and one armpit have been very sore....and no, it's not time for THAT, so the cause for the pain is unknown. So now I am wondering if he just told me it was lipoma, expecting me to tell my non-existent family doctor, who would then do a full check and maybe find that it was something more, and now because of that, the something more has had 3 months to grow?
So tomorrow morning, I go off to give many tubes of blood and a cup 'o' pee, then in the afternoon, I have made an appointment with my hopefully new family doctor, will tell him of the lipomas, sore areas, and pending test results, get him to schedule a FULL exam with all the works asap, and hopefully finally get the complete, no doubt about it full rundown of what the heck is the story with this body of mine, once and for all. Give it to me straight, doc, 'cuz I want to know!
And hopefully they won't take too long to tell me. My imagination works way too hard sometimes.

1 comment:

Carrien Blue said...

Umm yes.
It's not like you have to pay for a family doctor where you live. Why haven't you have someone less distracted in charge of your medical care?

Rhetorical questions I suppose since you are looking for one now. SO I"m glad you are.