Is there a DR In the HOUSE.

HO KNOWS?

The thing is no one knows how long they will live all we can try to do is make the best of the time we have.  So I had a Dr's appointment, well not really, a Nurse appointment.  Seems Dr's are now replaced with nurses...it's cheaper for them to be educated, but not for you when you get the bill.  

I made a appointment to get my yearly bloodwork done, now a days you can't even say the word Dr visit without saying bloodwork, excuse me..."LABS".

 My entire youth I don't think I ever had one single bloodtest done.  I had an amazing old school Dr when I was a kid his name was Dr Shaw, and he treated all our colds, flu,  broken bones, and ear infections, and horse caused injuries without ever getting a blood test.  I was so discouraged when he retired and I just didn't want to go to a DR anymore...

Since being diagnosed with low thyroid function in 1997 or 98 I have had to take a thyroid hormone to keep me in homeostasis.   I actually went off the medication twice, when I moved to NYC I stopped taking it, and went back on it in 2007 when I moved back to SC.  I was having weird heart arrhythmias and then I had to go back on the hormone.  So In 2017 I did the same thing and it happened again so I guess I just have to stay on this junk.  So each year sometimes twice a year I have to get a blood check to see where the TSH level is at.  

Last year in the middle of the Covid outbreak I had to find a new clinic since the one I had used at Walmart closed.  So I found this medical office and went- HATED the entire experience. The building was small and cramped and the wait room  tight...you were in masks, elbow to elbow, with 20 or 30 people as they lined the chairs in a weird S curve to make them all fit in the tiny space.  Then it took forever to get back to see the Nurse, only one Doctor's name on the shingle, and she spends all her time doing rounds at the hospital...
I was pretty sure I made posts about it, but for some reason there are NO posts in this blog for all of 2019, and most of 2020?? I swear I thought I had written. Anyways my BP was high like 160/100 and they about wanted to send me to the ER, I was so full of anxiety over being there had argued with my Son the day before and I told them I will be okay, they check it like 3 more times and as I calmed down it went down....

So it was I ended up with like 5 damn appointments as they didn't like anything about me, they wanted to fix me.  I normally just say "no" and in a moment of weakness I reluctantly said OK...to coming in for rechecks on my blood and my Blood pressure.  I kept a log, I went in 2 more times, they checked it, etc...and charged me  plenty of money for their trouble, and in the end she said I want to put you on medication for blood pressure...I said NO...which is what I should of said in the first place.

Its actually lower this yr.  Last year it was 160. this year 149, of course they don't see the progress. 

So this time I found a clinic in a small town not far away made my appointment and went yesterday.  NO people in the wait room and only 5 chairs so that means never a crowd.  GOOD.

However the PRN kept me forever in there asking me soooo many questions.  I was about to pass out as I am not used to conversing with people anymore, I've been in recluse for 2 yrs and would prefer to continue that....it's hard to pay attention... rapid fire questions spoken with some sort of accent, not sure what since all I could see was a trim woman with black hair, glasses, and a floral mask.  So I mumbled and stumbled thru the interview the physical exam ("oh you have a tattoo", yes I have a tattoo) And what about this mole it's a different color than the others "well its been there my whole life....so "
and the bloodwork FINALLY...

And of course she suggests "at your age", I hate that first off, "you need to be doing yearly, YEARLY, mammogram, colo-rectal exams, a blood pressure tracking,  Ultrasounds of  your liver, uterus, your thyroid, and bone density testing...yada yada yada....
I said "yes sign me for 3 colonoscopy exams, she looked at me with a wrinkled brow, "Im only kidding, I won't do any of that."

She then added," you want the flu shot, the pneumonia shot, the Shingles shot? 

NO, and NO....and freaking NO...

"how about tetanus, when was  your last.....

"2013", 
OK then I guess you are good to go...

The way I see it is this, I want to die of natural causes, not from chemo, or radiation, or "complications of surgery" 

We don't know what will take us out but I pointed out to her, all of things  mentioned are "how we die", I am not planning to fight dying. We all DIE, that is how it goes, it is a one way street! I have already had a long life in my book. I hope for instant Heart Attack preferably when Im asleep!

I think at that point she wanted to ask, "when was your last psyche evaluation..."? I told them in plain English I was not interested in being a revolving door patient, so call me if anything is awry and call in the script...Please, and I did tell her when I feel too much pressure to do what I don't want to do is how I end up off my meds in the first place....so give it to me or I will just stop asking for it.

They made an appt for March...2022

I left a huge paper trail with the 10 or 15 phucking forms I had to fill in most of which was, "HOW we will  use your info...and you have the right to...and we have the right to...."And I hope they can even read it as I was getting less and less interested as I turned the page, when it had "Which providers may we contact about your past medical history?" I left the entire page blank, 
"Who may we contact about your medical conditions"?

BLANK

"Your emergency contact?"

Blank, they only want that to hound your relatives in case you don't pay your bill. 

"What gender do you consider yourself to be?" 

I almost checked "Other" cause the list was HUGE I could have been anything,  I wanted to say Gender Neutral. 

And then she asked me this....now I had on my papers  Single, Lives Alone, she said,

 "Any problems during intercourse?"

OK is that her sneaky way of asking if I'm sexually active??

"NO not that Im aware of." was my answer to that 

But there was a long enough pause before I answered that,  I think she got my drift.  

There was plenty of room for me to inject some batshit crazy stuff in there, I could of said..."Oh Bill down at the pool hall he got me good on the table last night no problemo." OMG Really? 

I did not come there for a Physical I made that clear it was a thyroid checkup...nothing else.  THIS Is why Medicine in America is broken. she spent more time FOCUSING on things I WAS NOT there for than she did on what I was there for!! IN fact she left the room then came back to palpate my thyroid area to see if it was enlarged, shouldn't she have done that first??

It's like they are always looking for something hidden and ignore the obvious.  They don't listen, and they don't care.  When she entered the room she said, "we met yesterday, outside the ER..so how are you today."

"No I've never met you."

"Yes, I spoke to you outside the ER,..." 

She was looking at a file not at ME, then she looked up and I said

"Obviously you are reading the wrong file, My name is "..." and she said, "oh yes sorry bout that." 

So excuse me if I lost interest in her ability right away....

Maybe now you begin to understand where Im coming from....THEY Are looking for CODES to check off that represent BILLING....I bet you a million dollars they employ more billing data entry personnel than they do nurses, medical techs, or lab pros.

And then when I got home they emailed me about their "health portal" and there was a 3 page "Agree to Policy" 
"the 3rd parties we share your info with..." I declined to agree and that was that. 

OMG this is WHY I hate primary care medicine...it's nothing more than beef warehousing of humanbeings.