Guard Your Health

Did you ever watch Little House On The Prairie? Remember Doc Baker? Remember how the residents of Walnut Grove could go to him any time and he'd make time for them. And no matter what he had on his mind, whoever was seeing him, was made to feel like they were the most important patient he ever had. He never kept them waiting and he was always friendly and really cared about those he took care of.

Are there any Doc Bakers left in this world? Or are they as extinct as the Saber Tooth Tiger? I know I certainly haven't found one lately.

In my never ending quest to find someone who can at least pretend they care about me and my well-being, I decided to give my current doctor one more chance, because the insomnia medicine he prescribed me wasn't working and I want so desperately to sleep! But as the saying goes "Three strikes and you're out!" He's up to two strikes, but I went in with an open mind.

Things didn't start well. He kept me waiting for 53 minutes past my appointment time. Helloooooo...your time is not more valuable than mine. When he did finally come in, there was no explanation or even an apology as to why I had been kept in this tiny room, without even so much as a magazine to look at.

When I was first taken to the room, the nurse went over things with me. Charts are all now computerized and the screen was turned enough that I could see what it said about me. My recent ER visit was listed there. All the medical conditions the lady I see in Des Moines has diagnosed me with, and all the new medications I am now on.

Do you know this guy never even mentioned a single one of any of those items? He never clicked on the link to see why I was in the ER. He never asked how I came to be diagnosed with what was listed, and he never asked why I was on any new meds and who prescribed them to me.

As he scanned my chart he said "OK, so when we tested you, your blood sugar was elevated which indicates pre-diabetes, does that concern you?" I wanted to say "If you'd look at my chart and see I was diagnosed with insulin resistance you'd know my answer to that is NO, since my blood sugar really isn't up." But all I said was "Nope. Not really. I'm taking care of it." He didn't ask how. All he said was "ok, good."

Then he said "You're thyroid numbers look great." Um excuse me? Do you see the screen? Hypothyroidism and Hashimotos alone indicates major thyroid problems, plus I'm on 3 different thyroid related meds!!

The clincher was when he said "Well then except for the insomnia problem, I'd say you're pretty healthy. Anything else I can do for you?" I looked at him, stunned. What planet are you on?

Six whole minutes had passed since he came in the room and that included time for him to do dictation on our visit.

Six minutes.

I stood and said "No. You've done enough thanks."

Strike three.

In my opinion, this mans lack of even paying attention to my chart could have been disastrous, if not dangerous! I have done enough reading and researching on the Internet and in books to have at least a little grasp on what's good and not good for my body, but think of an elderly person putting all their trust in this person...when he's so clueless about what's going on with them. That's scary.

I am now on the search again for the elusive Doc Baker.