Poking & Prodding

Anyone who knows me is aware that I've been dealing with some health issues over the past year that have led me to accept some unpopular truths. 1) Age may be just a number but unfortunately it is wrapped in reality. 2) I am getting to an age that denial just can't fight against any more. 3) Gravity sucks. Since I lost my job I have been without healthcare and before we all get into a discussion of managed care versus ObamaCare let me just say this, if your employer provides you with healthcare at a reasonable premium be thankful, the alternative can make you sick.

I was in for an Ortho Specialist consultation that was a referral through my county sponsored health insurance. I can't fault them on the referral, it's just the time involved to get from Point A (the initial appointment as a follow up to lab tests and x-rays) to Point B (meeting with the Ortho Surgeon), interspersed with various lab tests and x-ray sessions (as they can only x-ray & consult on one joint or problem area at a time). Total time from Point A to Point B? 43 days . . . And that was an 'expedited' time frame because of the pain that I'm in. Mixed into all that were repeated phone calls to follow up on questions raised, things stated by various medical 'professionals', and a whole lot of 'Hold Time'. I calculated the total amount of hold time accumulated just for this particular referral . . . 380 minutes! That's over 6hrs of listening to inane & insipid music interspersed with admonitions to stay on hold as well as thanking me for staying on hold. Really? I just want to get that time back somehow and put it to a more productive use . . . like spending time with a doctor.

Perhaps my harshest finger pointing and scowling should be made towards so called medical 'professionals'. I don't mean the girls (not nurses) at the front counter, at least they have a working grasp on what customer service or patient care really means, I mean all those people with the initials after their names: PHD; MD; RN; NP; & Etc. At least most of the front office staff understand what it is to be treated with respect, empathy, and especially kindness. They know we're not feeling well or up to snuff to begin with, they know that the people behind the closed doors are overbooked, they get that we're waiting patiently & hoping we'll be seen soon, and they know a smile goes a long way to building a bridge of respect. Unfortunately it's the people making the big bucks that have forgotten what it's like to be a 'normal' human being . . . a civilian, so to speak. I cannot tell you the number of Dr.s & Nurses I've had in the past 4 months that have treated me as sub-human, dismissed my issues or my questions as delusions or immaterial, flat out called me obese & chided me for wasting 'their' valuable time. Today was the limit. After I had a nurse walk me into an exam room & leave me there for almost an hour because she 'forgot' about me as the Dr. had patients that 'really' needed his attention, I demanded to speak to the Dr. and the office manager . . . NOW!

Now don't go thinking that all the Doctors and Nurses I've encountered have been cut from the same cloth, they haven't. I've had some truly wonderful medical practitioners that have become very dear to me, some I can call friends, and some I can still call upon even though I am no longer part of their insurance plan. These are the people I want to celebrate & thank for treating me as they would want and expect to be treated if they were the ones sitting in that waiting room or exam room. Those Doctors and Nurses truly understand what it means "To Do No Harm" in every way. It's the rest of these yo-yos that think they're god or what passes for a local deity that need to go back to school to learn what compassion is, or maybe they need to get sick and run into a 'professional' that's just as bad as they are. Do you think any lesson may be learned? Probably not.

Summing it up kids:
Be grateful if you have healthcare.
Don't look down on those that do not have it or cannot afford it.
Stay as healthy as you can.
And remember that compassion is a gift that returns to you tenfold, you also receive if you give.