Friday, September 19, 2008

Is it really so hard?

Have I mentioned that I really don't like my primary care doctor? As I've mentioned, I had an appointment with her on Wednesday morning. 9:50 am.
I arrived, as I was ordered, 15 minutes early. Only to be informed that the doctor is running about 40 minutes behind. I get that doctor's are people, and shit happens. But, as their sign on the front of the office informs me, were I to be more than 10 minutes late, I would have to wait until the end of the service hours to be seen. So, what's my recourse when the doctor wastes my entire morning?

When I finally got to see the doctor (nothing major, looking for a referral to a dermatologist for the weird calcium deposit type things that have been appearing on my face), she never once looked me in the eye, only looked in my general direction to examine my skin, never asked a question beyond, "and what brings you in today?", and immediately dismissed my concerns adn declared the issue, "acne." Look. I've had crappy skin for as long as I can remember. However, this? Is not acne. Acne eventually heals and goes away. These little lumps have been on my face for over 6 months. That, my little friend, ain't normal.

But she referred me, which is all I wanted out of the deal. Then she picked on my weight for a while (she "wasn't aware" I'd had a baby. Nice communications Kaiser!), and started to leave the room. In my experience, every doctor's visit ends with "Do you have any questions?" or "Any other concerns?" Not this one.

I had to stop her from leaving by yelling out. I told her my dad had had a stroke last year, and since that means I now have a solid family history of heart disease, what I need to do, medically, to maintain some semblance of preventive testing.
She mumbled about losing weight (jackass), watching my diet, getting exercise. I asked about getting physicals, since that's kind of the only way you can check on cholesterol etc. She dismissed me with, "well, since you had a baby you don't really need to do anything else. They test you for everything."

Look, I get her point. You spend your entire pregnancy having blood drawn and people checking into every minute detail of your health. But, her manner of speaking is terrible. I walk out of her office feeling horrible every time, and that my concerns are never listened to, and like she can't WAIT to get out of that room. And it's always been like this.

So, the simple answer is: get a new doctor. Which I always mean to, but since I usually go a few years between primary care visits, I rarely get pissed enough to take action. But this time, I'm out. Bitch is fired.

4 comments:

jimpurdy1943@yahoo.com said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jen breese said...

Kick that beeaotch to the CURB like a bad habit!

Jenn said...

I fired my doctor too, after she made me drop my pants and crouched down on the ground to check out a tear I got while giving birth. Too fracking cheap to change the paper on that nice comfy bed over there, so I can lay down and at least keep some semblance of my DIGNITY??? Later, beyotch!

(TMI? Whatever!)

Coley said...

Jenn? That's ridiculous. I think a swift kick to the face while she was "examining" would have been appropriate as well.
(And TMI is always welcome here!)

Lucky for me, I can use their website to fire my doctor. No crummy confrontation for me. Just a couple of mouseclicks and I never have to see that horrible person again. Hurray!