Been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday I had a really enjoyable lunch with an old friend. It has been over five years since we connected. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's, I had never been to one of those before. The last time I was at this particular Ruby Tuesday's it was a Beaches restaurant. Lorraine is just the most charming, pretty, intelligent, fun person to be around. I met her when she was a payroll rep for a payroll company, she was pregnant with her first child. She now has three children, all teenagers. Wow does time ever go fast. Watching her rise from a rep to eventually a district manager for the same company, one of the few women to rise to that level in the company, was just a joy to watch. She just recently started a new job for a large company. Her new company better watch out, she may be C.E.O. before you know it!Her husband also started a new job recently going from real estate to a sales person for a large TV network. Real estate just is at a stand still right now and I know he will do great at the new job.
Today was my annual eye appointment. My eye doctor and his assistants are just really great. I don't know how I feel about his assistant calling me dear several times. I took it as a compliment but maybe I should have been offended. The good news is my eyes had no change from last year and there is absolutely no sign of eye disease. I go back in a year. I did get a new prescription for glasses, not because I had to but because the glasses I have now have been through hell. They have been sat on, been stepped on, been dropped from high places, I'm surprised those classes stuck by me for five years. They should have divorced me a long time ago.
Interesting story about how I ended up choosing Dr. C as my doctor. A few years ago my Mom had cataract surgery. Mom ended up with an infection that they said happens in one of every five thousand cataract surgeries. The doctor that did the surgery went on vacation right after the surgery. When Mom started having problems she called Dr. L's office and was referred to Dr. C., he saw her immediately. When he examined Mom's eyes, he just said "I'm sorry this is way beyond me." and referred her to Dr. D, called him made an emergency appointment with him and we went right from one office to the other. When we got to Dr. D's office he immediately performed a procedure on Mom's eyes saying she didn't have time to get to the hospital. Dr. D saved mom's eyesight. As did Dr. C. I really respect a doctor that knows what not to treat as well as he knows what to treat. So many doctors would have tried to perform a procedure on Mom's eyes rather than admit they didn't know what to do. I've been going to Dr. C. since. I know he will perform what he knows how expertly and what he doesn't know how to do he will send me to the person that does. I find that extremely comforting.
How did you choose your doctors? I often thought we spend more time choosing a car or a TV then we do a professional, whether it be an attorney, a CPA, or a doctor. What steps to you go through before making the leap to a professional?
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Well, I have to admit that the story of your mother's cataract surgery was not something I wanted to read the week before I have cataract surgery, but I'm glad it turned out ok.
As for "choosing doctors," at Kaiser your choices are almost always made for you, and you switch only for good reason, so I never really "chose" my doctors.
Hi Bev
You surgery will go just fine. You have all of Section 16 praying for you or sending out good vibes. Besides you have a 4,999 out of 5,000 change that what happened to Mom would happen to you.
Bill
I was so lucky. Right after we moved here I got pregnant and didn't have a doctor. I asked a pregnant friend who she went to and made an appointment. It turned out that that doctor is absolutely fabulous. She hadn't been accepting new patients for several years, and hasn't since, but I got in during a six month period when she was taking pregnant patients and their families. We have all gone to her for close to 20 years now, and love her. I dread the day she tells me she's retiring.
Glad your eye app't went well, Bill, and that you had a nice lunch with Lorraine. Today was our day for lunch at Three Drunken Goats, but it turns out they only open for lunch on weekends. So we had lunch at a new Italian place down the street. Classy Italian and very good. Then we went to see VALKYRIE, which was very good, also. I expected to be put off by Tom Cruise playing German, but after the first little bit, it didn't bother me at all. Even though I knew how it would end, it was very suspenseful and had lots of information I never heard before. Actually, there were 15 assassination plots against Hitler, none of which worked out. Just coincidentally, the last page of the NEWSWEEK that was waiting when I got home tells capsule info about some of them.
How to choose a doctor? That's a tough one. I try to get recommendations from other doctors. I listen to other patients' recommendations, but don't always put that much credence in them. When I went to the Motion Picture clinic just to try to establish a "primary care" doc, I more or less picked one out of a hat, and so far, I've been happy with her, but haven't had a real problem for her to deal with. For the surgery when I broke my ankle, it was whoever was on staff that day, and I lucked out, as he seems to have done a very good job on me, plus his office is very efficient for follow-up visits and you don't have to wait forever.
With our UK NHS system your choices are limited - you have to choose a GP surgery within your locality, but you can choose the individual doctor in the practice. Specialists you have little choice over, though you can change if you are really unhappy and have the right to ask for a second-opinion. For opthamalogists and dentists - they aren't part of the NHS - so I would go on recommendation. Though in ORkney we have very little choice!
Hi Mary
How great it is that you ended up with a great doctor! Referral from friends is the number way people choose doctors according to an article that I read It sure worked out for you. I hope she doesn't retire for a long time!
Bill
Hi Pat
What a dissapointment that Three Goats was closed but it sounds like you recovered well with some great Italian food.
I liked VALKRIE a lot. I was aware of all the assasination attempts due to previous readings and the History channel which always brings out stories that match popular movies that are out. I actually thought Cruise did well.
I like the way you choose doctors! Part investigation and part lottery!
Bill
Hi Sian
If you are in a HMO here we have to choose a doctor the same way you go. We also sometimes will get a book of acceptable providers that we can choose from.
Yes I would imagine a small island limits you choices!
Bill
Bill, so glad to hear your lunch went well with the old friend. Sounds fun.
Also happy to hear your eyesight is fine. That's the one thing I hated about getting older is the eyesight deterioration.
As for doctors on my end. I had a wonderful doctor since my birth and then in my early 20's he retired. I pretty much went without for years until my accident in 92 and had to go through what seemed like an unending slew of rude/uncaring doctors who were just in it for the money and had me do things that was not necessary for my well being, let along my health, but what was their expertise. After telling the insurance companies what they could do with their doctors, I was lucky to get into my husbands family doctor as he was taking no new patients and so I feel as Mary does in that I dread the day he retires. He goes way out of his way for us. He calls us at home personally to see how we are. I just love him.
As far as trying to get one now for myself or my dad...I do not want to go through it, I think its worse than trying to decide what to fix for dinner! :)
Hi Dona
There is so much about getting older that I don't like.
What happened with your accident in 92?
Some doctors are just so uncaring it is pitiful. I'm glad that you faced down the insurance companies!
Calling at home is so rare for a doctor to do, you have one in a million with him.
I had to choose a doctor for my Mom and it wasn't easy. I would rather choose one for myself any day!
Bill
Choosing doctors sometimes seems like picking numbers in the lottery. I don't remember it was a big deal when I was young and had little wrong with me -- just find someone for the annual pap smear. Almost picked a number out of a hat, as I recall, although I did have a good doc in Mpls, despite the system. It got more complicated, as time went on (wry s).
Sometimes, docs were selected because of neighbor's recommendations. I can't remember how we got Walt's first doc, but I fired her, when she wsas out of town and her "sub" readily diagnosed the cancer. One doc in Indialantic (who was fabulous) was selected because he had an in-office kind of insurance system. When we moved to the west coast, Himself's company had an HMO and choices were very limited. I firesd the first doc there. When Al had the heart attack, we got the cardio on call and he turned out to be one of the best in the area. Luck of the draw.
We moved up here and I went to a doctor just because she was local. Fired her when the techs doing tests she ordered questioned why he wasn't checking further and I was getting sicker. Found Mom's internist through recommendations from a couple geriatric patients in my yoga and aquacize classes, the moved to her myself when my doctor seemed more interested in cosmetic procedures than medical practies (so, I guess I fired him, too). I think we found the carido we all use through recommendations from FUlir folks. Can't remember if Mom's ortho was one of a few recommended by the ER, when she broke her foot, but I think so, then acquaintances had good things to say about him. When she was in hospital, I requested the first pulminary team, with full consent from our cardio team. Finding a doctor becomes very convoluted, in my recent experience. Do they take Medicare? Do they take the supplemental inusrance you have? Are they accepting new patients? Will they accept patients over 65, regardless of insurance? Do they have the time to get to know their patients and the patience to deal with them? Does your insurance include them in their list of "preferred" doctors? This is compassionate health care, in the interest of the "victims?"
Bev, as to cataract surgery -- Mom had it four years ago (bearing in mind she has macular degeneration) and it was a huge success. I had both eyes done eighteen months ago and am delighted with the results. I have three friends who've recently had cataract surgery and are amazed at the positive difference it makes. It's really become a standard procedure and there's no real "recovery time" outside of not lifting or bending for a few days (I tried to get the doc to convicne Himself I couldn't do laundry or vacuuming for two weeks, but that didn't fly.) I think you'll be ever so pleased and pleasantly surprised at how easy it all is and the results you see (literally).
Hi Dr
When we were young we just went to the doctors that our parents did or the ones they chose for us.
I got rid of one doctor when he want to ampute my leg, the doctor I went to said no way it was just an infected stitch. Some doctors are just to anxious to cut. I try to stay away from those.
We did the same thing with mom's heart doctor. Got Dr. Leno (he looks like Jay so we call him that)and he was just a treat. Still is, we would never go away from him.
When you changed doctors did you ever inform them why you were changing?
What type of an insurance is a big issue when choosing doctors.
Bill
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