Patient, Heal Thyself!

Saw my orthopedist for the first (and I hope the last) time yesterday. Six weeks ago, his PA saw me and ordered 6 weeks of physical therapy (an ins. prerequisite before doing an MRI or considering surgery).

I chose this particular doctor because he was the surgeon who operated on our son the night of his near-fatal motocross injury. Our son really liked him, and I was going to ask if he remembered my son ---even though it was 10 years ago, he's the only kid I know of from this area that was involved in motocross racing.

So anyway, his PA saw me first, for about 5 minutes (or less) to ask how PT went, etc. Then he came in, said hi, manipulated my leg a bit, and said I was good to go. Whoa! I told him that PT had worked wonders, but that they'd concentrated on my bad leg.  Now my bad hip is good, but the other (which was over- compensating for years due to various injuries to the right leg) felt all out of whack.

Geez, he's a sports doctor!  I thought we could discuss ways to continue on with my PT, to get my other leg working better, to improve my cardio-vascular and upper body strength (which is zero right now), and to lose another fifteen pounds by Christmas.

He told me he'd order two more weeks of PT to strengthen my other leg, and that I could make arrangements with the PT clinic to use their equipment after that for a nominal (non-insurance-covered) fee. Then he was out the door. He spent all of TWO MINUTES with me!!! I mean, I meant absolutely nothing to this doctor as a patient, since it looked like he wasn't going to be operating on me.  Didn't even get to mention my son.

I realize that ins. companies dictate how much time a doctor spends with each patient, but still!  I'm sure he and his PA were both OVERPAID for the few minutes they spent with me.  I actually felt like crying when I left there, because I felt so useless. I'm telling you this, my DOG gets better treatment at the vet!!!

Oh, another thing! Usually when you see a doctor, they weigh you.  These people didn't the first time they saw me.  They just used the weight from my January check up with my family doctor. So yesterday, the nurse is going through the questions they ask.  She said is your weight still ___?  I said, no, I think I need to be re-weighed.  She said, well just estimate.  I said, well, I'd rather be weighed to be sure.  She acted very put-out that she was going to have to take me all the way to the other end of the big office and weigh me. But then she was astonished and amazed that I'd lost 15 pounds since January. I felt oh so vindicated then.

What's a person to do?  I've heard that many doctors treat their nurses like crap, but come on! Couldn't they at least show a little interest and treat their patients like human beings?  I do hope I get a questionnaire about my care with this particular clinic, because I have a lot of valid complaints!

So!  Is THIS Obamacare? Or has it even started?  What is Obamacare anyway? It somehow got passed without the lawmakers even reading it or explaining to the American people how it would affect them.

All I know is that here in America, we have the best doctors, hospitals, drug research, treatment options, etc. that money can buy, but if you actually have a doctor who CARES about you, takes time to listen to you, and explains things in a way you can understand, consider yourself one of the fortunate few.