Doctors!

[gja1000]

I probably should have started this thread under "Vent" but that's not really my intent. I was just thinking about some of our experiences with doctors, in the past five years since my hubby got sick, and thought it might be interesting to hear others experiences too.

Gary has 5 doctors he has to see every 3 months, heart, pacemaker, lung, diabetes, and kidney. He also has a doctor at the VA he has to see once a year, as well as his primary doc once a year. He see a dermatologist periodically when his psoriasis flares up, and he see a dentist every 3 months for chronic gum disease. He also sees a nurse practitioner in the heart failure clinic every 3 months. Now, all of these "every 3 months" doc are sometimes seen much more frequently, like this past week when he has been sick. Anyway, as you can see, we have LOTS of physician interactions. I'm going to talk about a few.

Lung doc we saw today: My daughter has decided this doc has mild Asperger's, a form of autism. People with Asperger's are often brilliant, and we have been told he is the smartest doc in Austin. Unfortunately, persons with Asperger's usually do not have good social skills. This is Gary's doc. He is nice, but has absolutely NO personality. Everything he says is exactly the same and he shows absolutely no emotion, at all! Today, when he figured out what was wrong with Gary, you would have thought he would have at least smiled - Gary was so thrilled - but no, not even a smile. It's hard to convey through the written word, it's not that he's mean or anything like that, he is just flat. It's not like depression either. Anyway, my daughter (who is a fifth grade school teacher and has has several students with Asperber's) says he is a classic high functioning case. It's very interesting to me and now I think perhaps many docs who have no bedside manner, may actually have Asperger's!!!

Gary's previous lung doc: Gary is feeling very bad because he has had to change lung doctors because his old lung doc does not practice at the hospital that Gary has to go to now (because that is where his heart doctor practices). I can understand - Gary likes his old lung doctor - BUT I CAN'T STAND HIM. One time I changed Gary's med just a little bit, and it helped Gary a lot. I forgot to tell Gary NOT to tell his doctor - and Gary was so proud that I helped him, that he told his doctor, in front of me what I did The doc looked at me and said, "I need you to be his wife, not his nurse". I had to get up and leave the room, I was so mad. It's not just me though, nurses hate to work with this doc too. But he and Gary had lots in common, they both love to hunt and fish and they would trade stories.

Pacemaker doc: Gary and I were in his office last week and we spent a good 10 minutes talking about Alaska and how much we all love it. He told us that he had never been, and really wanted to go and asked us all kinds of questions about it. He told us he had a chance to go, but his wife was pregnant at the time and the baby was due while he would be gone - so he laughed and said that he knew if he went and the baby came while he was gone, he would pay for that trip for the rest of his life.

Heart doc: Gary loves his heart doctor, SHE is great! She looks younger than she is, and she is younger than him, but not THAT much younger. She is so bubbly and cheerful. One time she wanted him to do something that he really didn't want to do and he said to her, "I don't think so, Missy!" I nearly DIED - she just laughed at him!

Kidney doc: Gary really likes HER too. She is also very cheerful, bubbly and wonderful. We were in her office in the fall and she asked Gary if he'd had the flu shot, and he said, "Not yet". She jumped up, got the vaccine and gave it to him herself. She told him she had to practice every once in a while, or she'd forget how to give shots!!

Diabetes doc: He's a nice guy and actually we only see him once a year and the other 3 times a year (Gary has to go every 3 months) we see the nurse practitioner - which Gary is in love with, no really, I kid you NOT! Anyway, the doc is a nice guy and he always wants to know about Alaska and always asks us to tell him our latest travels.

Dentist: Gary is hard of hearing and and wears hearing aids. His dentist is Chinese born, she talks a mile a minute, behind a MASK! It's too funny! Gary can't understand a word she says!!! I usually go along with him (unless it's only a routine cleaning, then I don't go) just so I can interpret for him

Nurse Practitioner at Heart Failure clinic - Gary loves her too. She takes so much time with him, she listens to him, answers all his questions. We are very fortunate to have her!!!

So, what are your "doctor" stories!!! I'm SURE I'll think of others as you all tell yours!!!