Rating your doctor

There was a story in today's paper about how the latest thing to do is to rate your doctor. This intrigues me as some doctors I am more comfortable with others. I don't think it is possible for a patient to rate the doctor's actual abilities and training as most of us are not trained professionals and it is really something that is only apparent over time. However I am all in favor of rating things like the doctor's bedside manner, amount of time they make you wait once you are there (more on this later), ease of getting an appointment, if you feel 'listened to' by the doctor, and other subjective areas.

Since I see so many doctor's I figured that at least some of them would be listed. I checked the two websites listed - Angie's List and RateMD.com. Of all the doctors I have, only one is listed, and she has only one rating which is all positive. Well it actually just says positive and didn't leave any comments. So how helpful is this? Should I now feel that my doctors are all so obscure and have so few patients that no one has rated them yet? Or is this just something that is reflective of Web 2.0 that hasn't really spread yet? Will it even take off? (Web 2.0 is the interactive side of the internet that has come up in recent years - blogs, Digg, Twitter, LinkedIn, Face Book, etc.) Who knows?

Will I rate my doctors? I am not sure I am qualified. I mean I like them and feel comfortable that I am getting good care but just because I am happy doesn't mean that someone else would be. Choosing a doctor is like dating (I hate that analogy but its true). You have to keep trying different ones until you find one you can communicate with and makes you feel better. If you don't like how a doctor treats you, I definitely think you should find another.

Now on doctor's making you wait. I think as patients we need to admit we are part of the problem. I have been to see doctors just a 'few' times in the past year. The appointment reminders ask you to be there 10-15 minutes early. This is so that the doctor can actually see you at the time you are scheduled. Most of the time, when people check in, they are there relatively on time.

But then there are the people that show up half an hour after their appointment and expect to be seen right away. Or the ones who didn't know when their appointment was supposed to be. Or the ones who don't listen to the instructions - don't eat before this procedure or we can't do it. Hello? Did the world start revolving around you recently? You couldn't get your butt out the door to be there on time? Pay attention! You are making the doctor run late.

I know there is also the case where you are having a problem and the doctor actually spends some extra time with you. You feel better but then this may make them run late. I think we are too quick to say that doctors are at fault for running late. Maybe they are over scheduled and trying to pay attention to their patient's needs and slowed down by late patients? I try to be on time and very rarely have to wait long so I think its pretty equitable. If I was late all the time and then had to wait for the doctor to be able to fit me back in, I don't think I would be in a position where I could complain.

Confusion

Why do they do this? Yesterday, after our all important mini golf tournament (Walter 2, me 0), we went to Barnes & Noble. After wandering around the first floor, I went to the escalator to go upstairs. Well, silly me, I was at the bottom of the down escalator trying to go up - because they switched them! They aren't even right next to each other but a good 30' apart. Why do they do these things? They have always been the other way. I was so confused. The store felt all backwards to me.

Otherwise, yesterday was a work day. We got lots of things done. the fence is now mostly put up. The weeding is slightly more under control. Walter mowed the lawn and we actually attempted some house cleaning and laundry! I guess we lead boring lives these days. Today we will interact with our friends and pretend we have a social life.

At least one of us is patient

It has been a year since the chipmunk incident. The cat is still waiting for the chipmunk to come back. You would think he would have given up by now. But actually he spends hours each day waiting by the front door to catch another one. I mentioned this to Walter last night and he was surprised that I remembered. Well I remembered the date because it has been one year since my second surgery in this lovely adventure. Well my scar has healed from that one but I am still waiting for this to end. Sigh. Some day it will. I hope. (I guess I am not any better at being a patient patient than I am at suffering in silence.)

In the meantime, I am focusing on my vegetable garden this year. Please pretend there are no weeds in these pictures but you can see little tiny tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. I am very pleased. We have been getting tons of rain so don't ask my why I watered them all on Friday night. What was I thinking? But the cucumbers should be ready in a day or two.

Also, my flowers are coming along nicely. It is my goal to have something, or several things, blooming in my garden all summer long. So far, so good. But I do need a few more plants. (Its another one of my little addictions - buying plants for the garden.

I do need to report about what is probably the lamest product substitution in the world. A couple of months ago, I believe it was Walgreens but I could be wrong on that (I know it was a national chain and my chemo brain can't remember), had a promotion to send in a form for a free reusable shopping bag. I have a few bags but wouldn't mind a few more. I didn't get a shopping bag. I got a really lame, unusable (and fairly ugly) rectangular Tupperware container. I can understand them running out of bags. Why didn't they just send a coupon to go to a store and pick up a reusable bag when they were back in stock or something? I don't need this container and probably will just give it away or recycle it. Also, wasn't the whole point of the promotion to reduce plastic use and they sent a plastic container?

Yesterday to celebrate the fourth of July, we had a gourmet dinner. We had lobster and steak and green beans and salad. It was quite good. And messy. And the raccoon that came along and pulled all the lobster shells out of the trash in the driveway enjoyed it as well. We don't usually eat like that.

Today we are recovering from eating like that and will have lots of vegetables. After we go out for a walk and then mini golf. The top of our list this weekend is mini golf. We will fit in at least one game. Priorities!

Actually our biggest priority this weekend is to finish the damn fence. It is almost done.

Changing the frequency

In an effort to be greener (and cheap) this year, we opted not to install and use our window air conditioners. We are sticking with fans which works rather well for us as we have ceiling fans in 3 rooms and window fans. We upgraded the fan in our bedroom to be a window fan with a remote control. Also in our bedroom, we have a TV, VCR, and DVD player. We have found that our TV and the new window fan are partially on the same frequency. When you hit the Previous Channel button on the remote that came with the TV or the universal remote we use for the VCR, the fan cycles through its power settings of off, low, medium, and high. Now what do we do? I really don't think there is any way to change the frequency here. Very odd and a little disconcerting.

To celebrate the 4th of July this year in a more exciting manner than last year, we are actually going to make a yummy dinner of lobster. I know its kind of mean to kill a lobster but I will leave the kitchen so as not to witness the massacre. The real question Walter has is it really mean to put the lobsters on the floor for the cat to play with before dinner... (I admit to doing this as a child.)

Last year's 4th of July was spent waiting to go for surgery for a second time. We did have a small barbecue but this year were not even organized enough for that. We will attempt to stay up for the fireworks but they don't start until 1030pm so that may not work. Actually, face it, it probably is totally out of the question for us. But that is why they invented VCRs. We could go watch the fireworks some place but there has been so much rain recently everything will be all wet and it might rain again tonight.

Last night we went out for sushi. You would think sushi is nicely low fat. Well apparently my gall bladder disagreed and was not happy about something I ate. Today I will stick with bland food and not even put butter on my lobster.

On a more exciting note, my container vegetable garden is coming along nicely. I have many little green tomatoes and cucumbers. I think one of them will be big enough to eat in just a few days. There are also a few little, itty, bitty peppers but they clearly need some more time. If it would stop raining and be sunny for a few days, they might even ripen!

Apparently I dont do it very well

I have been informed that I really am not very good at suffering in silence. I guess my tendency to whine and complain and subtly hint precludes suffering in silence. I do try (or perhaps I am trying). Oh well, I could go back to being crabby. Maybe that would be better. I might need to resort to gum drops to feel better. Last night I ate a few dark chocolate M&Ms. They made me feel better but also made my gall bladder unhappy. Gum drops are fat free so technically I should be able to eat them.

Nothing exciting today or yesterday. Yesterday I did work for 7 hours straight - one of my longest days in a year. I did survive. I did go to bed on the early side last night as well. I also convinced Walter that since a friend was coming over for a walk after work that he could cook dinner. He made a very nice dinner of chicken and vegetables with quinoa. If you haven't tried quinoa, I recommend it. Its a grain like rice but actually has protein in it too so its got more 'staying power' and it cooks up much faster. Today's lunch will be left overs.

Also, today I will go to work, work at home, and go for a walk. Is that exciting or is that exciting?

The criminal in our midst

Well, maybe not a criminal but a little escape artist. Every day this week, the cat has escaped, at least once. He has learned how to push open the front screen door that doesn't latch and get out. Now he is so proud of this skill, he tries it all the time. Yesterday I thought he got out and went out side to look for him. He followed me out. Smarty pants kitty. We will have to get a little GPS for him or something. He's an indoor cat. He just doesn't remember that all the time.

Yesterday afternoon I decided I really am not happy with my latest medical diagnosis. Unfortunately I can't change them so I have to learn to live with them. Then I got really stupid and looked up on line what exactly they do when you have gall bladder surgery. That was really dumb.

Basically like any other surgery, you get preop tests to make sure you are healthy enough for the surgery and they know exactly what they are operating on. During surgery, which is laproscopic usually, you are sedated (that's awfully nice of them), you get four little incisions and shouldn't feel a thing. Here's the potentially yucky part, you may get a nasal gastric tube to remove stomach acids for a few days AND you may get a drain. I certainly hope I don't get either of these. I will definitely bring this up with the doctor before hand. Why did I read this? I am not sure. But I definitely did not watch the little video they had of the procedure. That would be really yucky. And I really can't wait to have another drain. That was probably the worst medical thing done to me ever.

Well now I am suitably grossed out and have something new to stress about. I am sure Walter will be suitably appreciative of my abilities to suffer in silence on this one. However I am not going to have it done until probably late September. We are going away for Walter's birthday and I would prefer not to be recovering from surgery at that time.

Not proceeding as expected

Well, I made it through my doctors appointment yesterday. I was right, there was a TV in the waiting room, turned up too loud on Fox News to make sure that the two other people waiting could hear it. But I wasn't there long. It was a very quick visit. However, the doctor wasn't all so positive.

First of all, I learned a new word: osteopenia. It is the precursor to osteoporosis. And I have it. I need to up my calcium and Vitamin D intake and take another test in two years. Basically, it means my bones are starting to thin. I did a little research when I got home that says women over 60 need to be tested to see if they have it. Well, I am not over 60. So I got it early. Great, yippee, yahoo, NOT. This means that unless the bone thining slows down due to increased vitamin D and calcium intake, I will probably end up with osteoporosis - like my aunts, mother, and grandmother. I can also exercise regularly (which I do), start weight lifting more regularly (which I keep meaning to), quit smoking (already did that), quit or reduce drinking (this takes all the fun out of life). WAH! I guess that's my only comment.

Then the doctor said with your gall stone there are two choices live on a low fat diet to control it or if it becomes an issue, see a surgeon. Well, apparently mine is an issue as I can feel it all the time, even when lying in bed on that side. So I get to go see a surgeon. I know its not big surgery and I am really sick of the fat free diet but I really don't want more surgery. Grr, grr, grr.

Then the doctor said that the two issues I am having with problems with my leg related to bursitis and with general fatigue/crappiness feeling are hard for her to diagnose. I should see if I can write down when I have them and what I was doing so she can figure out what the causes are. She said, and this makes a lot of sense, if I tell her about a specific symptom, it is very hard to diagnosis and just run test after test. But if I tell her the story with the symptom of when and where I get it, it is much easier for her to go in the right direction. This is how she was able to send me to the gall bladder surgeon based on what I could tell her about the pains I had from that.

Even though I am going to see the surgeon soon about my gall bladder, I still should see the GI doctor for my other issues. And, I need to go back to see my primary care doctor in October. Just when I thought I could break free of Lahey, I get sucked back in!

Further proof on the sheep's butt hair. Last night I was hot and sticky and took a quick shower to cool off before I went to bed. Even though I fell asleep with wet hair, the sheep's butt still looks exactly the same...