I had a good experience with my primary physician today. Why, you ask, am I blogging about this? Because this is the FIRST one in five years. And why, you ask, have I continued to go to him? Because it's a pain in the butt to switch when I don't really go all that often (my last visit prior to today was Dec. '04) and I don't really know who's out there that I might like better. Plus he's close to our house and since we talk about moving toward Elkhart someday, it seems to make sense to wait to switch until we actually make that move.
I'm not sure why I don't care for about my doctor. I've had how many physicians in my life and I've never really been that uncomfortable with one until this guy. It's not the creepy kind of uncomfortable, I just don't feel a connection, medically speaking, of course. :) His personality is a little different, or so I thought. I think I felt he has been a bit condescending in the past. And he was not that much older than me. (Although I'm just getting older so I need to get over this FAST.) And he is a man. I just happen to be more comfortable with women (although I totally felt at ease with the man who delivered Emma.) Anyway, today's visit went well. When I called this AM, the front desk was extra friendly (I've had two previous less-than, okay downright not-friendly experiences.) And then today my doctor was pretty cool. He took time with me and answered questions. I felt he was thorough, spoke to me like an adult, I felt comfortable with his recommendations. And I actually left the room liking him for once. It was the first time I didn't think, "I really need to switch physicians."
Medical visits are tricky for us women. We've got the whole ob-gyn thing and some of us have specialists for various things. But if we're young and healthy, we really don't need to see our primary physician all that much. I'm curious how often other women go and if you prefer a particular gender or age? (My ob-gyn is a woman but as I refered to earlier, I actually prefer one of the men in the practice.) If you're local, do you have a favorite primary doc in the area? Do you think it's a big deal to not be crazy about this person or is it important to you to trust and feel comfortable with someone - enough that you "shop" around for him/her?
About Me
- Kris
- I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. But first I'm a woman and I'm committed to taking care of myself so that I can have good relationships with others. This is not always easy. Okay, some days it's just plain impossible but I'm working at it! For almost 3 1/2 years I have been home raising children. Though quite difficult at first, I feel very content with my lifestyle choice. I am grateful that I have this "choice" and that it was mine to make. In college, I spent three months living in Costa Rica, Central America, for a Study Service Term. While there, I became familiar with the term Pura Vida. My interpretation of the phrase is "life is good." Sure, I have complaints and I am full of flaws. Many times things don't go my way. But hey, who has the perfect life (and wouldn't that be boring)?! My life is good!!
5 comments:
I do agree that it is tricky at this stage in life since many of us have been seeing the OBGYN most regularly. I didn't even have a primary doc for awhile, and then over time realized I needed one as a gateway to several different specialists for different reasons.
When I decided to find a new physician I just called the Elkhart Clinic and asked who was taking new patients. They suggested Dr. Heather Macklem, who I have only seen now about 3 times in 5 years but I really like her. I just got lucky, though, since I didn't have a recommendation from anyone.
Well, in general, I'm happy with my family doc. I like her from the physician stand point but the waiting time in the office seems never ending. I see her for my OB/GYN stuff now since I have no plans of giving birth again. My kids go to her also (they don't have a Ped doc). Kevin does have a problem with his family doc though and he says the same thing you do after a visit, "I need to change doctors".
It's interesting that you are blogging about this Kris because it's a hot topic at our house lately. I don't mind our physician for Jeff and I but I get tired of the unsolicited parenting advice I get when we go for well baby/child visits. I'm trying to figure out if this is just what doctors do and I just need to ignore what she tells me or find someone else. I have the added dynamic of working with my physician professionally in the past and if I return to my previous job someday I may work with her again and if we were to leave her practice, well, part of me thinks it could be touchy. I'm glad you had a good experience this time!
Beth
I've felt frustrated for the same reasons many times over the past eight years. I've always been in some sort of transition so it never felt like it would be worth it (time, energy, and insurance) to make the effort to find the perfect doctor before I had to move or change insurance again. The biggest challeng for me is dealing with the insurance company and finding someone suitable in network. I've heard of people interviewing prospective OB's before giving birth but, does anyone take the time to interview family docs or internal med docs?
Often, when you do change it is a real annoyance to make sure all of your med records are in one place; it was just a pain to get Katie's records all together when we moved back here. She has had four different pediatricions in her almost four years of life. I had to fill out patient info release forms several times before the requests were processed.
I made sure to take care of my childrens health over the years. But my health was a different story. It's somewhat easy to forget about taking care of yourself especially if you know what a pain in the behind it is. Even though I knew it was important, it was hard for me to make the time. Now I'm pregnant again so I have the joy of monthly weigh-ins and check-ups. I even have my first dental appointment in years, next month.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments on this personal issue. A friend of mine, who happens to be a woman and a nurse, read this entry and called me instead of commenting. One of her points was that we should never expect that a physician of any kind is going to "catch" everything. They are experts in medicine, yes, but we need to be advocates for our own bodies and our own experiences. So we should always be willing to ask those extra questions and not feel guilty about ocasional insecurities. At least this is what I took from our conversation. Anyway, I thought it helpful.
And yes, MCM, the dentist is a whole other story. We don't have dental insurance so it's a real push for me to drag my butt there. But I've been trying hard to get there at least once every 8 or 9 months or so. Of course, after switching recently, I was told I needed a replacement filling. I can only trust that this is truly the case and they weren't milking me for another $100. My teeth are in their hands...
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