Abandon Text!

W. H. Auden once said: "Poems are not finished; they are abandoned." I have been abandoning writing projects for many years, since only the pressure of deadline and high expectations ever got me to finish, or even start, anything of merit. This blog is an attempt to create a more consistent, self-directed writing habit. Hopefully a direction and voice will emerge.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I have the best doctor

I went for a routine physical today. I am generally healthy and fit, which only makes my wife all the more sure I will die of some tragically undetected cancer. Like all generally healthy people, I try to believe that I have no need of doctors and never will, so going to a doctor when I'm not even sick feels especially superfluous.

Fortunately, I have the best doctor in the whole wide world. How do I know?
  • She spent a lot of time with me. Even with the best of doctors, I have always felt somewhat rushed. For the first time in my life, I actually felt like the doctor was more free with the time than I was.
  • She asked about my whole family. She wasn't just thinking about me in the visit; she was getting context about my wife and kids as well. Never in my whole life did I have a doctor who actually thought beyond the confines of the patient right in front of them.
  • She actually asked me what tests and treatments I wanted to have. I came prepared to do the full spectrum of labwork, have lots of blood drawn, etc. But she actually said, "A healthy guy like you doesn't need any other screening." I mentioned that my cholesterol was borderline two years ago, and she agreed that that would be a good test to run.
  • I actually got test results on the spot. They ran the cholesterol tests right away, and gave me the results within ten minutes. (Compare that with my last doctor, who called me back in a week later for another expensive appointment, just to tell me my cholesterol was borderline.)

Why don't more doctors do this? Is it really that hard?

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home