another uneventful visit to the doctors

Let me say it out loud and with much conviction - I hate going to the doctors!



Most importantly, I should be more mindful of my health - the food I eat, lifestyle in general and fitness regimen - to avoid visits to the doctor other than for mandatory annual physical exams.




I've just spent precious 4 hours on a Sunday waiting for and having a consultation with the doctors. Apparently, both of them had a change in their schedules on short notice.

I got very pissed off with the nurses for not putting my form in queue at the internal medicine doctor's room, wasting another 30 minutes of my time. This prompted me 1) to write a formal complaint in their suggestion box and 2) berate the nurse at the nurse's station for such mishap. I am normally a tolerant person but I've long learned that in this city you have to demand respect and customer service in order to get them. Otherwise, you will just be ignored, an unheard voice. I felt a bit bad afterwards because the wrong person was at the receiving end of my ire, as the nurse who was liable for erring already ended her shift.

I spent no more than 10 minutes with the doctor (imagine!), only to note that most of my test results are satisfactory (good news!) except for my anemia (old news!) and apparently a very high total and direct bilirubin in my liver which prompted the doctor to order a stomach ultrasound and another blood test in 3 months. Apparently and to my dismay, my visit to the clinic is far from over. I was so looking forward to taking a rest from visiting doctors for a while.

After which, I lined up at the ob-gynecologists room for the interpretation of my pap smear result and for my cervical cancer vaccine. I'll talk about the vaccine in a separate post.
_________

There are a number of things I learned from today:

1) Unless I am filthy rich and have a personal doctor at my beck and call, I should not expect to be seen by the doctor on time;
2) I must not make other plans within 4 to 5 hours of my scheduled visit to the doctor;
3) I should call a day ahead to confirm the doctor's schedule, just in case; and
4) Most importantly, I should be more mindful of my health - the food I eat, lifestyle in general and fitness regimen - to avoid visits to the doctor other than for mandatory annual physical exams.

And yeah, I have to double check that I have my HMO card with me before I leave the house. Sorry hubby and thank you for wasting your time accompanying me to the doctors, second week in a row.

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