today i am lamenting 'the good old days,' when doctors (not specialists, not p.a.'s) actually saw you in their little office and nobody interrogated you about your insurance or demanded a co-pay before the doctor agreed to see you or made you wait for an hour. what the heck happened? i was relieved when doctors stopped making housecalls (i remember when dr. jacobson and his little black bag would arrive at our house and holy terror ensued. he had needles and he wasn't afraid to use them). but now? like the cheers' theme song, i long to be 'where everybody knows your name.' or at least accepts medicare.
two weeks ago i ended up in the emergency room. i had a horrible sinus infection. i had a fever. and i had fainted. the staff at the e.r. made the ordeal bearable. i left at 3:30 am feeling much better than when i arrived at 9:30 pm. but trying to follow up has been a nightmare. i went to a local clinic last wednesday. no doctor available but a p.a. named lisa, and she was nice. i told her about the sinus ifection, about my ataxia and i suggested that maybe my thyroid was acting up so i was scheduled for a blood draw the next morning. and they promised to find me with a neurologist, since my el paso neuro had died. great. had the bloodwork. stopped by the desk for the neuro appt but was told it hadn't been made and they would call me....the next day...with the appointment. cool. friday came and went without a phone call, without a new neurologist. and yesterday afternoon, i had another respitory episode/anxiety attack. these 'attacks' are terrifying. i need to resolve what is causing them. 'urgency' has new meaning.
and so, since dawn, i have online trying to locate doctors. gone are the days when you simply opened a phone book. i called for an ear/nose/throat appt but learned that doctor moved away last year. however, the receptionist gave me an appointment for tomorrow morning with another e/n/t. and i called the clinic to find out who my new neurologist was. the operator told me i did not have an appointment yet. hmnnn. well, why not? it was explained to me (in not very friendly terms) that my insurance had to be 'pre-approved' (huh?) before the appointment and no, they couldn't tell me how long that would take. but they would call me. whenever.
so i looked online for neurologists. my first call was answered by a machine informing me that 'unforeseen circumstances' meant no office hours. my second choice was.....wait. dr. rathbun, my former neurologist. who died 3 years ago. needless to say, i am still searching for a neurologist. maybe the clinic will call me back. maybe pigs will fly.
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