Maybe I'll go to my vet instead ...

[Pixelated]

I was spoiled by a phenomenal family physician when I lived in Toronto.

The one I have now was recommended by someone who works at the nursing home where Mom is.

I am becoming increasingly unimpressed by the guy. Yes, he sends you for every test known to man, and I don't have a problem with that. Would rather catch something sneaking up on me than find out the bad news when the only thing I can do is update my will.

But.

He never explains anything. He just throws prescriptions at you and mumbles at his computer monitor. His attitude suggests that he's much too busy to answer your questions.

Today was, I think, the last straw. He asked the usual questions ("What are you here for?" I'm often tempted to respond "How the fuck should I know?? You told me to make this appointment!") and then asked about my prescriptions. I have three: Metformin, something for cholesterol, and something for blood pressure. The irony is that I don't have blood pressure issues, but one side effect of this stuff is that it protects your kidneys from the ravages of diabetes (my pharmacist explained that. Like I said, the doctor is much too busy ....)

When I got to the BP stuff, he said, "Where are you getting that?"

Me: (somewhat nonplussed) "From the drugstore."

Him: "No, where are you getting it?"

Me: (thinks "What in hell are you talking about??")

Him: "I never prescribed that for you."

Whiskey ... Tango ... Foxtrot ...

Okay, ya caught me. I'm getting them from Some Guy™ wearing a hoodie and wrap-around shades, somewhere in the darkest recesses of My Hometown's somewhat decrepit downtown.

FFS. I'm no expert on the illicit drug trade, but I doubt there's much of a market for illegal blood pressure pills.

Also, to be quite honest, dealing with one doctor is enough of a pain in the ass; I certainly don't want to have to deal with any more if it's not absolutely necessary.

I stopped at my pharmacy to ask about it. Virtually all the authorizations for the BP med have been over the phone, and not surprisingly, from his office. So either somebody isn't bothering to keep up the records accurately ... or one of his assistants is practicing medicine without a licence.

Oh yeah, and I also got a list of doctors who, I hope, are accepting new patients. Also got another referral, but (just my luck) I don't think she's one of 'em.

But as soon as possible, I am done here.

[dalesys]

Here's a referral, if you can find him.
(PTerrydactyls forever)

[Pixelated]

Here's a referral, if you can find him.
(PTerrydactyls forever)

PERFECT!

[dalesys]

When my mother took her brood (I'm the oldest of 9) in for immunizations she always looked for a line being shot up by a veterinarian.

[Crossbow]

If the BP med is amlodipene (or equivalent), I've seen them prescribed at the same time. I was already on it when my doc gave me the metformin, but I have several friends that got both at the same time, even without having high blood pressure.

Find a doc that you can trust, and talk to them about it.

[lordlundar]

BAIL! Fast and hard. My mom had a pill pusher and it nearly killed her.

[Pixelated]

When my mother took her brood (I'm the oldest of 9) in for immunizations she always looked for a line being shot up by a veterinarian.

Wait ... what??

If the BP med is amlodipene (or equivalent), I've seen them prescribed at the same time. I was already on it when my doc gave me the metformin, but I have several friends that got both at the same time, even without having high blood pressure.

Find a doc that you can trust, and talk to them about it.

My diabetes diagnosis pre-dates this guy, so I'm thinking it's likely accurate. This guy is the one who gave me the BP med (which he now says he never authorized ...) and it was the pharmacist who explained why he might prescribe such a thing for somebody with no blood pressure problems.

But yeah, 'trust' is now the operative word here.

BAIL! Fast and hard. My mom had a pill pusher and it nearly killed her.

The trick is finding a GOOD doctor who's taking new patients (and of course 'good' -- or otherwise -- isn't something you can usually assess until at least a few months have passed). I've had a couple of referrals but one is out of the office until the end of May (and her receptionist didn't say yes or no as to whether she's accepting new patients). The other has been referred to me by an acquaintance but again, he might not be accepting new patients at this time -- there was a point where he wasn't -- but acquaintance's mother says she's pretty sure he is once again.

That was the nice thing about my doctor in Toronto: she wasn't a pill-pusher. I have no particular loathing for medicines when they are necessary, but I'm also aware that diet and lifestyle can reduce or even eliminate your need for pills. And frankly, I no longer trust this guy to acknowledge that I've reached that point (if and when I do).

I looked him up on a site where you can rate your doctors ... his overall average is 2.5 out of 5 stars. Some of the complaints I took with some scepticism, but the number of complaints about his indifference to the patient sitting in front of him, the perception that he doesn't listen to what you say, his refusal to explain anything, his tendency to just shove prescriptions at you, mumble at his computer screen and then rush out of the office ... yeah, I can personally vouch for all of those.

[dalesys]

When my mother took her brood (I'm the oldest of 9) in for immunizations she always looked for a line being shot up by a veterinarian.

Wait ... what?? ...

Public immunization clinics. 1960s. She figured that when your patient can chomp, claw or stomp you learn to minimize the pain.

[Pixelated]

Public immunization clinics. 1960s. She figured that when your patient can chomp, claw or stomp you learn to minimize the pain.

Oh yeah!

That's great ... I thought you were kidding at first. I'm old enough to remember those days but don't remember mass immunization clinics with vets working at them ... maybe we never had any in My Hometown.

Somehow I can't imagine that being allowed in today's litigious society -- veterinarians giving shots to people?! The horror!

I'd much rather have my current vet diagnosing me than this twit of a doctor.

[Seanette]

I'm remembering that James Herriot actually did give medical advice to at least one human client .

[Pixelated]

I don't remember that incident offhand, but I can believe it happened. I loved his stories. Wonder if there are collections of them floating around the house here somewhere ...

[dalesys]

Salk injectable polio vaccine. Once, when I was about 12, my mother had to get a plain-clothes cop to chase me down.

[wolfie]

So you were too pollo to get your polio shot?

[Pixelated]

Wait ... your mother had to get a cop to nab you so you'd take your polio shot?

I presume you're suitably grateful that YouTube hadn't been invented yet.

Anybody know which is the vaccine that leaves a large scar? I've got it on my left arm but of course it's been part of my arm for as long as I can remember, so I haven't a clue what caused it (I'm just assuming it was a vaccination shot, of course ...)

[wolfie]

That would be the Smallpox vaccine. Instead of an injection, they would scratch up the site and apply the vaccine. Sometime between 40 and 50 years ago, scientists decided that smallpox was extinct "in the wild" (U.S. and Russia still have labs with the live virus), so routine smallpox vaccination was discontinued.

Fun fact: Smallpox was the first disease for which a vaccine was created, and is also the source of the name "vaccine". Doctors observed that dairymaids didn't get smallpox - it's closely enough related to cowpox (a "nuisance disease", not life-threatening, in humans) that the antibodies created to fight off a cowpox infection will also protect against smallpox (a deadly disease). Cue the experiment of applying pus from a "live" cowpox case to a (created for the purpose) wound - and the people so treated caught cowpox, and afterward were protected against smallpox. The name "vaccine" is derived from the Latin for "cow".