New Doctor
Went to a new doctor today in order to get my last vaccinations before the trip. I expected that it was just going to be HepA&B, plus a scrip for an antimalarial, but the Doc had some other ideas that made sense to me.
There's an on-site pharmacy, which explains why they said they could do vaccinations in the office, and had no doubts even when I said it could be weird ones.
In talking with the doc, he also suggested a booster of polio, as it's no longer a live vaccine (they stopped using live polio in the US), the downside of getting the booster is essentially nil, and the downside of not getting it is catching polio while I'm off in the 3rd world. According to the CDC, it's actually suggested that adults traveling to certain parts of the world get this booster, and one adult polio booster is enough, so I'm good on that forever.
He also suggested I get my own course of cipro in case of dysentery, which was fine. Lastly, he wanted me to travel with a course of the antibiotic I usually take to kill my sinus infections, since those are triggered by a fatigue-compromised immune system, and that's likely to happen while traveling. A good point I hadn't considered.
Lastly, he wanted me to get a pneumonia vaccination. As it turns out, many of the strains of bacteria that cause pneumonia are the same ones that cause persistent sinus infections like I get, and he's had positive results in giving chronic sinusitis sufferers the pneumonia vaccination. If there's even a minor chance it could do that, I'm in.
Aside from that, he thinks it might be possible to treat my neck/shoulder tension with magnesium supplements. Who knew? Looking into it now, I do have many symptoms of an Mg deficiency. Also worth a shot, as there's no real downside (aside from having to take the Mg and Calcium supplements).
Also, discussing the antimalarial he said "Of course, if the insurance covers it, there's a drawback to using it..." and the conversation sidetracked into a bitch session about insurance companies. He's clearly no fan of our current healthcare system, and made it clear that in the case where an insurance company tries to get out of paying something, his office sends a few rounds back and forth with the company trying to force them to pay before ever trying to send a bill to the patient. I dig that.
In short, I'm pretty impressed, I think he'll be my new regular doc. I stuck with the old doc because it was easy to walk in, say what I had, suggest a solution, and walk out with it. Medicine by self-diagnosis works well for many of the recurring problems I have. But this guy is probably better than that, in that he thinks like I do, so I don't have to, and has the benefit of actually being a doctor.
There's an on-site pharmacy, which explains why they said they could do vaccinations in the office, and had no doubts even when I said it could be weird ones.
In talking with the doc, he also suggested a booster of polio, as it's no longer a live vaccine (they stopped using live polio in the US), the downside of getting the booster is essentially nil, and the downside of not getting it is catching polio while I'm off in the 3rd world. According to the CDC, it's actually suggested that adults traveling to certain parts of the world get this booster, and one adult polio booster is enough, so I'm good on that forever.
He also suggested I get my own course of cipro in case of dysentery, which was fine. Lastly, he wanted me to travel with a course of the antibiotic I usually take to kill my sinus infections, since those are triggered by a fatigue-compromised immune system, and that's likely to happen while traveling. A good point I hadn't considered.
Lastly, he wanted me to get a pneumonia vaccination. As it turns out, many of the strains of bacteria that cause pneumonia are the same ones that cause persistent sinus infections like I get, and he's had positive results in giving chronic sinusitis sufferers the pneumonia vaccination. If there's even a minor chance it could do that, I'm in.
Aside from that, he thinks it might be possible to treat my neck/shoulder tension with magnesium supplements. Who knew? Looking into it now, I do have many symptoms of an Mg deficiency. Also worth a shot, as there's no real downside (aside from having to take the Mg and Calcium supplements).
Also, discussing the antimalarial he said "Of course, if the insurance covers it, there's a drawback to using it..." and the conversation sidetracked into a bitch session about insurance companies. He's clearly no fan of our current healthcare system, and made it clear that in the case where an insurance company tries to get out of paying something, his office sends a few rounds back and forth with the company trying to force them to pay before ever trying to send a bill to the patient. I dig that.
In short, I'm pretty impressed, I think he'll be my new regular doc. I stuck with the old doc because it was easy to walk in, say what I had, suggest a solution, and walk out with it. Medicine by self-diagnosis works well for many of the recurring problems I have. But this guy is probably better than that, in that he thinks like I do, so I don't have to, and has the benefit of actually being a doctor.