The benefit of being "sick"
Ok, well, I still don't feel "sick" per se, but as I reported a little while ago, I did go to the doctor yesterday. The benefit to my seemingly never-ending cough (I have new sympathy for my mom w/ her COPD!) is that I had to choose a new doctor. (Well, I didn't have to, but really, I refused to go back to the practice of the forever wait, the hideous parking, and the no-personality doctor.) So, I once again randomly chose a name off of the list on my insurance company's website, but this time, I feel like I hit the jackpot!
I rode my bike over (car's still in the shop - had to find a different part, b/c what we were told was the problem at the one place turned out not to be the problem after all - but they are waiting on the part to get there this afternoon, so hopefully we'll get it back soon. In the meantime, we've been a no-car family since Sunday, and really, it has been fine. Hmm... presents interesting possibilities.). Anyway, got there, went in, took care of initial paperwork & insurance questions (ah, our Board of Pensions Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan causes consternation everywhere we go - it just doesn't seem to match what other versions of BC/BS do in terms of requirements, etc. But it's better than the completely weird insurance no one had ever heard of in seminary!). And as soon as that was done, the doctor himself was there to take me into the exam room - I didn't even get to sit down. No lines, no waiting - - no way! Not only that, I didn't feel like he was in a major rush! The doctor himself took my vitals, he even took my blood for the lab tests - I never dealt with an assistant (not that I mind that - but it was certainly nice not to have to wait in between going in to the room & doing that stuff & when the doctor would usually come in!) Got a very thorough physical, and the doctor has quite the sense of humor. A hugely nice change of pace from my last doctor/medical practice. The new practice only has 3 doctors, and they own the practice, so I'm sure that's a large part of the difference. The other one had a couple of different branches, all through Queens & Nassau County, which was nice in theory, but really not at all nice in reality, b/c it was always very busy - even when I would go in 1st thing in the morning, I had to wait for something like an hour.
Now of course, this was my one and only visit to the doctor so far, and it could've just been the luck of the draw that mid-afternoon on a Thursday was a slow time for them in terms of actual patients being there, but they gave me a very good first impression. The next trick will be to get Andy to schedule an appointment for a physical himself, now that I've done the grunt work of finding a place that I think we could like. (Q: why does all of that stuff always seem to fall to wives? at least in my experience w/ myself & my friends... Man up, men! You could do some of this stuff too!!! We're mostly working ourselves, you know, it's not the 1950s anymore where wives have all sorts of time to do such things!)
Oh, and he did give me an antibiotic (yay, generic version of Zithromax, which only requires 1 pill a day for 5 days! Much better than 2 or 3 times a day for 10 days, although I'd go that route too!) - said he figured I had "something". Very scientific I know! He also gave me a script for Nasonex, but my insurance doesn't cover that, so if I want to get something for my lovely nasal allergies or whatever they are, I'll have to get something different or get him to say that I need Nasonex specifically. Flonase now has a generic version (patent must've run out) & that worked well for me before (except that I was unwilling to pay $60/bottle when Flonase ran the show, my chronic sneezing just doesn't bother me that much, I've learned to live with it!). So maybe I'll give the doc a call & ask him to make the switch. And here's hoping that the antibiotics can work their magic on whatever this "something" is, since my own immune system has thus far held it at bay, but been unable to knock it into submission entirely. Apparently I need additional troops to win this battle.
I rode my bike over (car's still in the shop - had to find a different part, b/c what we were told was the problem at the one place turned out not to be the problem after all - but they are waiting on the part to get there this afternoon, so hopefully we'll get it back soon. In the meantime, we've been a no-car family since Sunday, and really, it has been fine. Hmm... presents interesting possibilities.). Anyway, got there, went in, took care of initial paperwork & insurance questions (ah, our Board of Pensions Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan causes consternation everywhere we go - it just doesn't seem to match what other versions of BC/BS do in terms of requirements, etc. But it's better than the completely weird insurance no one had ever heard of in seminary!). And as soon as that was done, the doctor himself was there to take me into the exam room - I didn't even get to sit down. No lines, no waiting - - no way! Not only that, I didn't feel like he was in a major rush! The doctor himself took my vitals, he even took my blood for the lab tests - I never dealt with an assistant (not that I mind that - but it was certainly nice not to have to wait in between going in to the room & doing that stuff & when the doctor would usually come in!) Got a very thorough physical, and the doctor has quite the sense of humor. A hugely nice change of pace from my last doctor/medical practice. The new practice only has 3 doctors, and they own the practice, so I'm sure that's a large part of the difference. The other one had a couple of different branches, all through Queens & Nassau County, which was nice in theory, but really not at all nice in reality, b/c it was always very busy - even when I would go in 1st thing in the morning, I had to wait for something like an hour.
Now of course, this was my one and only visit to the doctor so far, and it could've just been the luck of the draw that mid-afternoon on a Thursday was a slow time for them in terms of actual patients being there, but they gave me a very good first impression. The next trick will be to get Andy to schedule an appointment for a physical himself, now that I've done the grunt work of finding a place that I think we could like. (Q: why does all of that stuff always seem to fall to wives? at least in my experience w/ myself & my friends... Man up, men! You could do some of this stuff too!!! We're mostly working ourselves, you know, it's not the 1950s anymore where wives have all sorts of time to do such things!)
Oh, and he did give me an antibiotic (yay, generic version of Zithromax, which only requires 1 pill a day for 5 days! Much better than 2 or 3 times a day for 10 days, although I'd go that route too!) - said he figured I had "something". Very scientific I know! He also gave me a script for Nasonex, but my insurance doesn't cover that, so if I want to get something for my lovely nasal allergies or whatever they are, I'll have to get something different or get him to say that I need Nasonex specifically. Flonase now has a generic version (patent must've run out) & that worked well for me before (except that I was unwilling to pay $60/bottle when Flonase ran the show, my chronic sneezing just doesn't bother me that much, I've learned to live with it!). So maybe I'll give the doc a call & ask him to make the switch. And here's hoping that the antibiotics can work their magic on whatever this "something" is, since my own immune system has thus far held it at bay, but been unable to knock it into submission entirely. Apparently I need additional troops to win this battle.