Posted by OzLand on August 4, 2007, at 23:53:36
In reply to pdoc vacation, posted by antigua3 on August 4, 2007, at 16:02:19
Of course it would have been nice for him to say he was going to be gone. Does he not know that he is important to you? Gee, my primary care doctor is important to me. I don't want just anyone. I do confide some things with her. Guess that is different though in many ways as I don't have standing appointments with her. HUM. I do with other doctors, but I usually only see them once every three to six months or once per year--my U of Chicago docs for all my physical stuff.
I remember when my pulmonary doctor was really important to me in the beginning as it was all new to me to have asthma and chronic bronchitis and not be able to breathe well plus added on six months later the sleep apnea. So, I was desperate to get things going to feel better, and I would call, and he would not call back; I wrote him, and he never called, etc. I was so upset, and then he would be gone for a few weeks. When I finally saw him for my appointment after a month, I told him I needed to have a way to communicate with him where he would answer me as things would come up, like coughing up blood--should I call, is this normal, etc. So we settled on email. Now I hardly even email him and only see him once every six to nine months. He just simply is not so important to me now. I had the bronchosocpy--the nodule in my lungs was not a malignancy. Depends on the color of the blood and how long it lasts, etc. for me. I use two inhalers daily, one twice per day. My last breathing test was the best it has ever been. So, I am still improving, and he set it up for me to come back in nine months rather than six months. Once upon a time, I would have freaked if he set a longer time frame, like when he went from once per month to once every three months. He is chief of pulmonary and no bedside manner what to speak of, but he is good, and so I keep him. That is the bottom line for me, and if you pdoc is primarily just for medicine, and he does a good job there, then what difference does it make if he is good in other ways. However, he has become more than the typical pill pusher psychiatrist for you. So, in this regard, yep I would be upset too that he didn't say something.
OzLand
poster:OzLand
thread:773971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070726/msgs/774061.html