in the course of my readings here and other blogs, i get a sense of general loathing of most of the practitioners of the medical profession, i find this more than a little strange.
i guess it`s the difference in health care. i`ve had the same doctor for as long as i can remember. she`s seen me grow from a toddler, through being too embarrassed to be undressed in front of her as a teenage, to threatening to put me on medication for hypertension if i didn`t slow down as a young adult.
i wasn`t a sickly child, i was fairly healthy except i was allergic to the simplest things [eggs, milk, fish] which has a propensity to show up on my skin. so apart from my regular gp, i did see a variety of skin specialists. even today when i get stress the first place that reacts is my skin.
through my teenage years i was anaemic, prompting daily consumption of guiness and milk. to this day guiness is still medicinal connotations to me. that was the other thing about my doctor, even now, she goes out of her way to either medicate you from her samples, generics or alternative treatments.
as i got older and started working, my visits got less regular. basically i had to be sick to show up on her door step and even then it was sick and dying. in my second or third year at my first advertising gig, i was working twenty hour days, partially because of the two projects we generally had between september and december and mostly because my first marriage was falling apart and it was easier for me to immerse myself in my job.
after the second project was completed i passed out in the office. i mean fainted dead away, so forcibly i was taken to the doctor`s. she did the usual work up until she got to the blood pressure, apparently my pressure was so high, by all rights i was supposed to be dead.
now hypertension runs in my family, both sides at least two generations, so my doctor looks at me and says, `you have two options, i can medicate you for this and you`ll start now and never come off or you can go home for a week, do absolutely nothing, read, sleep, come back and see me in a week and we`ll take your pressure again and work from there.` i took the week off then, since then my blood pressure has been on the low to normal side.
when we realised i was getting carpal tunnel syndrome, she gave me my options, drugs and eventual surgery or i could try acupuncture, i tried it and i`m sold.
i`ve tried other doctors because getting to see my doctor is a whole day effort, you make an appointment and theoretically you can see the doctor sometime on the same day. your appointment is never on time because the elderly and children have priority. and because of the kind of doctor she is, it`s not a wham bam thank you ma`am kind of visit, you don`t generally get out in under 40 minutes.
i suppose i should go for a check up before i leave the caribbean
