Just Pondering about Health Care

This has been a summer of sitting in the doctors' offices. Actually, it started way back in March when I had a simple--or at least it seemed simple at the time--pain in my side.

There are 4 doctors in the office where our family goes for medical treatment so, after trying to wait out the pain and failing, I called for an appointment with my usual doctor, Doctor #1. She wasn't available so I asked for any available doctor and managed to get an appointment later the same day.

Doctor #2 decided I had what he called a "threatening hernia." Not a full-blown hernia, but one trying to push its way through. His advice was to take it easy for a few weeks in hopes it would heal itself. My co-pay was only $15 so I considered the visit a real bargain. "Get lots of rest," is advice I find easy to follow.

Unfortunately, after only a few days, the pain had increased from a 4 or 5 level to a full-blown 9 or 10 at times. I called for another appointment.

This time my regular doctor was available and she quickly diagnosed my ailment as a pulled muscle. Take Advil as needed for the pain, and rest a lot, she said. I did, but a week later, my whole abdomen felt like it was on fire.

Back I went to suggest that Advil and rest wasn't doing the job. I mentioned that a scan had discovered a tumor in my back ten years earlier and wondered if it might be acting up. At the time, a biopsy had shown the tumor to be benign, but I didn't want to rule any possibilites out. I was really, really hurting.

Off to the ultra sound department where I was told that nothing abnormal was found and a hernia was definitely ruled out.

The pain didn't seem to get the message that there was nothing wrong with me. It grew even worse until, on a Saturday morning, I got to meet Dr. #3 of the 4 in our local office. He decided that 2 months of pain deserved further looking into and scheduled me for a catscan.

No hernia showed up, but the tumor first discovered ten years earlier had doubled in size. Dr. #3 wasn't a surgeon, so he sent me to one across town. The surgeon only poked a few times before I doubled up in pain, and he insisted I had a hernia that must be repaired immediately. So---three days later, I checked into the hospital for my hernia repair.

To be continued.....