Thursday, June 2, 2011

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Tuesday evening I felt the start of a urinary tract infection. Another sign of getting older, another sign that God is, indeed, a man. Men don't normally suffer from this ailment due to the length of their pee pipe. Anyone who has had one of these infections knows when they are getting one. Why can't these be like yeast infections where you can buy the medicine over the counter? Why do we have to go to the doctor and pee in a cup to get the drug? And why do the infections always occur when the doctor is indeed Not In?

By Wednesday morning I was very grouchy about the whole thing, so I called the doctor's office first thing. "Can't I just come in and pee in a cup?", I begged the receptionist. It's not like I have ever been wrong before. Oh no, you must see the doctor. She could take me at 10:40. Grrr...I wanted my drugs! I should explain about this doctor. She is from India, and dresses like she is still in her homeland. She has a revolving door of Indian residents flowing through her office like the Brahmaputra River back home. She used to have her office in a crappy little building walking distance from my house. She has since moved a little farther away into a building that used to be occupied by a restaurant. Still in a crappy, slightly bigger office. My daughter had just gone to see her for a check-up prior to her trip abroad, and she reported an hour and a half waiting period. So, still a crappy building and still crappy scheduling. I was hoping that a move to a new place would help her get a little more organized. You might be asking yourself why I continue to go to this doctor. Well, I like the convenience of the location, she is very thorough, and she can always see me the day I call if I have an issue like this. With my ob/gyn I had to call and leave a message for his nurse, wait for her to call me back, and then hopefully get an appointment in a couple of days. I just can't wait when I get one of these.

Anyway, when I arrived at the office at 10:35, there was only one man in the waiting room, and he had listed his appointment as being at 10:20. Not too bad, I'm thinking to myself. Ha! I was able to pee in a cup fairly soon after I got there, but then the wait began. Due to Katie's experience, I brought my iPad along. Thank God! I mostly leaned against the wall in the waiting room (named that for a superb reason!) because sitting with this infection is not very comfortable. Finally at 11:50 I was taken to an exam room, where the non-smiling resident took my vitals, as well as my blood. She decided I needed a blood sugar test since I hadn't seen Dr. K. for well over a year. It was low. Ya think? I didn't realize I needed to pack a lunch to go to the doctor's office. She brought me in some crackers. That seemed like a bad sign. Exactly how long was I going to be sitting in the room?

Dr. K. finally came in, said my urine test was positive (what a surprise!), and asked if I have been taking my cranberry pills. 1650 mg. every morning, I told her. She said there is a new cranberry pill out that has additional macrobiotics or something in them, and that studies were indicating that they are helping people like me. She couldn't remember where she saw them, so I'm supposed to call in a week and ask about them. Whatever - just give me my prescription so I can get out of here! By 12:30 I was on the road to the pharmacy. Where I got to wait another 25 minutes for them to fill the prescription. What a bummer that when you feel so awful, you have to wait around for the people and things that can make you feel better. The drug works like magic though, and I feel so much closer to normal today. Until next time...

1 comment:

Mrs. Wryly said...

To my knowledge, I have not had one of those, but I'm sure it's lurking around the corner, just like shingles and the multitude of other ailments that I dread!

Since the thorough Dr. is so close to home, you should check in, leave, and wait for a text from the office that it's your turn. Maybe they could invest in those pagers things, like Red Lobster?

Is "waiting" a noble activity in that culture? If so, you would be revered!