That is only a momentous announcement because I haven’t had one for several years, not because I think I am hard done by. I’m dosing myself with saline nose spray and salt water gargle which work as well as anything else. I briefly resorted to chemicals yesterday until I read the fine print about people with thyroid issues (they called it thyroid disease which sounds far worse than it feels) speaking to their doctor about the medication. That’s a problem.
It was recently reported in our local rag, and maybe in yours, that people in BC are the least likely to have an annual physical check-up. What wasn’t reported, this time, was how many of us don’t have a ‘family’ doctor which makes getting an annual physical pretty difficult. Our beloved and long time GP has recently given up his general practice so Jim and I are now part of that have-not group. We have a great system of walk-in clinics so it’s not hard to get things looked after but don’t ask them to spend more than 10 minutes, ‘cuz there’s a line up. I needed two prescriptions filled (one of them the thyroid hormone without which I am even crazier than usual!) so I took myself off to the nearest walk-in, waited about 45 minutes and spent less than a nano second with the doctor who took my word for it that I have been using the same prescriptions for decades. Not exactly “health care”, but it got the job done for the time being. I can only imagine the reaction if I had called to ask if I should take Sudafed for a cold! Meanwhile we both need physicals for our travel insurance and we aren’t sure how to go about it. The Victoria Medical Society lists one doctor taking new patients (“don’t call me unless your doctor has recently retired or you are new to the city”) but she is way across town.
Two other health related items of interest, to me at least:
I volunteered to take part in a huge Canadian cancer research study http://www.bcgenerationsproject.ca/ and had my assessment last week with an enthusiastic nurse from Ontario. When I told him my age he paused, and then said he was having trouble getting used to what 62 looks like in BC compared to Ontario. We decided it is all about our 12 month outdoor lifestyle versus the restrictions inherent in parts of the country that have ice and snow to contend with.
This morning I watched a YouTube clip about the benefits of walking that was posted on Facebook by Saanich Rec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo&feature=share. The last words were “Can you limit your sitting and sleeping time to just 23 ½ hours each day?” Wow; what a powerful way to point out how little time is needed to invest in health, and since we don't have a doctor....
1 comment:
It's another one of those "we're doing it wrong" things. The family doctor is going the way of the house call, I fear. There simply isn't enough doctor-time to spend building relationships. If you look at clinics, whether walk-in or not; or look at hospitals even, their entire purpose is so that the doctor does not spend one instant of time doing anything but doctoring.
Every non-doctoring moment is removed from a doctor's day.
That can't be sustainable. Who'd want to work like that?
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