Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2005. Mattie was three years old and that day Peter and I took him to the Clyde's in Rockville. We had Mattie sit right by his favorite place, the pond. You may not be able to tell, but the pond was behind him, and Mattie loved all the fish and frogs that hung out there. In any case, this is a priceless picture to me, because Mattie was happy, healthy, and enjoying his outing with us.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 53,617,030
- Number of people who died from the virus: 822,676
I have been ill since Christmas. I have dealt with everything from a fever of 100.7, a terrible post nasal drip, coughing, aches, chills, and terrible head pain. Of course in the era of COVID, one may jump to the conclusion that I have the virus. The only thing is I KNOW my OWN body! I get these symptoms twice a year and when I do I need antibiotics, because it is a sinus infection. My symptoms now are no different than they usually are. The only difference now is I have a new doctor.
Given that I am managing my parents care, I felt that I needed to transfer to concierge medical care for myself, because I wanted access to a doctor all the time. To have medical care on my schedule not a doctor's! It truly sounded good in theory, but it did not play out well.
On Monday, I called my new doctor. Instead of triaging me over the phone, he had me come into the office. Instead of listening to me and my history, he proceeded to tell me I most likely had COVID. I truly did not think so, but given that I want to be responsible, I complied with the test. Of course he was little to no help and could care less that I was balancing the care of two 86 year olds! If that wasn't bad enough, he told me I was doing everything wrong and told me to stop taking Sudafed and other drying agents. As he said that was making my sinus issues worse. Honestly!!! I guess instead it is better to just drown in fluid!
Today I called the doctor's office for the COVID results. His assistant told me that I most likely wouldn't get results until Monday, January 3! Ridiculous beyond belief. Needless to say, I got a call tonight that my results are NEGATIVE. Which is what I told him on Monday. I did not need the swab test to tell me what I already knew.
I STRONGLY dislike medical professionals who feel they know me better than I know myself. When you don't listen to me, that is a BIG RED FLAG. Now as a patient, I have the power to walk away and tonight, I wrote to my doctor of 20+ years and told her I am returning to her practice and asked for her advice now about my current health issue.
I also have to laugh, when I saw this new doctor on Monday, he reacted to me like this was the VERY first time he has seen me. Mind you I went to his office to meet him in the beginning of November, then I took my parents to meet him last week, and therefore this was my third visit in a month's time. Apparently I AM NOT memorable! Interesting. In any case, the doctor asked if I am under stress! REALLY????? I literally answered him.... you mean other than packing up my parent's house, moving them cross country and in with me, and caregiving? It was a stupid question and it showed me that he neither listens nor observes the patients and families that come before him in his office.
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