White paint could cancel climate change. White Paint Could Cancel Climate Change I wonder.
About seven or eight years ago, I went to a new doctor. I went into the wrong building and had to hurry to get to the right building on time, walking really fast. When I got to the office, a nurse took my blood pressure immediately. I told her it would read high and it did, almost dangerously so.
The doctor told me my bp was high and he was going to give me something for bp. I asked if it he could have the nurse take it again since I was rushing when it was taken and now I am rested and heart not racing. He refused. I asked again. He said, "No." He had records for knee and back that I had had sent to him. I asked about getting a car tag and hang tag for handicapped parking. As he walked out the door, he said, "NO, you need to park as far from Walmart as possible, out near the road, and walk. And quit drinking Mt. Dew!" So, he insulted me, pegging me as a frequent WalMart shopper who drank Mt. Dew. I don't need denigration from medical personnel.
With that he was fully out the door and shut it hard, just short of slamming. I have to admit I hated that man. When I left immediately after he did, I quietly asked the nurse sitting in the hall if she could take my bp. She whispered yes with her head down and lips pursed. My blood pressure was something like 85/55. It always ran low. I asked the nurse could she record that number. She gave me a small, sly smile and said, "Yes."
In the same group of doctors was one who was convinced I was a lesbian. He warned a young girl about me. Well, he had seen me, a woman driving a young woman around and suspected the worst. I mean, now why else would a 65-year-old-woman be in the same car with a 25-year-old-woman unless to have a relationship? I had gone to a food bank and took the young woman with autism. She declared after our second encounter that I was her only friend! Her mother was furious when she heard what the doctor said and came and gave the doc 'what for' at the church that morning. He told me never to come to that church again because they were "not going to support my lifestyle." So, I think something the anti=lesbian doctor put on my chart must have colored the opinion of the first doctor. You easily can guess what Southern church this was.
Several years earlier, I was so ill--head, ears, chest, throat. When I went to doctor in same group, he ordered blood drawn. I asked why. He said to see what is wrong with you. Well, he gave me nothing, and did not examine throat or listen to chest. Two days later, his nurse called and said my blood sugar was high and something else, forgot what. I said I thought that I was supposed to be fasting for the blood sugar test. She was surprised and asked if I had just eaten. I said yes. She scoffed and said, "All that blood test said was that you had just eaten." Still, I was given nothing for the temp, cough, and head congestion.
I went to a urologist with pain in flank. He asked me what the pain in front under my ribs felt like. When I said it was like my liver was twisting, he ridiculed me and said in a nasty tone, "Well, I can assure you that your liver is not twisting. I was having lots of left-side pain and problems is the reason we went from flank to front area. I never went back.
No one can figure out why I have pain on right side of my body/trunk. This is chronic pain and makes me writhe. Tommy has quit being concerned because it's just me again...lol...screaming or gasping because of the pain.
I don't shop for doctors. I persist when I have a problem. When I went to my gyn he believed me and acted quickly. I told him I had cancer and he believed me but sent me to specialists and I did have cancer. A gynecological oncologist operated. I saw him a couple of weeks ago.
One doctor spotted my thyroid problem. I had just had another specialist choking me to check a problem two weeks before. Well, I asked him after thyroid surgery if he had not felt the lumps. He said he had but they were small. I did inform him that it was serious two months after his exam. After removal, they were the kind that always becomes cancerous.
What did you think of the painting everything super-white idea? I am for it. I can wear sunglasses.
Have you had encounters with doctors that leave you floored and not diagnosed?
Have you been insulted by a doctor's assumptions about your or your life?
I think we need less greed to combat climate change. We're beyond white paint doing any good. People, Americans in particular, want an immediate availability of a wide variety of inexpensive goods, and have a penchant for fossil fuels. Until that changes, well...
ReplyDeleteI have never been insulted by a doctor, but in the hospital, around 1 a.m. or so recovering from the c-section delivery of #3, I had an asthma attack--horrible coughing--worst one ever. I buzzed the nurse, and while I was trying to catch my breath to speak she asked me, "How much do you smoke?" When I shook my head and gasped "I've never smoked," her eyes grew big, her face turned white, and she rushed out, saying "I'll be right back." About 3 minutes later she came in with the on call doctor. Yep, my lungs had filled up as a result of all the iv's they had pushed over the past 12 hours. When they got me to a point that I could talk, I did tell her a more informative approach would have been to ask if I was a smoker, not accuse me of such. Her excuse was "I've never heard a non-smoker sound as bad as you, I was concerned."
Meg,
DeleteThere may be no hope at all. I don't know.
Coughing after surgery must have been awful. I am so glad she at least got help for you. I have had nurses who needed to be fired and never allowed to be near a patient. Smoking seems to be a particular concern. I have been asked, "When did you quit smoking?" This is after I say I never smoked.