hmm... first a confession/obsession? I've just gotta get this out there.
I went to the walk in clinic two weeks ago because I thought that I was having a reaction to a prescription - headache for 1.5 weeks, wierd contracting/tightening in my trachea (yep, I googled that. See below for diagram) whenever I swallowed and sometimes at random, and something else wierd I just can't remember what anymore because it didn't seem life threatening. Anyways, I beeboped in there....
oh yea, I remember the other symptom. I became an idiot! Here is just
1 of the many examples of my experience... I left Hope, BC to drive 3
hours to West Kelowna - missed the well marked turn off and arrived at
my destination 10 HOURS LATE. Yep, It took me over an hour to realize
that I had gone off course, and it seemed like a better idea to take the
long loop than to turn around and backtrack so that I could get some
errands done - one of them being go to the walk-in -clinic!
So it seems like it was the trachea but basically the feeling was a tightening right in-between my
boobs breasts.
Ok so I beeboped into the downtown primary care clinic - which, for those who are unaware (which is nobody because Sara, you are the only one that reads this and you are very aware - mostly this is just for future reference) is intended to serve the more. hmm shall I say 'transient' of the North Okanagan population. Anyways, I chose to go there because I had worked for the agency overseeing the admin. for the clinic for a few years, and had been in with clients many a time, but never as a patinet myself. There was NEVER a wait, and obviously I was running late, and it would give me a chance to say a quick hi to the receptionist and nurse practitioner.
I popped in wearing a pair of jeans that I had blown the knee in a week before (but not really caring because the plan
was to go horseback riding, change and then do my errands) and some kind of disgusting shirt, no makeup (well hello ACNE), and my hair tied in a rats nest behind my head. No biggie, I know people here. I walk in, chat up the receptionist, inform her that I am unemployed, following Quincy around BC where he will be paving highways for the summer, we purchased an O L D camper to live in that had septic problems and has a leaking roof etc etc.
HAH check that out
Teaser for an upcoming roofing post!
Then, my former office-mate and mother hen walks in and says hi, gives me a big hug and tsk tsks at all of my wierd stories.
Then the doctor (I landed on a doctor day!) - who's office door has been open through all of this - is ready to see me. So I sit in the room for a minute and when she comes in start to tell her all about my symptoms, concerns, google searches etc etc and for the first time in my life (I think) she is kind of arguing with me. She was very polite and nice and hands down knows more about this stuff than I do but it was just... weird. Anyways, we go over the situation, some points more than once because I was clear on what I wanted out of this and I stuck to my guns. She figures I just have a virus and will have to wait for the battle raging inside of me to be won (I added the raging battle part). Then I walked outta there and get back on that highway, I still had some miles to go before reaching my destination!
And then it hits me. She didn't want to give me a referral to a specialist becasue she wasn't sure they would even be able to get ahold of me... I had to reassure her that I am in the Okanagan area frequently and that I would really like the referral. Yes, better to do it today - why wait. Please. Also, somehow the fact that I have horses came up. She looked up from her notepad with wide eyes and said - with more expression than I'll illustrate with capslock "How can you afford to have horses?!" and I humbly explained that I was renting a place and the board was free, then I moved and now my poor husband is paying and I am keeping them with friends and blah blah. I mean, horses are expensive for anyone to keep right? And she just kind of looked back at her notepad and we wrapped it up.
So it wasn't until I was almost at the end of my very long day of driving that I realized... She thought I WAS A 'TRANSIENT'!!!!
I was acting like a regular at the clinic, had to change my address, shitty clothes, came in with the breeze unexpectedly, having life threatening side-effect paranoia and was just really unhealthy.
HAH that was quite something. So now I'm obsessed with taking a masters degree and researching the communication style/attentiveness to expressed needs between doctors and patients from different economic demographics. Not to say that this doctor was rude, or non caring, but I felt like I had to fight a little bit to be heard and to get what I thought I needed. For people with problems with authority, lower education (professional communication skills), addictions and a plethora of life stressors this is a huge turn-off and reason not to participate in the health care system. And these are those who need the most health care of all.
Obsession: Thesis topic
Too bad I can't afford a masters degree.
Also too bad this turned into an entire post, and not an entire obsessions post at that.
Also too bad I would never in a million years have the lasting power to write an entire thesis paper.
You are reading from a girl who regularly began her 20 pagers in uni the night before they were due... late afternoon if it was a morning class (I had a bad experience once)
