Feeling a little better today...

[lance_sibley]

I'm feeling a little better, though I'm finding it very warm in my apartment. Then again, it was 15 degrees outside today...

I went to the Ontario government website that the doctor gave me yesterday to find a doctor. I filled in my search criteria and found seven doctors in my area who are taking new patients. I called the first one on the list today and it looks like I have a doctor. (Yay!)

I just have to go over to the walk-in clinic at Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton tomorrow to fill out some paperwork as they have most of my medical records from the past ten years or so. Once that's done, they'll send my files to this doctor and then I'll be able to have an appointment for Tuesday (they have me pencilled in already, pending getting my files). The office is just around the corner from the clinic, even, so it's about a five minute walk from my apartment - score!

The funny thing was that of the seven doctors in the search results, one of them was Henry Morgentaler. Um, no, I don't think I'll be needing an abortion any time soon. (Well, for all I know, maybe he practices general medicine as well, but the man is going to be 86 years old in a week or so, and frankly, I want a younger doctor. Okay, maybe I could have found one a little older than the one I got - he graduated from the University of Western Ontario three years ago - but you can't beat the location. I also decided that I'd prefer a male doctor. Nothing against female doctors, there are just certain things I'd feel more comfortable talking to a man about. I'm sure that's not uncommon.)

Comments

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

I understand. I'd rather see a woman doctor.

You sure it was the same Henry Morgentaler? Could it be a son?

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I checked his profile - it says that he graduated from the University of Montreal in 1953.

[jj79.livejournal.com]

Wha...you don't wanna tell the chick doc about the tingling when you pee?

Sorry...I hadda say it. :) Glad you're feeling better just in the time for BSG and the weekend.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you reinforced that you were joking - Eric does read this, you know. :P

And thanks for the good wishes. Though I suspect that my weekend will mostly be full of laying on the couch, just like the entire week was. (Well, I do have a Polaris Exec meeting on Sunday, but I'll skip that if I'm still feeling unwell. So my only definite excursion out will be to the clinic to take care of transferring my files.)

[jj79.livejournal.com]

It is precisely because of Eric (and the limits of the written word) that I included the smilie afterwards. If there is ANY doubt to ANYONE, I was JOKING with Lance. I know nothing about any issues such as the one described and apologize if anyone was gave or received grief over it.

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

When you get older, you're going to prefer a doctor with small hands. Just sayin'...

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

If you're saying what I think you're saying, then you never know, I may enjoy that particular procedure. ;)

And I guess I'm getting to the point where I do have to worry about that kind of thing. I am in my 40s, after all...

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

It doesn't work that way. I could describe a pap smear as "I lie on my back with my legs spread apart. The man inserts the long, hard probe..." it sounds like it could be fun, but it's really not.

[legostargateman.livejournal.com]

They (whoever they are) say you should have a doctor roughly your age & the same sex as they are going through the same body changes as you are, therefore will be more sensitive to symptoms, etc...

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

That makes sense - I hadn't considered that.

Oh, well, we'll see how this guy works out. I can always find someone else if I don't like him. (There are five others taking new patients, not counting Morgentaler, in my immediate neighbourhood.)

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

*shrug* The most important thing for me is having a good diagnostician, and who's knowledgeable. Next, I need someone who will trust that I'm not a moron; that I'm describing my symptoms accurately, and that I can be trusted with refills and to obey instructions (I have one specialist who refuses to prescribe refills. He insists that I have the pharmacist fax him every time I need a refill. That would be an annoying extra step even if he responded to the faxes. But he usually makes the pharmacist fax him 2-3 times before he responds, which wastes everyone's time. I ended up asking my GP for the prescription I actually need, and she gave me a year's worth of refills so I don't have to jump through hoops, and worse, risk my health by being without something I need. The one that I don't really need --but he thinks I do--I asked for a refill last time I was in his office. He wouldn't give me one, and told me to have the pharmacist fax him. He finally responded to the third fax, refusing to fill the Rx and telling them I needed to come in. WTF? I was just in, and have my next appointment. I thought about calling his office, leaving a message, hopefully getting a callback, explaining the situation to the receptionist, who would talk to the doctor, who would tell me to have the pharmacist fax him...and said "Fuck it--he clearly doesn't think it's important." He will be pissed at me when I tell him that I stopped taking it when I ran out.).

Anyway, where was I? Right, someone who trusts me, and an office where I can get appointments within a reasonable time frame. I am willing to travel up to an hour away for the right doctor; as such, I am sometimes a few minutes late. In return, I don't mind having to wait for them.

If I can get all that (and my GP is all that and more), gender isn't important.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

It's not the highest priority, but there are some things that I would just be more comfortable discussing with a man. I seem to have a deeply-ingrained reluctance to discuss my sexual health with a woman, for instance. (For that reason a gay doctor would be good, but that's not a searchable criterion on the website.)

Heck, I had enough trouble telling the man I saw at the clinic a few months ago that my headaches were brought on and exacerbated by masturbation (which I thought might be important), and I'd seen that doctor before despite the fact that it's a walk-in clinic. I don't recall if I mentioned it when I was having the CT scan, though - but I think he was a technician, so telling him wouldn't have been useful.

(Yes, I know that was TMI. :) OTOH, it's something I can say to you because you're a friend - saying the same thing to a stranger is completely different. Even if I am called the "Queen Of TMI". *grin*)

It sounds to me like the specialist you're seeing is just an overall twit - and twits come in all genders, orientations, shapes and sizes. :)

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me after I posted that your being gay might be relevant--straight guys have some history of discussing intimate things with women, but gay guys might never have done so. Of course, now you've gone and blown my theory out of the water! :)

I'd be embarrassed to tell any stranger about TMI stuff, even if I know intellectually that they're medical professionals; I don't know if I'd be more comfortable talking to a woman about female stuff, though I know that some people would be.

Since you mentioned it, migraines are related to blood flow, which is why caffeine sometimes helps. So I wonder if sending all the blood to your other brain could cause the blood vessels in your main brain to constrict, bringing on a headache. But yes, any apparent cause and effect is something they would need to know.

And yes, he is a twit, and full of himself. Amusingly, he mentioned that another specialist is someone he has trouble communicating with. Other Specialist is funny and cool, and we completely bonded over the Trek figures he has sitting on his bookshelves. No wonder Twit doesn't get along with him! But I'd rather put up with Twit than start over with someone new.