Wednesday, April 15, 2009

How often does the doctor call you with test results?

I know in the day when I was young and watched "Marcus Welby, MD" on TV, doctors seldom made housecalls any more. However, a doctor calling you with test results would not have been unusual. These days, there's a hotline you can call for results. If there's something wrong, the nurse will call you back if you call and ask about the results.

The nurse called me yesterday with the results from the ultrasounds. Today the doctor called to confirm those results with a little more explanation--the size of the tiny cyst and fibroid, as well as the one tiny gallstone in the gallbladder. Now I'm sure if I had had no insurance, I wouldn't even know of these as they don't cause any problem unless they get larger. The doctor felt the test results were very good, but she was still concerned about the weight gain. I weighted today after her phone call, and my weight is back to normal. A weeks ago it seemed as though I had gained ten pounds. I don't understand that at all.

I'm wondering if I could keep her as my doctor after she goes to New York to continue her four years of additional study in oncology. She has finished the fellowship now, and she'll be leaving in a few weeks. I told her to come back in four years. I know I will probably never see her again, but she will be one of the first doctors ever to call me with a report and such compassion and concern. I guess doctors just get too busy for the personal touch after they finally finish all their schooling.

Any way, it is nice to know that I am for now healthy, but I will continue my health insurance for as long as possible. Medicare isn't free, and the supplemental policies aren't cheap. But who can afford to go without health insurance these days?

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