I spent years and years, ok, maybe a decade, avoiding going in to have physicals.  I went to my annual lady doctor every year, simply because it was a requirement for birth control.  Last year, about this time actually, I went in for my first physical with a General Practioner (GP) since college.  I really liked the doctor, she had a small practice, and she was eager to listen, empathize, and offer advice.

Since that time, I’ve been into the office a handful of times.  Two times when I was getting Phentermine prescriptions, the second of which I never even bothered to fill.  The second time I also didn’t see the doctor herself, instead I saw the Nurse Practioner.  Having had experience with Nurse Practioners in the past, I was confident that I had nothing to worry about.  The entire experience wasn’t good, I was frustrated, she wouldn’t listen to me.  I also went in for a UTI.  Even though I mentioned that I was allergic to Sulfa drugs, even though its written all over my file that I’m allergic to Sulfa drugs, the NP STILL wrote me a prescription for a Sulfa Drug.  Luckily I noticed before I left the office, and not when I was in the ER.

When discussing the Phentermine, the NP offered advice such as “How about you read a book about healthy eating” or this gem “Perhaps you should drink more water” and the best one of them all “Maybe you shouldn’t eat such large portions.”  She obviously hasn’t spent a day walking in the shoes of an obese person.  I also feel bad for her parents if they paid to over educate her.  When I went to schedule my appointment for my 2011 annual checkup, I was assured that it wasn’t going to be with the NP.

Starting about two weeks ago, I started getting these strange periods where I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.  A feeling sort of like there is a brick on my chest and I was breathing through a straw.  I could breath, but something just felt off.  I couldn’t get a really good deep breath in.  On Thursday I called over to my GP’s office to see if I could get in for a quick visit with the doctor because something didn’t feel right.  I told them it wasn’t an emergency room sort of thing, but I did want to be looked at.  I was told they were booked, but they’d call me back within 15 minutes to let me know if they could squeeze me in or get me in on Friday.  This was after having been put on hold for 18 minutes.  The receptionist couldn’t have been ruder; she spoke to me as though I was interrupting her entire day.  My bad.

I got a call back about 90 minutes later only to be told “the doctors too busy go to the emergency room or something.”  Click.  Nothing else.  I tried calling back but got put on hold again and gave up.  Then I thought “This is a service…this is something I am paying for…this is something that shouldn’t make me feel bad….That’s it, I’m done with them.”  Ever since the doctor was written up in the Washingtonian, it’s been so blasted hard to get in to see her.  The staff has just been obnoxious lately.  So you know what, I’m done.

I cancelled my physical.  Requested a copy of my file, which I was told could be expensive to be copied, but they had no idea how much it would cost and they’d just tell me how much I had to pay.  Great way of doing business?  How about saying it’s 25 cents a page.  Or there is a flat fee of $X.

I called a medical group that is run out of the hospital where I plan to have the Lap Band Surgery, spoke to several people, all of whom were incredibly helpful.  They got me an appointment for Thursday afternoon.  I mentioned to them that I also needed an annual physical, told them that I would need a note from the GP stating that I’m healthy enough for Lap Band (after they check me out of course!) so that I needed someone who was a believer in bariatric surgery, not just someone who would put me on yet another diet.  They made an appointment for me with someone that the nurse I spoke with goes to herself, and said she’s wonderful.  I do have to wait another full month for my physical, but sometimes it’s worth it.

So why was I having the breathing issues?  Turns out I’m suffering from a bit of vocal cord dysfunction disorder.  I know right, who has even heard of that?  It’s a condition where your vocal cords dont open wide enough to allow full breaths in.  In my case my vocal cords are swollen and unhappy due to acid reflux, having suffered a pretty bad sore throat in the days leading up to this, and post nasal drip.  I’m on a daily Pepcid and have to keep up with my Zyrtec.  Hopefully that will resolve the issue!

Wow this was way wordier than I had originally intended!