Actually, let me rewind a second, and tell you about my relationship with my old doctor from Michigan, Dr. Bigelow.
Dr. Bigelow, in my mind, is the wisest man on the planet. He is gentle, kind, soft spoken and so caring. He was friends with my grandparents, way back when (well back in the 80/90's)... I remember Dr. Bigelow coming to our house in the middle of the night when I was 8 years old and running a high fever, just to check and make sure all was well. I remember him giving me high fives after an appointment and saying "See ya later alligator" and I'd respond with the whole bit, "Not for awhile crocodile." etc. etc. When my grandma was sick and in the hospital, he was there- whether he was scheduled to be or not. He's always been more than a doctor to me. He's been a confidant. I've never been embarrassed to tell him anything and I always manage to get a few non-related (to ME) medical questions in at each appointment. (ie- "Dr. Bigelow? Is it possible to get a popcorn kernel stuck in your throat and then have your throat grow a coat of skin over the kernel?") And he'd answer me- dead serious- and then tell me to stop watching ER. ;)
ANYWAYS, the point with my babbling about Dr. Bigelow, is that I knew- I KNOW, I would never, ever find another doctor like him. Before we left I sent him a card, thanking him for everything he's done for me and my family over the years. And I literally wrote, "You are the best doctor in the world." Soooooo was I expecting to find another doctor like him? No. But I was at least hoping to find a good doctor.
The second I saw the office (which, let me tell you, took me about 20 minutes to find... sooo bad with directions) I knew it wasn't going to be a good experience. I am pretty keen on these things. The office reminded me of a medplus station. A tad jankity with an 80's theme. I wasn't liking it.
When the nurse called me back, she was less than friendly. Another stark contrast from my experiences with Dr. Bigelow; Doc. B has a great nurse- Kim. The nurse from the 80's, junk clinic took my weight, blood pressure and pulse without saying a dang word. I'm the kind of patient who likes to know how much I weigh, what my pulse is, etc.
She put me in a room with a bunch of posters about karate. Very strange... right?
Stella was with me and being a complete angel. But even angels like Stellbells, have to call it like they see it- and after waiting 45 minutes in the karate room, she was ticked. As was I. Now, I am a respectful girl- especially to my elders. Especially to elders who are doctors. But by the time Dr. Connor made his appearance (an hour and a half later- no exaggerating) I could barely manage a smile.
My first thought when I saw him was "Ichabod Crane." Oh, and of course I couldn't ignore his heart shaped glasses... and no, really- I'm not kidding.
He said it was nice to meet me, and started to get my family history. My mom has a history of melanoma, so he decided I needed to get a skin check. I wasn't happy. If I wanted a skin check, I would have gone to a dermatologist.
After scanning over every freckle/mole I have, he concluded everything looked fine- and that the mole on my shoulder is a 3rd nipple. Yes, you read right. I have a mole on the top of my shoulder that's the size of a pen poke- and he's telling me its a third nipple. Every bone in my body was saying "RUN OUT OF THIS PLACE!!" But I had paid, and I wanted to make sure my UTI was gone. So I stayed.
The next item on the list, was my anxiety. I'm doing fine with it right now, but I have been diagnosed with GAD, so I thought it would be important for him to know. This was my favorite part of the appointment. He actually asked me, and I quote, "Have you been hitting the hard liquors to cope with your anxiety?" I laughed and said, "Are you kidding me right now?"
The rest of the visit which took a good 20-30 minutes, was spent listening to a lecture about the benefits of Tai-Kwan-Do. Don't get me wrong- I bet Tai Kwan Do is fabulous. But again, NOT relevant to my UTI or kidney stones.
Around 11:30 (my appointment was scheduled for 9:30) I said that I needed to pick my kids up from the babysitter (my mom). I high tailed it out of that office as fast as I could. IMMEDIATELY I was on the phone with Ryan, cracking up about the freak of nature I had just encountered. Ryan and I were both having a good laugh about this crazy experience of mine, when out of nowhere, I burst into tears. I guess I realized (again) that being down here has really jumbled up life.
I wouldn't trade our life for anything, but I so do desperately miss a few things from Michigan... Dr. Bigelow, being one of them.
I am still on the hunt for a GP (obviously will NOT be going to Dr. Quack-a-doodle). I know its going to continue to take time to piece everything together down here. But I'm confident eventually, we'll get it together.
----and on a completely different note- Chelsey's photo contest for this week-----
Fave. pic of September:
What a hard theme! I took about 40000 pictures this month... but I really love the colors of this one.
3 comments:
I hear ya! Dr. B was my doctor growing up and he is the best. In fact, I continued to drive to Vandercook to see him for three years after I moved to Lansing. After having kids, it finally got too hard so I found a dr. here. I totally totally miss him.
I love this photo! Great capture and color!
this had me laughing! I can't believe this Dr. Connor is the real thing! crazy, crazy:)
Robert and his family have always gone to Dr. Bigelow and love him too. I've just met him once. Hopefully you can find someone else who will work for you!
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