One thing is inescapable when you have a chronic illness, you deal a lot with doctors. Unfortunately I have to say that about 90% of my experiences doctors have been not only negative, but horrible encounters with outright narcissistic assholes. Of the other 10% of my interactions the best I can say is they have not been negative. They weren't good, but I also didn't go home in tears over how horribly I was treated.
Needless to say I have little to no respect for doctors.
I imagine it is hard to be a doctor. The hours are horrible, the costs are excessive, and the stresses are many, but those who can't handle it should look into another profession. I'm sure a lot of doctors start out with good intentions but quickly get jaded by the system. I'm also equally sure that some doctors are doctors for one thing and one thing only, money.
Whatever their motivation to be a doctor once was, by the time I saw half the doctors in my area they had lost all ability to use their God given ears and had given up completely on the Hippocratic oath. They went out of their way to make sure that I knew that I was the lowest of the low and I was as important as the bug beneath their foot. I know the healthcare symptom is rough (I've survived it after all) and dealing with the public can be rough, but guess what we all have to deal with the public so doctors need to get over themselves. I used to work the night shift on a college campus hotel, I KNOW about weirdos and people who think they are entitled, but no one gave me a special pass to be an jerk with a God complex. Doctors not all that special beyond the fact that they have the control of someone elses very life.
But it's not that big of a deal (WARNING: sarcasm).
Somewhere out there supposedly there are amazing doctors. I have yet to meet one, but I look forward to the day the $20,000 I've spent in medical costs the last couple years will begin to pay off and I finally meet a doctor willing to be helpful. I'm not holding my breath.
*This rant was brought to you by my own experiences and a truly heartbreaking day listening to patients who cannot get doctors to just freaking listen. You would not believe the horrible stories I have heard today. I'm just so tired of seeing the same pattern over and over again.
I am with you, if I could only forget all of the horrible and scarring encounters with the medical system in general I would be far better off. Now I get tense just thinking about having to see a doctor, and hold out until I can manage not a second longer. Doesn't help that the leading "pain doc" in my city was so awful that a raging case of PTSD isn't an overstatement...
ReplyDeleteAt least we understand each other and can commiserate. Oh yeah, and stick up for ourselves!