I'm Beginning to Loathe All Doctors!

In my 40+ years on this fine planet, I've been to my fair share of doctors - all types of doctors. This fact is particularly true when you consider that I have had two cancer diagnoses and a major depressive episode -- you see lots and lots of doctors with all those issues.

Let's begin with the most annoying fact about doctors...wait times! Has anyone ever arrived at a doctor's office and been seen by the physician within a reasonable amount of time...say 5 or 10 minutes? A couple of weeks ago, I went to my first (and most likely final) visit to my new primary care physician. My appointment time was 12:15pm. I arrived at noon and was brought into the exam room at 1:55pm and finally saw the doctor at 2:05pm. An hour and 50 minutes past my appointment time. Does anyone else find that reprehensible? This scenario is typical of all doctor's offices. I've even had the first appointment of the day and still had to wait an hour before being seen by the doctor. <sigh>

After the annoying wait times, I find the "god complex" of doctors to be equally irritating. I know that they had a shit ton of schooling - 4 years undergrad, 4 years med school, and anywhere from 3-8 years of training for their specialty, but that does not make them the omnipotent or infallible. Yet, they expect their patients to follow their directions with no questions asked. Well, I say "screw that!" Question everything that your doctor recommends. For example, my oncologist set me up for a biopsy of one of my tumors to ascertain that my metastases are actually endometrial. The more I thought about it the more I questioned why I was putting myself through this test. I called the doctor to question why he recommended this test. He wanted to make sure that it was endometrial because that would determine the treatment recommendations he would make. That means that he did not listen to my decision which is to seek no further treatment! So, I cancelled the test because I'm not going to waste my time and money on unnecessary tests. Why don't doctors listen? Oh, right - because they're "god" and "know what's best for their patients".  <grrrrrr>

Also, doctors seem to think that patients don't deserve to have all the information required to be fully informed. At least, that's been my experience. My last visit with the oncologist to review my CT scan, I was told that "as expected, everything was slightly worse." What I wasn't told was that I have new tumors in various places and a new complication. The only way I found out about this bit of news is that I asked the office to send me a copy of the report for my records. It made me feel like my doctor didn't want to bother me with the details. F**K THAT! It's my body and I deserve to have all the information so that I can make decisions based on knowledge. Fecking doctors!

Here's the full 411: In the two months since my last CT scan, there has been moderate growth of the existing nodules. In addition, I have "multiple [new] lesions" in the liver and the pelvic region, plus a small pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart). Now I don't know about you, but I believe these were important points that the oncologist should have mentioned to me because there are side effects from these developments of which I should be aware. Consequently, I have to return to my oncologist and have yet another conversation with him that he is to monitor my disease, not treat it. And if he can't deal with that, then I will ask to be assigned to a different doctor. There are several in this office.

FECKING DOCTORS!!!!