Patient or Science Exhibit??

Yesterday morning I had an appointment with my Endocrinologist. It was just a routine appointment for a check-up and to get some blood work done. Yesterday was also Steve's birthday, so I made sure that the appointment was relatively early (9:30 am). The appointments are usually pretty quick, so I figured that I would be home before 11:00am and we would have the rest of the day to spend together. This is how my morning went...

• 9:30 am: I show up at Dr. C's office and check-in with the front desk girl who is all of about 19 years old and has *almost* as much personality as a wet dish rag. I take a seat in the over-crowded waiting area.


• 9:45 am: I hear an Asian woman call out "Ewin... Ewin Sass!" (No, I'm not kidding) I get registered, pay my co-pay, and once again take a seat in the over-crowded waiting area.


• 10:15 am: Medical Assistant calls me over to take my blood pressure, temperature, and weight. He tells me to go have a seat back in the waiting area, but by now it's so full there are no more chairs.


• 10:35 am: Medical Assistant finally calls me back to Dr. C's room. Silence.... Ahhhhhh....


• 10:50 am: Nurse Practitioner comes into room to ask a zillion quesions, see how I've been feeling, and take a bunch of notes. She also informs me that Dr. C is running a few minutes behind and that there will be an endocrinology resident with her today. Oh, joy... A party!


• 11: 20 am: Resident, who is probably about 23-24, comes into the room. She is blonde, perky, very nice and probably smarter than I'll ever hope to be. However, she proceeds to ask me the same exact list of questions the nurse had already asked me. A little annoying... whatever. She says Dr. C should be right along.


• 11:45 am: Dr. C finally arrives. Filing into the room behind her like little nerdy ducks in a row are the resident and an additional 4 med students!! This is where I start to lose track of time...

As the appointment continues, Dr. C runs me through a list of tests. She listens to my lungs, she checks my skin, she checks my legs for swelling, and the list goes on. Now, I've been to enough Dr.s appointments over the past few years to know how they go and the tests have become a bit of a routine for me. This time however, was a bit different.

As Dr. C went through the list of tests, she also has each of the 5 people with her perform the same test. She listens to my lungs... and then the other 5 take turns listening to my lungs. She checks my thyroid (which is a little uncomfortable)... and then the other 5 take turns checking my thyroid. At this point I'm starting to feel like some kind of science exhibit.

The worst part of the whole exam was at the end when Dr. C whips out her trusty little light thing-a-ma-jig and decides to check my optic nerves and discs. Apparently, due to the location of my tumor, I have a small amount of damage to the disc in my right eye. Dr. C turns off the lights in the room, gets within about an inch of my face, and shines this super bright light directly in my left eye. I'm blinking like crazy... My eye is watering... It's all I can do to keep it open. She says thigns look good... Woo Hoo!!

Then, she moves over to the right eye. Again... there's that stupid light... Arrrrrgh!!! Both eyes are watering now and I'm starting to see neon blue spots. In my mind I'm thinking, "It's almost over... It's almost over..." Oh how wrong I was! Due to the damage to the disc in my right eye, there is a bit of a "dull spot" on it. Once she mentions this aloud, everyone wants to take a look! So I get to sit there for the next 15 minutes or so as each of these future medical professionals get *thisclose* to me to get a look at my spot. Ugh...

Finally!... That part of the appointment was over!! All that was left to do was get a re-fill for my prescription and a lab slip for my blood work. When the nurse handed me what I needed, I practically sprinted down to the lab. I don't think I've ever been so excited to go get a blood test in all my life.

About 15 minutes later, at 12:45 pm, the test was done and I was finally on my way home! I felt bad because it was such a wasted morning, but Steve and I grabbed lunch and a movie and had a great time. I also took him to dinner, so I think I made up for it!

Lesson learned: Next time I have a Dr.s appointment, have a strong drink before hand and plan on it being and all day event!