Doctors, right? We don't really want to have to go to them. But when we need them, we hope to have one who listens and will work well with us. We want a good connection. Our family had the same doctor for 35 years when we lived in Idaho. We loved him.
When Dale and I moved to Oregon, it was tricky finding any doctor who was taking new patients. We found one whose office took about a half hour to drive to. She was ... OK. We liked her nurse. But the doctor was stand-off-ish. A little arrogant. A little flippant. Told "jokes" that were not funny. Then Covid happened. She became more stand-off-ish.
But we needed her. Dale had his stroke and we needed primary care. But ... well ... we wondered if there was a better fit in the area. So we put our name on a waiting list last August for a primary care doc in a different healthcare system. Their specialist teams were great during Dale's stroke recovery, his surgery, his speech therapy, and in helping me with my sleep disorder.
However, the new patient coordinator for primary care said it was a 6 month waiting list. Well, that was OK with us since we had that other primary care doctor at the time. We'd stay with her, than transfer to our preferred clinic when a spot opened. No problem.
Nope. Problem. The practice where our doctor was went out of business. It was nine months after putting our name on the waiting list with the other outfit but we still hadn't gotten into the new clinic. So we found a third outfit who could take new patients.
That was a fiasco! Our initial visit was so bad that my bipolar symptoms roared up for a week. I was not going back to that doctor. Luckily, we were able to be transferred to another doc in the same practice, but we had to push our appointment back another month.
Two weeks before the appointment with the new guy, we heard from the outfit we'd been hoping for a year earlier! We had our first appointment at our preferred clinic last week.
Upon arriving, I saw a broken leaf lying on the ground behind our parked car. It was in the shape of a heart.
"Hey, look, Dale! A good omen!"
The front office folks were friendly and professional. The time in the waiting room was short. Then this. This is the door between the waiting room and the exam rooms.
The nurse doing our intake was wonderful. We have an extremely good impression of our new doctor. She listens. She makes practical suggestions. She's knowledgeable. She's exudes kindness and professionalism.
I think we've finally found our medical home.
What's that they say about following your heart ...?
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