Resolution #185: Ease My Doctor's Concerns By My Three Month Follow-Up Appointment...

Date: 7-4-2014

Due Date: 7-4-2015

Resolution: If you've been following my progress you know that I started this week with a trip to the doctor for a new patient physical. I haven't been to for about five years but I wasn't all that concerned about anything physical that's going on with me. I'm more interested in getting into the system to use my mental health benefits.

They drew my blood on Monday and even that wasn't a big concern to me. Every time I've gone to the doctors, no matter what condition I've been in, I've had surprisingly good blood. I say surprisingly good because twice in my life I've had doctors actually admit that they were surprised by how healthy I am.

Well, this test came back with a couple of issues that the doctor said he was concerned about. First, he says my blood sugar is mildly elevated. I scored a 102 which apparently you're supposed to be under 100. The doctor has an adjusted target of 90 and said to consider myself pre-diabetic.

His only other concern is that my good cholesterol is low. I have a 33 where the target is greater than 40. He suggests more aerobic exercise to get this up. 

He gave me a couple of other suggestions but luckily I've already implemented a lot of these tips through one resolution or another. I'm kind of excited because now I have a way to gauge the progress and benefits of these resolutions in more ways than just physical appearance.

We'll see what happens in three months.

Hopefully, I won't have to extend this resolution in order to ease any new concerns that come up.

Result #185: I Just Realized That I Never Even Had A Three Month Follow-Up Appointment Scheduled With My Doctor… And That He's Partially To Blame…

Update #1: The Conclusion…

Date: 7-4-2015

I'm not really trying to pass the buck here, but I really was unsatisfied with this last round at the doctor's office. The way my benefits were, at the time, I had to start with the general practitioner to refer me to a psychiatrist. Other than my mental issues, I wasn't all that concerned about my health.

So, I showed up as a new patient and the doctor seemed to do the bare minimum as he went through his checklist. He would ask me questions and didn't seem to care about my answers. He'd just move to the next test and next question no matter what my response. Even when I did express areas of concern that were triggered by questions.

I told him of a lump I found back when I was 18 and again he seemed disinterested. He scheduled an appointment to get the lump checked and sent me on my way to get my blood work.

I had a follow-up appointment days later where we discussed the results of the blood work that I mentioned in the original resolution. Again he seemed to just be going through the motions as he rushed through his analysis. 

I had yet to get the lump check so the doctor said he would schedule a three-month follow-up when I returned to discuss the results of the MRI.

I had the MRI and felt things were fine because when I asked the technician if he could tell what the lump was. He informed me that he could not tell but then started to joke around. I figured if he felt fine enough to joke I wasn't going to die.

I then waited a couple of weeks where I heard nothing from my doctor.

Then I got a letter in the mail saying everything was fine. He didn't mention a follow-up appointment and I was so frustrated with the whole situation I forgot he wanted me to come back.

This is why I partially blame my doctor for failing this resolution.