FROM A POSTING:

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I am really, really skeptical and as of right now, I am scheduled to get vaccinated tomorrow. Honestly, I’m a little worried and I still think this may have been a screw-up. I’d prefer that they do the blood test again but I don’t want to seem like an asshole. I’m also not sure if that’s even an option.

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Dear XXXX,

Please don’t worry about being an a double q!

(Us old fogeys are uncomfortable using rough language around ladies; any minute we expect the sky to open and one of the good Nuns or Brothers of our past to administer an “reminder” painfully somewhere on our anatomy!)

Ever hear of the fable of the pig and the chicken? No! In a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, while the pig is committed. In this case, the doc is the proverbial chicken. Guess your role?

If you are in doubt, stop. It’s the Universe and your gut warning you that something is wrong. Humans didn’t survive long in the wild by not listening to your instincts.

You have every right to determine what gets done with your tush!

If you want a repeat blood test before proceeding, demand it! If the insurance doesn’t want to pay, pay for it yourself and fight with them later.

Get a second, independent opinion! Open the phone book, look up the nearest teaching hospital, call them, and get an appointment with the head chickenpox guy or the youngest girl doc in the department tomorrow! Don’t take the “barbara streisand” that there are no openings. I use the line “if your Mom was sick would he have an opening. Yes! Good news, your Mom’s not sick. Give me her slot!” :-) (It works once in each office!)

I’ve been thru a ton of stuff with my wife over the years. Docs are nothing more than “good guessers”. 95% of the time they are running fixed plays right out of the playbook. UofK, UCLA, Joslin, and Mayo even have their handy dandy diagnosis decision trees in pdfs on their website. When my wife was in real trouble, I printed the cardiology one from Duke and stuck it under her cardiologist’s nose and made him explain every thing again in little words. While not pleased, he did it. (She’s snoozing on the couch now rather than in a coffin!)

Please do what you need to assure yourself that your getting the correct treatment. If the doc kills you, or worse disables you (i.e., there are real horror stories about medical blunders), the doc will say “Ooops! Next patient!”. You’ll be cleaning up his mess forever.

I can NOT afford to lose any fellow XXXXX that know how to blog!

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