Some musing on doctors and their offices....

Another 'Mom Day' today which was supposed to be a routine check up at the cardiologist's office for her Pacemaker. Our appointment was 11 am, and we got there about 10:35. Dropped Mom off in the lobby and went to find a legal parking spot in this busy neighborhood. After parking in a 2 hour limit zone, figuring I'd have PLENTY of time, I proceeded to get mom up to her doc's office.

At 11:25 we were finally called back for mom's Echo-cardiogram (which was the first we heard of THAT). After that, we waited another little while for her to be seen by the Cardiologist. By now it was 11:50. He goes thru his exam in between interruptions, everything is fine, no changes since last exam 4 months ago, yada, yada. Great...now we can get the Pacemaker checked out and be on our way.....NOT.

My dear Mom, bless her heart, proceeds to go up the Mississippi and back with the Cardiologist about HER THUMB getting numb sometimes and her arm hurting her since she had a benign tumor removed last year. Now, in MY humble opinion, I think the numb thumb is from using the cable remote as much as she does...HaHa.

The sore arm...well he stands there trying to figure out what it could be and finally decides that maybe she should see a Rheumatologist and possibly get some shots in the joint. So he proceeds to call a friend of his (I swear they are all in this together) who says 'sure, let her come in at 1:30 and we'll take a look'.

So, she finally gets the pacemaker checked...she has 97 more months left on her battery...that would bring her to the ripe old age of 96 before we have to worry about that. And we are out of there just in time not to get a parking ticket.

So, now we have an hour to kill before seeing the Rheumatologist in Center City, so I have her come with me to my Chiropractor (gee, I love that guy). While I'm getting MY back adjustment, I'm telling him about Mom's arm. He asks what her main complaint is, and I tell him she has pain when lifting her arm. He immediately says "Teres Minor muscle...let me look at her"

Well, to make a long story short, he feels her back, finds the trigger point, manipulates the muscle, and Lordy Lordy...Mom can move her arm again...and without pain! He wants to see her again next week to make sure it's taken care of. Needless to say, I call the Rheumatologist to cancel the appointment, they tell me they never heard of her.

Oh well, I guess I just saved her HMO about $5,000 by NOT taking her.

I swear...they are all in this together! Another day in the life of me.....