Andy's Health Concerns

(CBS)  Most of us don't think much about our health until we don't have it.

I've been lucky with mine. I had appendicitis when I was young and I was in the hospital for about a week. I don't know exactly how old I was but I couldn't have been real young because I remember being moved by how pretty the nurse was who took care of me.

Nurses all wore those cute little nurse hats then, and I think nurses have lost something since they stopped wearing them.

It used to be easier to tell who was who in a hospital than it is now. A doctor usually wore a short white coat and walked around with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. A lot of people who aren't doctors or nurses wear stethoscopes now.

When I was young, doctors came to a sick patient at home and that doesn't happen much anymore. No matter how sick you are, you've got to get yourself to where the doctor is. I hate to give you an idea of how old I am, but when Doctor Traver came to see me at my house when I was sick when I was young, he charged $4.00 for the visit.

Margie's father was a doctor and I saw a lot of him over the years. He was an orthopedic surgeon and he replaced a lot of hips in people. I always admired him, but I never forgot the day I saw him trying to replace the lock on the kitchen door. He fumbled around with it, dropped it, lost the screws and had a terrible time getting it back together. I suppose he was better with hips. I always hoped so.

I'm always amused - or "annoyed" I guess is what I am - when I hear someone in a radio or television commercial say, "See your doctor?" or "Ask your doctor." They make it sound as though you could just pick up your telephone anytime and get your doctor. Doctors are busy. They don't want people calling them all the time asking dumb questions.

I do think doctors should be more careful about time than they are. They act as though their time is the only time that matters. Most of us who go to a doctor's office wait an hour to get in to see him or her. By the time we do get in to see them, we're really sick - we're sick of sitting there.

[fifermd]

As a Nurse Practitioner (NP) I think I can also speak for my physician colleagues. Mr. Rooney%u2019s closing comments regarding how doctors don''t value the time of their patients bothers me. The primary reason doctors don''t run on an inflexible schedule is that people are complex. People don''t want to be kept waiting, but when they are the one being seen they want ALL their medical needs and concerns addressed, no matter how numerous or complex, within 10 or 15 minutes. Most patients with serious illnesses require constant teaching about their disease, medications, tests, treatments, and encouragement to follow our recommendations. In short, human beings are incredibly needy and complex. While excessive brevity, I think, characterizes some doctors, the majority of doctors (NP%u2019s and PA''s) give 100% of their efforts to caring for their patients under tight time constraints. I have noticed that those doctors who spend the least amount of time with their patients (sometimes measured in seconds instead of minutes), are the ones who keep the tightest schedule. Their patients are often unsatisfied, and receive sub-par care.
Mr. Rooney''s assumption that doctors must be just sitting around trying to waste the time of patients (when not with them) is just ridiculous. Providing quality health care in a caring fashion cannot be ruled strictly by a clock like an assembly line in a factory. People (Mr. Rooney included) are not widgets.

[Netterz]

I personally dont feel they should put BigPharma ads on TV. The type of medication you actually need should be in the hands of your treating Dr., not based on something you have seen on TV and ''should ask your Dr. about''. I think its all a bunch of ***, that leads people to think they need pills, when they probably dont. Not to mention, having to sit there and listen to the long ist of side effects that come along with taking them. I for one, dont care to explain to the child in the room hatall those things are, especially ''erectile dysfunction'' .... UGH.

[everet3]

There is no such thing as a real Dr. any more unless you have a great insurance company or a lot of cash. I went to a transplant center for a new liver, nut was kicked off the list because they needed my spot for a rich person, Yes money talks but in intead of walking it''s dying.

[prairiefox1]

DOCTORS BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS BECAME DOCTORS BECAUSE THEY HAD A CALLING! DOCTORS THEN WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR PATENTS AND WOULD JUST COME BY TO CHECK ON THEM! THE DOCTOR WAS ALWAYS WELCOME AND WAS CONSIDERED A GOOD FRIEND !
THOSE DAYS ARE GONE NOW! THEIR CALLING IS MONEY ONLY!
AND THEY CHOOSE NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THE PATENTS BECAUSE THEY THINK IT WOULD BE BENEATH THEM AND THEIR HIGH POSITION!