Too Much Information

When we first moved to Australia in 1994, I was halfway through my first pregnancy and started seeing a gp in the practice the Scientist’s family had been attending. I must admit it was a very odd experience seeing a doctor here. It was all much more relaxed and patients even would call the doctors by their first names sometimes. There were none of those paper gowns I’d grown up experiencing. When a gown was needed, it was cloth. And for the most part, there were none of those exceedingly long waits for the doctor to finally grace us with his or her presence. Initially we went to the same practice the Scientist’s family had been using. I went to the female gp, who was the wife of the one the Scientist had seen for years.

Eventually we switched to a practice closer to home and we were happy enough there for years. It went from a small practice with one or two doctors to a medium one a few years later with six or seven. We were still pretty satisfied there even though it was a lot busier. I’d had the mistake of going to the registrars a lot back then. I had several really good doctors but then they would shift to other practices or finish their training and I’d have to find someone else there. I did finally have a gp I saw regularly for ten or more years. I liked her a lot although I would never say I loved her. At some point I needed to see a doctor more urgently and found myself with a different gp and I really loved her. On top of that it was easier to get appointments with her and I could use online appointment apps to get them. It was all going quite well and then that doctor disappeared and I was back to square one. By this time the practice had moved into a purpose built structure and had become really large and sterile. It was all very modern but truly a sterile place. I moved around from one doctor to another the past couple of years but haven’t found anyone I was really comfortable with. My previous gp had gone on maternity leave and come back to a lower patient load. I had discovered by accident that the doctor I’d really liked had started at another practice a bit further away. I had almost made an appointment there and done the extra travel but then I found she wasn’t taking new patients. And then more recently I found she was no longer at that practice but now at another one and I pondered what reasons for another change could be. I decided it was for the best I hadn’t tried to follow her in the end since this could be a regular problem. Anyway…

The Scientist and I talked from time to time about changing to a new practice for various reasons. The problem is finding one we would like. Also, it’s hard to leave a place we’d been using for over twenty years. The Scientist had been really ready to jump ship well before me but last year some major medical issues came up and that was put on hold. Meanwhile I had been trying out different doctors to see if I could find a good fit. It just wasn’t happening with anyone I was seeing.

In the past year or two, my diabetes management hasn’t been all that great. I ended up on medication for the first time when diet and exercise weren’t enough. I won’t say I was doing everything perfectly but even at best I still was struggling to keep my blood sugar in range. I had seen one gp who was supposed to be good with weight issues and diabetes. In some ways I liked her but I wasn’t totally comfortable. The last time I saw her she told me we’d have to look at insulin should things not improve after a few months.

So what happened is I was up and down on doing things right and I procrastinated a lot. And then recently I decided to seriously look at other doctors and see where I could go. Finding sources of ratings wasn’t easy but I did find a few and looked at one place that’s a bit of a drive (compared to a local one) and then stumbled on a practice that’s in the next suburb. Turns out all the doctors seem to be female, whether by design or not, I’m not sure. One of them listed herself as having a wife and there’s another doctor there with the same surname so I suspect that is the wife. It’s always nerve-wracking trying to decide on which doctor to try just by reading what’s listed online. In words the doctor sounds great but you really can’t be sure if you will find a good connection. Anyway, I need a new prescription for my diabetes meds so made a choice and went in yesterday.

At first I was a bit put off when the receptionist made a point of reminding me it was a private billing practice so there would be out-of-pocket expenses. It wasn’t that this was the case but the way it was said that bothered me. I was fine with it and said so then filled out the paperwork and waited. I didn’t get called back right on time but it wasn’t long after. The doctor I’d chosen is originally from Germany but has been in Australia over twenty years. I was expecting a European accent but instead she sounded more like someone from the UK, maybe Scottish or Irish…weird.

Anyway, she started off by apologising that she’d need to go out at some point as there was some sort of urgent situation she needed to attend. But she said she didn’t want to keep me waiting so had brought me in to get started. She was really good and went over my medical history and covered heaps of information. In the middle she did have to go out but she again apologised when she returned and again at the end.

With regard to my diabetes I did admit to procrastinating about following up on blood work from before. I mentioned I’d been put under threat of insulin but had been up and down in my efforts at improving my diet and exercise. Anyway, she told me that it wasn’t about whether I was doing well or not, I needed to follow up and get treatment. She also pointed out that there was lots more we could try before insulin. I do feel the previous doctor was using scare tactics…but I guess that didn’t work. She asked if my meds were time release or not and I didn’t know but assumed not since I was taking it multiple times a day. She went on to say that most patients do better with the time release. I wondered why this was never mentioned before. The other thing about time release is that it’s easier on the stomach which also means it possibly would help decrease irritable bowel issues. I again wondered why this wasn’t mentioned before. She also made a point of showing me how the fact I don’t smoke makes a huge different on my cardiovascular risk and how I shouldn’t focus on what I’m doing wrong all the time. She made a lot of good points which made me feel better about my efforts or lack of efforts…which just made me feel better in general.

I left that appointment feeling like I surely made the right decision to start anew. And I kind of wish I’d done this years ago.