Tuesday, August 4, 2020

STAY IN vs SEE THE DOCTOR

 My favorite history doc (Osler to be exact) said   "physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient."  

He probably lived in a part of London where MDs were available.

When I was a kid, we lived too far to drive to the county seat often for the only doctor  (who did, however, come to the house when my father twice :threw his back out.  Most of the time we were do'it' yourself. or do without.  My mother did intervene when my father wanted to pour a bottle of Absorbine Jr. on an open wound of mine,,  Infection was probably more common than we knew.

 Then we got a close doctor; we had choices.

Maybe you did, too.

Fast forward to today.  I still live just as far from the doctors I choose.  But like most people in this area, I have a car.  No problem. Unless I'm too sick to drive.  In that case we pawn a piece of furniture and call a car or an ambulance.

Except Covid -d complicates all it touches.  We get no statistics on those who didn't have the virus until they went back to their own doctors for instance, for cancer treatments.

I'm an older person.  I stay in, like some other apartment dwellers.  Really IN.
I do not head to the doctor whose company STILL may not have the set-up for keeping pts from each other.  

I have resorted to the internet (esp a couple of big hospitals with advice columns, to keep me safe.
And to my memory of the doctors who saved me from pre-diabetes that I still need to watch out for.

What do you do?  Does your MD let you call?  
Any good staying in experience to share?

I wish you health.


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