Sometimes I wish the medical world were more low-tech. Not in the sense that I want to revert back to rubbing alcohol and clipboards, but in the sense that I wish I had more access to my care provider.
Here’s a funny thing that happened to me today:
My OB called me and left a voicemail while I was on a conference call at work today. She wanted to check in to remind me to call the main appointment line to make my next appointment to see her. Knowing how long it can take to get these appointments, I immediately call to get scheduled. Then the person on the line tells me they cannot actually make an appointment for me because this particular doctor is not the one on my file as my primary physician. What I need to do is call the HMO’s member services center, which I do, and leave a voice message that hopefully someone with a pulse will eventually hear and call me back.
So now I’ve got a call in, waiting for a response from someone who can change my records so that I can again call the appointment services line and make an appointment to see the one OB I’ve actually seen since starting with this HMO several years ago.
This is why I kind of laugh when people ask me since I’ve become pregnant how I like my doctor. You mean the nice lady who met with me for approximately 12 minutes 10 weeks ago that I’ve been trying to reach? Um, sure. Yeah I guess so. Or do you mean my primary doctor whom I’ve never actually met because my HMO did away with annual pelvic exams and she was on maternity leave when I happened to get pregnant? That, I can’t really answer because like I said, I’ve never actually met my doctor.
I’m getting a midwife. No offense to the nice lady who examined me 10 weeks ago. I’ll still see you for the requisite bloodwork and other stuff. But I’m feeling more and more like I need the care and attention of a midwife to get through this childbirth experience. I’d like to know there will be at least one familiar face in the delivery room besides Mekuria when that day comes and I’m feeling less confident that it’s possible with the current set up.