12 Days of AWESOME

Health Care, Schmealth Care...

So... I'm firing another doctor.

I hate doing it, but I 100% believe that you have to advocate for yourself and get the medical treatment that you need and that you deserve, and not just be your doctor's paycheck. So after a horrible doctor visit a week ago and a trip to the emergency room last night, I am meeting a new MD tomorrow. He was the gynecologist on-call last night, who the ER doc consulted with over the phone. I told the ER doctor that I really wanted to leave with a referral, because I wanted to get to the bottom of what was causing my pain and was unhappy with the doctor I had been seeing. So he shared that with the on-call gyno, who said he would be happy to take me as a patient.

This morning, I called his office. First impressions are everything, people. The woman I spoke to on the phone was marvelous. I told her why I was calling, and where I had been seen for the last 7 years, and that I was no longer happy there. She told me she was sorry I'd had that experience. She said that since I was in the ER last night, she was sure that Dr. New Guy would want to see me this week, so she got me a next-day appointment. She made sure that their office is a participating provider for my insurance. She told me to bring my discharge paperwork from the ER, and that we would worry about transferring records tomorrow when I arrived. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with, and told me they look forward to meeting me tomorrow. People, if I could give hugs through the phone, this woman would have gotten one. And the thing is... NONE OF WHAT SHE DID WAS ANYTHING MAMMOTH. She was polite, friendly, helpful, and gives people a damn good first impression of their practice. Hopefully everyone else there will measure up.

But all of this got me thinking a lot. I really wanted to do some research, possibly find a female doctor, find someone with a clinical interest in some of the medical issues I'm dealing with... but that's not easy to do. Once again, I randomly ended up with a doctor. I feel like, as a healthcare consumer, I'm hiring someone to perform a VERY important service. I don't choose a mechanic at random out of the Yellow Pages when I have car problems - I get estimates, I go to people I know and trust, or I get recommendations from people I know and trust. I wouldn't just randomly hire a carpenter to build me a house. But in the healthcare system, so much of the care we receive is determined by the insurance we have (or the insurance we don't have... I've been there too). The medications we take, the doctors we see, the treatments we receive. And so much of it is luck of the draw. In this case, I went to a hospital that my insurance will pay, and I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor who just happened to be on call that night. It certainly speeds up the process, but the last doctor I was randomly assigned to barely gave me the time of day at my last appointment, necessitating this emergency room visit in the first place.

I feel that we should demand more. Health care in the United States is not a right. Quality, affordable, competent, thorough health care needs to be a right, and it needs to be readily available. I want to have choices. I want my doctor to be able to determine what treatment is appropriate for me - not my insurance company. I want to be able to easily find a doctor who respects my decisions, my feelings, and my choices.

Hopefully I've randomly stumbled across one.

Take 20 Seconds...

PBS has an online poll posted asking if Sarah Palin is qualified. Apparently the right wing knew about this in advance and are flooding the voting with YES votes.
The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media. It can influence undecided voters in swing states.

Please do two things -- takes 20 seconds.

1) Click on link and vote yourself.
Here's the link:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

2) Then send this to every single Obama-Biden voter you know, and urge them to vote and pass it on.

The last thing we need is PBS saying their viewers think Sarah Palin is qualified.

Dear John McCain -

I don't have kids, so your increased tax benefit for children doesn't do anything for me. Therefore, your plan is garbage. Stop harping on it - it isn't as exciting for everyone as you seem to think. In fact, it angers me a bit.

Love,
Flux

Got $5 burning a hole in your pocket?

Let's all make a donation to Planned Parenthood.

In Sarah Palin's name.

And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here's the link to the Planned Parenthood website:

https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

There is a short form to fill out that requires your name, address, email address, the name & the address of the person in whose honour you are donating, and you will need a credit card (if you don't have one, or prefer to have the cost come from another source, don't forget that PayPal now can generate a one-use credit card number for you). You must fill out the complete form & be sure to check the "in honour of" box, rather than just using the "donate online" link. If you include her name & address, PP will send an "in Sarah Palin's honor" card to her to let her know of the donation. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street, 1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202

The minimum online donation is $5, but there is also a printable form that you can mail in with a check (for more or even less). C'mon, women (& men)! It's got to be worth a few minutes & a few bucks to make your opinion heard WHERE IT COUNTS.

(Please cross post! Email! Spread the word!)

I LOL'd

In case you still haven't seen it... here's a link to the opening sketch of Saturday Night Live from this past Saturday. Tina Fey played Palin, Amy Poehler played Clinton, and together, they presented a "nonpartisan message." I have replayed this at least 10 times, and I can't stop laughing. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Click here to view the sketch on NBC's site.

If anyone knows what she's saying here...

...clue me in - because to me, it sounds like a bunch of empty words.