I don't think I've ever had the flu. I do get little colds a lot during the winter, but people say that you'll know it if it's the flu. So, no flu for me. My hubby is dead set on getting the flu shot. We both work in environments that could easily expose us, but I've never really believed in the whole flu shot hoopla. He got his shot a couple of weeks ago. I've been dead set against it. No flu shot for me I've kept saying. I'm not falling into the trap of the media circle and the crazy cooky doctors. Nope, not me.
So, yesterday I went to the doctor for a yearly physical and blood work. I've been really struggling with the idea of doctors lately. I either find a doctor that doesn't listen to the problems I tell them, spends no time with me, or just prescribes drugs as a quick fix. I was so excited to have insurance again once my hubby and I got married because I thought that it would be nice to have my stomach problems looked at or when I'm sick, to see what the problem really is. But ever since I've had insurance, I've decided that doctor's sometimes are a crock.
When I went to get a skin cancer screening by one doctor, she looked at my age on the chart, and then opened my gown and looked at me for about 20 seconds. Then she determined that I was fine because, "you're too young to have problems yet." Never mind that I had severe burns and blisters from the sun when I was about ten. Who cares that I was in tanning booths for like 8 years of my life when I was a teen. No need to ask about my past, I'm 26; what could go wrong with a 26 year old?
So when I called to get a new primary care doctor, I decided to ask the receptionist who she would recommend. I had a good conversation with her on how I hate doctors who don't listen and doctor's who see you for about 2 minutes until they decide to just prescribe you something without asking any real questions. (When I was sixteen I had a doctor prescribe me anti-depressants after randomly asking me if I was ever sad. I was sixteen, what sixteen year old isn't sad?! or pissed off at the world at some point or another! Needless to say, I didn't use them, my mom didn't approve either, and I never went back to that doctor again). The lady on the other end of the phone completely agreed with me about how a lot of the doctors at the system we use are like this and that she hates it too. So she recommended Dr. Herchak. She said that she's a doctor who isn't all about prescribing meds and that she likes to get to the root of the problems and give homeopathic solutions. She sounded like my cup of tea. And she was! So thank you to the friendly lady on the other end of the phone who let me rant.
First off, the doctor was so friendly and actually sat down with me and asked me about my past and my family history before doing anything else. I asked her for certain blood work to be taken, and she did. When I told her about something, she asked questions and looked into it further. It was such a great change of pace from the doctors I've seen. I was in her office for an hour! A whole hour people! Then she told me that once she got the blood work back she would call me. Good news or bad news I would get a call: "I don't agree with the idea that no news is good news, I'll call you to tell you about all the details I find either way." That's crazy and unheard of nowadays! She did convince me to get the flu shot because of my job, and I agreed. I kinda wished I didn't do that, but she had a great argument going, so I went with her on it. Within twenty minutes after the shot, I started feeling sick. By late last night, I was miserable!
Lots of OJ, Zicam, and a whole lot of Nyquil later, I'm still feeling like shit. But I did have a great night of sleep. You've got to love it when customers say you look tired, while your co-workers will flat out tell you that you look like shit. All I'm saying is that next year, regardless of how much I absolutely love this doctor, I will not get a flu shot. My hubby is convinced that I didn't get sick from the shot, but all I know is that I felt fine when I woke up yesterday and by last night, I looked like a train wreck.
I hope Dr. Herchak sticks around. A lot of the doctors in this area stay for about a year and then run away. It would be nice to have a doctor who is out for my best interest, not looking to just make more money from the pharmacy companies.
Kuddos to doctors who actually care about patients. Kuddos to those that went into their practice for the right reasons. But as far as that flu shot thing goes, next year I'm skipping it because right now I feel like a train is driving through the space between my ears.
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