I have one of those weird personality issues where I'm constantly paranoid: see below post re: HIV.
Right now, I'm swept up in the idea that I have pneumonia. I highly doubt that I do, because according to WebMD and my other WebMD (my best friend in Med School), if I'm not coughing up blood and my chest doesn't hurt, then I'm fine. My chest hurts, but more like "I've been coughing too much and my muscles are sore" type pain.
I'll probably wind up in the walk-in clinic on Saturday if I don't feel better over the next few days. I guess three days won't do me in forever.
I have a tendency, also, to feel like I'm never going to get better. I do this every time I get sick. The first time I remember having this feeling was when I twisted my ankle in the 4th grade. I remember watching a cartoon and wondering how it felt to walk and it seemed like it would be eons before I'd walk again. Every time I get sick, I wonder when I'll breathe normally, stop coughing, whatever.
This leads me to the real topic of discussion:
Why are primary care doctors no longer taking patients?
The girls I work with called about 20 people a month or so ago to see if we could find a primary care physician. No such luck. The nearest walk-in clinic here, aside from the CVS minute clinics, is out in Rockville.
How are we expected to take care of ourselves if we cannot find primary care doctors? Why are they not taking patients any more? As Chadd asked, isn't this a bad business decision? Does anyone know the reason? My dad suggested that it's because doctors are leaving their practices for hosptials. Less insurance blah blah blah to deal with.
It's scary. What if I didn't have a car? What then? GW Hospital? I don't even want to think about how expensive that is.
And apparently, there IS a clinic close to me...over in Arlington. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow afternoon...
OMG. This is my biggest problem in the world right now. I don't have a primary care physician. I haven't had one since I was about 16 and still when to the pediatrician. When I get really sick I tend to just wade it out, or on occasion I’ve gone to those urgent care centers. There are a bunch in VA (but you need a car to get to them). I don’t know what I’d do without a car. Plus, I have no problem going to a regular primary care doctor when I’m not sick, but I want to go to a good one, and I don’t know of any good ones in the area.
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