2020 Appointments
As we age we have more medical appointments and so my calendar is full of them. Appointments today are nothing like in the past. Thanks to the Novel Corona Virus everything is complicated. And each provider’s office has a different way of approaching safe environments for patients. Some work and some confuse.
I’ve had two virtual appointments where I can see and converse with my provider on screen. Providers use various platforms with names like “Blue Jeans” and “Ring Central.” Some require the use of nine digit numbers and symbols, some have you to sign in to a virtual waiting room, which means you wait for them to be ready for you and one had me to read and sign a HIPPA document. Life would sure be simpler if they all used one system.
I thought in-person visits would be simpler, but I’ve now had two of those and they were complicated as well. One office had me to wait in the car until they texted me to enter the building. The immunologist came into the exam room wearing a full hazmat suit and we talked. It could have easily and safely been done virtually.
The most important in-person visit was with my oncologist. Entering the professional building my temperature was taken along with my name. Then a detailed interview was performed to determine if I was at risk for COVID. At this point, wearing my favorite personal mask I was allowed to enter the elevator and proceed to my physician’s office suite. Exiting the elevator I followed directional stickers on the floor placed at six foot intervals. Eventually I reached the admission office where they took one look at my pretty mask with the Mercedes logo and told me to remove it and wear one of theirs. Of course I did as I was told. The visit continued with lab work and consultation and I was discharged one hour and forty minutes later.
I’ve sure you have had similar experiences regardless of what country you call home. I don’t care for this new normal, but I do appreciate all the attention to safe procedures.
“I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.” George Carlin
Crooked Creek by Sue Mattingly 
I, too, have had several doctors’ appointments. You are right that each has had a somewhat different approach. However I have felt that each of them have been cautious and safe. I think the wait in your car is requested when they have small waiting rooms (or so one nurse told me). I have really appreciated not having to wait quite as long as under normal situations.
And, like many people, I will be glad when we don’t have to think through our every activity. However I do want the virus numbers to decrease and am thankful for each research who is diligently working to update information for us. It doesn’t bother me that it changes because I realize that it takes time to discover what is going on as the numbers increase or decrease. I do observe that large crowds are the worse for causing more infections. Who knows what the future will bring!
Hopefully your health concerns are improving.
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Thank you Lula.
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I have had similar experiences with my MDs. I have confidence in them and their staffs, but have encountered people not wearing masks walking from the parking lot to the office, then ignoring the 6 feet apart markers in the hallways outside the waiting rooms. I also did not see anyone wiping off the rails going down the stairs to the office or elevator buttons both inside and outside the elevator doors, and that saddened me. Worst part for me is that even when we do everything we are asked to do, it is the unknown factors that cause me the most concern. I think twice about door knobs now, unsure if the last person who open it was gloved or even clean for that matter. Oh how I long for a measure of normalcy to return, but however long that might take, there is a part of me which will still take every precaution for the rest of my life. This has been a traumatic, tragic event from day one for everyone. In a very real sense, this has taught me a very important lesson: You can teach an old dog new tricks and I am willing to learn, perhaps more than I may have before.
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This is important to document. Future generations will wonder what life was like in the Covid days.
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I had not thought of that!
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