Searching for Truth

Ok. We already know our health care system is a little out of whack. It can take days/weeks/months/years to get treatment for pretty much anything, that's nothing new. Today I realized something different to all that. As I sit here suffering through a seasonal cold that seems to have resulted in some sort of sinus infection, I find myself trying to find any excuse or alternative I can to avoid going to the clinic. Even worse, I'd like to avoid a visit to the family doctor.

It's not some doctor-phobia that's holding me back; I simply seek to avoid that feeling of being unheard, un-helped, stamped and processed at my own an many other taxpayers' expense. It's not that doctors are all evil or uncaring. It's more about them being overbooked and overworked, or better yet, over-committed...

Of course there's the potential enjoyment of sitting at the clinic for 2-3hrs with the alternative being to wait until Monday morning to call the doctors office and likely be scheduled for an appointment later in the week or possibly even next week. If I decide to wait and see the family physician, that question that comes up "Is this an urgent issue?". I don't know. If I were a doctor I suppose I'd know that but since I'm not do I just hazard a guess? What if I'm wrong?

Then there's the results of the doctors visit. Do I get prescribed some antibiotics? I really don't like taking antibiotics these days, but then I don't like a simple infection turning into a nasty one either. Will the prescription cost me $20 or $80? What are the side-effects?

I suppose I should be thankful that there is a clinic here that's open 4hrs on Sundays... indeed there's many places in the world that only the privileged get to see a doctor for anything. I suppose I should be happy to spend $20-80 on antibiotics that are most likely to cure the infection. I suppose that the emotional costs are worth the return to health that they may initiate. It's easy to complain and we're all so good at it however one thing is unclear to me; What should my expectations be?

Mickael Maddison