Good Old Fashioned Service

Sometimes thing happen that restore your faith in society.  We've all moaned about a decline in community standards, moral values, dedication to service et al that we've seen over the last few years and personally one of my gripes has been the way that doctors now only give you a 15 minute appointment and just seem to process you as a number, not a person.

In all fairness, that started to change when I got this little challenge handed to me last year.  I've said it before and only too happy to say it again - the service I received from the public health system has been second to none.  Apart from praising my GP, Tatiana, I've never really acknowledged how my appointments with her are almost a trip down memory lane.  There is no pressure on me to be in and out within 15 minutes and I feel I'm actually talking a my personal GP,as opposed to just another patient that they don't really know the history of.

This change was driven home even more on Sunday.  While at home and happily watching the Great Race that is Bathurst on the TV, the phone rang.  It was Tatiana with my blood test results.  When was the last time your doctor actually made that sort of effort on the weekend to contact you?  I've actually had to ring and chase test results in the past myself, so was really quite impressed when I got the call.

The results were all good.  As previously noted, I had tests for diabetes, cholesterol, prostate - these all came back clear - as well as my haemochromatosis and thyroid function.  It was these two that Tatiana wanted to talk about.

The previous haemo tests had my level pushing the 1,000 mark, which was getting very close to requiring intervention (I'd already greatly reduced my iron intake to try and keep it at bay).  The level now is down to 600, so no longer such a potential time bomb, even though it will still need to be monitored from time to time.

The thyroid function came back as being slightly elevated, but not to a stage that necessitates medical intervention right now.  They'll keep an eye on it though.  The slightly high level would apparently explain my body heat retention issues, so that's nice to know.

So there you are, a tale of good old fashioned service that just continues to add to my new found faith in the medical system.

Tomorrow sees a new direction in my efforts to overcome the muscle scarring around my neck.  Melissa (my osteo) has referred me for some acupuncture to see if that won't accelerate the blood flow and help to loosen things up.  Will let you know the outcome later in the week.