Convenient Doctor Office

It couldn’t be any more convenient. In spite of that I wasn’t looking forward to going to the doctor office to have routine blood work drawn. I had a virtual visit with the doctor two weeks ago to get on record there. When we moved to northern Virginia last year from Capitol Hill, we needed to change doctors. We selected doctors primarily based on location, and it is right across the street from our condo building. You literally go out the door and you are there. The only difference now is all the COVID precautions one needs to take. And, my husband and I always went together for all of these things. So it was very odd to go alone. So I put my N95 mask on, one glove, and walked down the stairs. I waved to my husband who was on the balcony watching me pass by. The building was pretty empty and the elevator was clearly marked for two people only. Before I got in to the office, the nurse took my temp and verified my information. They were extremely careful about keeping social distancing and spacing out patients in between lab draws. I could hear the tech spraying down the room before I entered. It didn’t take very long and I was home. Even with hand sanitizer and minimum contact I still feel like I am covered in cooties - especially since I had to leave a urine sample in the bathroom. I also forgot to pick up the prescriptions for annual radiology tests. I think I’ll call and ask them to mail them to me. I am not in any hurry to get anything done anyway. As for the blood work? It is supposed to be available in three business days. There is usually a problem with cholesterol in spite of my best efforts with diet and exercise. I am cursed with high blood pressure and bad cardiac genes - which makes me all the more wary of having contact with anyone. So now I’ll be worried about cooties and lab test results. I wish I had my husband’s personality - easy go lucky and calm - regardless of the circumstances. 

The Long Commute to the Doctor Office

We moved to northern Virginia ten months ago from DC. We finally decided it was time to make appointments with new doctors in our new neighborhood. It was difficult getting to the offices in DC when we lived there. It would be even worse if we tried to keep going. So the eye doctor is about a block away. That was our first appointment. My husband needs to have cataract surgery which requires a pre op physical. We made appointments with the new internist, but not in time for his surgery. So he needed to see someone this month just for the pre op exam. Yesterday we visited the same office we will be going to routinely, but with another doctor who was available. If the eye doctor was one block away, this office is literally across the street. In fact, our building is essentially next to this office building. We needed to arrive by 1:15 and left the house at 1:10. Since the office is on the other side of the building you can’t see our house from the sixth floor on that side. But when we were walking out, you can see our house through the door. It’s the best commute we have ever experienced and very handy at this point in our lives. The dentist is literally one block in the other direction. Let’s just hope we end up liking all the new faces. One thing is for sure - getting there is just so easy. 

MedStar Prompt Care

For the last three weeks my right knee has not been right. The first two weeks I hobbled along hoping it would go away. It didn’t. Then I started taking aspirin two times per day for another week. It didn’t help much. The pain is now in both my knee and my hip. So I called my doctor’s office to see if I could get in. Forget it. They recommended that we go to the Prompt Care service across the street. So we walked in and took our place in line at this urgent care clinic. Having never used it we didn’t realize you could book a time on line, but also once you are there, you can leave and they will text you thirty minutes before your appointment. So we went back home and waited to get notified. We did, and there was going to be a thirty minute delay. So we could at least plan accordingly. When we got back to the clinic, the place was packed with patients. I was called back to the exam room within a few minutes, but ended up waiting another forty five minutes. The staff acted like they didn’t want to be there, but the nurse practitioner was on point. The exam took all of five minutes and I left with a referral to see a sports medicine physician - who was there - but was booked for the day. So we made an appointment for Friday at his Chevy Chase location to take the next step. Now I have a bandage wrapped on my knee, waiting for an inflammatory drug to arrive from Express Scripts, keeping my leg elevated, and stopping our 2 1/2 mile walks every day. Both my husband and I were health care practitioners - he a surgeon and me a nurse. Things have changed since we both retired. It’s times like this when we miss our dear colleagues and friends. That’s when you want to see a friendly face and be taken care of like we always did.