5 reasons men shouldn't blow off going to the doctor

[Nords]

Hello Rich - All I can say is that I would never joke about how many fingers my patients want me to use for their rectovag exam. Other clinicians have gotten in trouble for less than that.

I think it's all too rare to see a medical professional capable of not taking themselves so seriously.

Humor is at least as therapeutic as the authoritarian bedside manner or the attitude of "I'm the doctor, I'm here to help, and you will be healed"...

So what's my first step in reforming my ways?
My DIY habits will be hard to break, but it's pretty clear if I do go see a doc I will need to go big. Since I haven't been to the doctor in decades, I'm overdue for every test recommended for "every X years for men over 50".
How to pick a doc - throw a dart at my PPO's list of general practice doctors? Or would a family practice doc or an internist be a better choice? Should I go to the enormous multi-discipline clinic associated with a hospital or find an independent?
I suppose I need to educate myself on the differences between check-ups, physicals and complete 50-year overhauls, so I make an appointment for the right services. Or maybe I should just show up at the hospital desk and order "the works"?

Says the man who's just a phone call away from his town's world-class medical center.

I think the plethora of choices exists solely to meet everyone's personal preferences. You could probably throw a dart at your employer's provider manual and get 90% of what you're looking for. Whether you have your dog put their paw on one or spend six weeks researching through paralysis by analysis, the results are likely to be equally bearable.

I like clinics filled with family practitioners & residents. The FPs are all too familiar with being challenged, confused, and ignorant by a wide range of symptoms. The new docs are too new to "know" how to behave or to have stripped their patient interactions down to the allotted 7.6 minutes, so they'll actually have a conversation with you and perhaps occasionally even admit ignorance. If you're lucky they'll fetch in their supervisor to have a longer discussion.

I'd tell your (randomly?) chosen medical professional that you've been terrorized by a bunch of strangers on the Internet, and that you're looking for a physical exam (along with a blood sample) to reassure yourself. They'll either do it on the spot or schedule you for another two-hour appointment. They'll be interested in how your ancestor's medical histories may have transferred themselves to your genome. From those humble beginnings, the consulting possibilities are endless! And if you don't like the way you're being treated then you can just get a new dart and pick another one.

 

[Bimmerbill]

The two finger second opinion joke made me laugh.

 

[travelover]

.......How to pick a doc - throw a dart at my PPO's list of general practice doctors? Or would a family practice doc or an internist be a better choice? Should I go to the enormous multi-discipline clinic associated with a hospital or find an independent? ...........

I went with a satellite office of a medical school (University of Michigan in my case), thinking that if I ever need serious care, I'm halfway home to a great hospital. Plus they are part of my PPO. Their website has bios of all the staff and I just found someone that I felt comfortable with (not too old, too young, doesn't take self too seriously)

For minor issues like a sinus infection, I go to a walk in local clinic.

 

[obgyn65]

Hello Rich - I do not think my recommendation was categorical. "Should have reported" is not the same as "you must report him" or "you had to report him". It appreciate your point of view and I apologize if mine came across as too harsh.

But the issue is a categorical recommendation to summarily report

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Hello Rich - I do not think my recommendation was categorical. "Should have reported" is not the same as "you must report him" or "you had to report him". It appreciate your point of view and I apologize if mine came across as too harsh.

Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[GregLee]

I still don't understand what was wrong with what he said.

I don't get it, either. I guess it would be in bad taste to be explicit about it, so it will remain ineffable.

 

[obgyn65]

Correct.

I guess it would be in bad taste to be explicit about it, so it will remain ineffable.

 

[Alan]

Hello Rich - All I can say is that I would never joke about how many fingers my patients want me to use for their rectovag exam. Other clinicians have gotten in trouble for less than that.

Like the physician who was reported for sexual harassment for telling an old lady that she had acute angina.

Disclaimer: that was actually a joke.

 

[bbbamI]

Like the physician who was reported for sexual harassment for telling an old lady that she had acute angina.

Disclaimer: that was actually a joke.

 

[easysurfer]

Just came back from my physical this morning. Got two for the price of one. No...no "second opinion", but since he was already there, I had him check for hemorrhoids (.... only a mild case, by the way. Yes, I said it, I have hemorrhoids )

I really like my doctor. Of all the doctors I had in my lifetime, he has the best bedside manner.

To celebrate being such a good patient, tonight I'm gonna make me a nice beef back ribs dinner.

 

[freebird5825]

Mr B is very good about annual checkups and followups. He really likes his doc at the VA outpatient clinic. He is lucky to have doctors who practiced privately for years and then decided to hire on with the federal government. Best of both worlds.

 

[RustyShackleford]

The military kept me in the regular-physical habit by directive rather than by choice, but here's a cautionary tale.

That military "directive" thing isn't always the best thing. I wonder if you ever had the experience my Army friend has had, of being given three flu shots (in the same year, the same shot) ? Apparently saying "I already had mine" is not an acceptable response

 

[RustyShackleford]

All I can say is that I would never joke about how many fingers my patients want me to use for their rectovag exam. Other clinicians have gotten in trouble for less than that.

God, whatever happened to common sense ? Surely things are a little different when patient and doctor are of different gender .

 

[Nords]

That military "directive" thing isn't always the best thing. I wonder if you ever had the experience my Army friend has had, of being given three flu shots (in the same year, the same shot) ? Apparently saying "I already had mine" is not an acceptable response

I'm one of the last Boomers to have not one but two smallpox shots.

When spouse and I were both on active duty, the medical clinics used to routinely file our paperwork in each other's records. Then they'd declare something lost and shoot off a message to our old commands requesting a copy for their files. One of my old XOs was highly amused to receive a request for a copy of my last pregnancy checkup. He claimed that it explained a lot.

As for your friend, nobody's paperwork can prove that those needles were really filled with flu vaccine. At least that's what we've learned in the Navy.

 

[Kibitzer1]

I've come to think going to the doc is part of the Darwinian test for aging. Those who go, age. Those who don't ...fail the test.
My Doc convinced me to go for a Coronary Calcium Heart Scan. Not covered by insur. but the x-ray facility was running a special - no kidding. for a $100 I got the test and great peace of mind.
Consider this: for approx. 33% of people with a heart problem, the first and only sign is the Big One - a fatal heart attack. The heart scan can discover these problems. My 2 cents.

Chinaco said it well:
..."For all of us that are living.... it is not a matter of "if something happens", rather "it is when"!
When I turned 50 I began scheduling a yearly physical exam along with the blood tests.
I intend to continue that practice.
I cannot imagine a good reason for not doing it! I suppose some cannot afford it. If that changes... and it looks like it will, there will be no reason to not get a periodic check-up or exam.

Bad news will not get better by avoiding it... but good news provides some peace of mind (and a base line of health data). Besides delaying could make matters much worse. Healthy living and early detection seem to be a couple (of the few) factors that we can reasonably control that might lead to longer life and hopefully better quality of life!"

 

[Texas Proud]

I've come to think going to the doc is part of the Darwinian test for aging. Those who go, age. Those who don't ...fail the test.
My Doc convinced me to go for a Coronary Calcium Heart Scan. Not covered by insur. but the x-ray facility was running a special - no kidding. for a $100 I got the test and great peace of mind.
Consider this: for approx. 33% of people with a heart problem, the first and only sign is the Big One - a fatal heart attack. The heart scan can discover these problems. My 2 cents.

Chinaco said it well:
..."For all of us that are living.... it is not a matter of "if something happens", rather "it is when"!
When I turned 50 I began scheduling a yearly physical exam along with the blood tests.
I intend to continue that practice.
I cannot imagine a good reason for not doing it! I suppose some cannot afford it. If that changes... and it looks like it will, there will be no reason to not get a periodic check-up or exam.

Bad news will not get better by avoiding it... but good news provides some peace of mind (and a base line of health data). Besides delaying could make matters much worse. Healthy living and early detection seem to be a couple (of the few) factors that we can reasonably control that might lead to longer life and hopefully better quality of life!"

"Peace of mind" as you say is illusionary... my BIL went to his cardiologist all the time... he had a couple of ballon procedure and even a pacemaker... he had been healthy for years, with low cholesteral etc. etc. and kept telling us how he was going to live to 100... he went to the doc for his normal checkup and got a 'clean bill of health'.... one week later he died of a heart attack...

I am not saying not to go and get checkups as they do find a lot of problems that they can fix.... but it does not mean that you will not drop dead of something soon after leaving the docs office...

 

[braumeister]

my BIL went to his cardiologist all the time ... he had a couple of balloon procedures and even a pacemaker ... he had been healthy for years

Wow! Those two statements made a real disconnect in my mind.
It seems obvious to me that he didn't have a healthy heart.

My guess is that when he claimed to be healthy, he meant "as healthy as possible, given the condition he was in."

 

[MasterBlaster]

"Peace of mind" as you say is illusionary... my BIL went to his cardiologist all the time... he had a couple of ballon procedure and even a pacemaker... he had been healthy for years, with low cholesteral etc. etc. and kept telling us how he was going to live to 100... he went to the doc for his normal checkup and got a 'clean bill of health'.... one week later he died of a heart attack...

I am not saying not to go and get checkups as they do find a lot of problems that they can fix.... but it does not mean that you will not drop dead of something soon after leaving the docs office...

You go to a cardiologist, he says you need a heart operation. Hmmm ?

If someone's holding a hammer, then everything looks like a nail to get hit !

I just wonder though if they left him alone ( ie. no baloon procedure etc) would he haved lived longer.

 

[Texas Proud]

Wow! Those two statements made a real disconnect in my mind.
It seems obvious to me that he didn't have a healthy heart.

My guess is that when he claimed to be healthy, he meant "as healthy as possible, given the condition he was in."

He had one baloon procedure 15 years earlier... the othe was done by someone that wanted to make money.... there was nothing wrong with him on that... I never got the story on why they put in a pacemaker...

No, his cardiologist had said that all his test came back great... that he wished all his patients had his kind of results... that is why it was such a shocker to all of us...

PS... I told him many times he would not live to 100 with the heart he had... but he did live to 70 which is not bad...

You go to a cardiologist, he says you need a heart operation. Hmmm ?

If someone's holding a hammer, then everything looks like a nail to get hit !

I just wonder though if they left him alone ( ie. no baloon procedure etc) would he haved lived longer.

See above... probably not... I think if he had not been to the docs and gotten his first baloon procedure he would have died many years earlier... he got 'religion' after that and kept track of his HDL/LDL etc. etc...

All I was pointing out was a clean bill of health from the docs does not mean something might not happen soon thereafter....