Then, on the other hand...
When you pray that nothing happens to your doctor.
We were her third patient(s) nine years ago. Just out of Med School, and very smart, and compassionate. The first appointment was 1 1/2 hours apiece, and each check-up is whatever time it takes. In one year, her practice was full, and the quality of care has just grown better. In those short years, she has moved from her small associate office to a brand new building, bringing in four other young doctors.
She prescribes tests, medication, and courses of action, with follow up and she listens. So far, so good. It took us 68 years to find her, and she is part of the family now. Some swear by their financial advisor, in our case, it's our doctor. Without going in to details, we could do with less money, but not without our lives. For both of us, our doctor played a big part in keeping us here... alive and so far, well.
After years of assembly line medicine, it's great to have a small town (smart) physician.
An interesting aside, on the matter of tests, and medication. Like many of our members, I was loathe to do either. In retrospect, had we not followed the "doctor's orders" DW and I may not have still been here, and most assuredly, the cost of preventive medicine that might have seemed high at the time, would now be many times higher, if we were still alive.
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Short, true story... Yesterday at the mall, the local hospital had a booth set up in the Local Business Expo. As I waited for a blood pressure and diabetes test, there was a couple in front of me. The lady was saying to the nurse, something to this effect... "If he had listened to what the doctor said five years ago, he would have taken the Lipitor, and maybe he wouldn't have had the heart attack".