My Many Doctors

I had my annual physical exam this morning. Everything looks good. 

To be clear, this is the exam I do every year with my "regular" doctor, the GP (general practitioner), not my oncologist. The point of the exam is to make sure everything is working properly, and my mental and physical health are OK. If something doesn't seem right, or if I have complaints, then this appointment is the time where I'd be referred to a specialist. 

The doctor asked the usual questions at first, about my smoking and drinking habits, if I'm exercising enough, how work is going, any new sources of stress, etc. All good there. 

The she asked, "Do you have any questions for me?"

I laughed. "No. I have so many other doctors that I see, that I get all of my questions answered by them."

And it's true. As she was doing the physical exam, taking my blood pressure, and all that, I tried counting the number of doctors that I see on a regular basis.

There's the oncologist, my cancer doctor. I see him every six months or so. I have an appointment coming up next month.

I also see a dermatologist, my skin doctor. The oncologist encouraged me to see her at least once a year, though it seems like a see her twice a year to check up on something that came up when I see her once a year.

Then there's the cardiologist, my heart doctor. My heart is actually in pretty good shape. I had a stress test a few months ago, and the report came back as "excellent." But I do have an "electrical problem," with a strange fast heartbeat that comes around every few months. Plus some high blood pressure.

The cardiologist sent me to a pulmonologist/sleep specialist. There's a not in my online medical records that I'm supposed to make a follow-up appointment with her soon.

Which reminds me -- I'm also due for a 10 year colonoscopy with my gastroenterologist. I don't see him as often as I used to, which is nice. But I do see the Otalaryngologist for my ears a couple of time a year. Too much Black Sabbath at high volume when I was young.

But it all got me thinking about how amazing the body is. Amazing enough that we need a whole bunch of people whose focus is on just one thing.We are such complex creatures. It's kind if fascinating.

At the same time, it's easy for doctors to see us as individual body parts, and not as one whole, amazing, complex creature. I don't know how much one of my health conditions affects the others, but it's certainly possible. Rituxan can cause heart rhythm issues -- did my cancer treatment affect my heart? Or was it sleep problems that cause the heart issue? And that medication the gastro doctor had me on for years -- will I end up with the kidney problems, or the dementia, or the bone loss, that I'm at higher risk of by taking the medication for so long?

And that's the problem. To one doctor, I might be just lymph nodes. To another, I'm just ears. To another, a weirdly beating heart. 

That's the danger, and I know people in a similar situation (seeing lots of different specialists) who don't ever seem to have their many doctors communicate with one another. I'm lucky that I do have a few doctors who at least who see me as more of a whole -- making sure I talk to someone else about potential problems.

For me, as someone who sees lots of doctors (and nurses, physician's assistants, etc.) to just kind of let it all wash over me. Another day, another appointment, something to get over with and move on. 

And it's also easy to think about everything that's wrong with me, and wish that I had a better heart, smaller lymph nodes, a shoulder that didn't act up if I sleep the wrong way.

It's nice to stop and marvel, for just a minute, at how amazing the human body is, in all its complexity. And to think about how much we don't know about it yet. And about how wonderful it will be when we learn those new things, and use that knowledge to make us feel better.