fractalwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fractalwolf) wrote2018-05-15 09:53 am
fractalwolf) wrote2018-05-15 09:53 am
patient advocacy ftw
I recently moved, and so I've been jumping through all the hoops of finding a new doctor, etc. (I've also accomplished a basic lock installation and re-hung some bifold doors -- go me!)
I really like my new primary care physician - she's actually a nurse practitioner, and was wearing a t-shirt under her lab coat that had the superman shield and "NP" in it. But visiting her meant that I wound up with referrals for a bunch of specialists that I was overdue for visiting, including getting a mammogram.
She didn't know of any that did seated mammograms for people who weren't in wheelchairs, but said that if the one she referred me to couldn't do it, and I could find someone who could, I should let her know so it could be in their records for future referrals. (Yay!) So I talked with the one she referred me to, and they said they'd do their best to be accommodating, and I was welcome to sit between sessions as long as I wanted (yeah, right - I don't think they'd let me sit for the hour or so it would take to start to really recover), but they might not be able to get all the shots they needed if I was seated, especially if I was using one of their office chairs. But everyone had the same equipment, so it would be the same story everywhere. We went several rounds with me trying to explain that any amount of contortion was pretty much fine as long as it didn't involve any pressure on my knees, and her repeatedly warning me that some amount of contortion would still be required, and the machine would still be squeezing my boobs, etc.
I allowed myself to be convinced that maybe they genuinely would try to do it seated. It was still infinitely better than than the first place I ever went, where they flat-up said unless you were wheelchair-bound they only did standing ones because it was easier for the technicians. (They didn't say that up front, they said that when I called them in tears because I was being called back for a re-scan, and the first one had been excruciating. My wife ended up calling around until she finally found someone who said "I don't see why we couldn't...")
But that was yesterday, and it continued to worry at my brain, and when I woke up this morning I realized I would genuinely prefer to have a fractured wrist than go through another standing mammogram, and that no matter how I explained it any place that refused to acknowledge that someone who wasn't wheelchair-bound might still genuinely need a seated mammogram, it wasn't going to work. I'm not saying all able-bodied people are incapable of empathy, but it's definitely not the default for a lot.
So I started searching around and calling until I found one that said, "Of course!" They also, incidentally, do micro-dose mammograms, so there's less radiation exposure. So, yay! One more moving-related dread dealt with.
I really like my new primary care physician - she's actually a nurse practitioner, and was wearing a t-shirt under her lab coat that had the superman shield and "NP" in it. But visiting her meant that I wound up with referrals for a bunch of specialists that I was overdue for visiting, including getting a mammogram.
She didn't know of any that did seated mammograms for people who weren't in wheelchairs, but said that if the one she referred me to couldn't do it, and I could find someone who could, I should let her know so it could be in their records for future referrals. (Yay!) So I talked with the one she referred me to, and they said they'd do their best to be accommodating, and I was welcome to sit between sessions as long as I wanted (yeah, right - I don't think they'd let me sit for the hour or so it would take to start to really recover), but they might not be able to get all the shots they needed if I was seated, especially if I was using one of their office chairs. But everyone had the same equipment, so it would be the same story everywhere. We went several rounds with me trying to explain that any amount of contortion was pretty much fine as long as it didn't involve any pressure on my knees, and her repeatedly warning me that some amount of contortion would still be required, and the machine would still be squeezing my boobs, etc.
I allowed myself to be convinced that maybe they genuinely would try to do it seated. It was still infinitely better than than the first place I ever went, where they flat-up said unless you were wheelchair-bound they only did standing ones because it was easier for the technicians. (They didn't say that up front, they said that when I called them in tears because I was being called back for a re-scan, and the first one had been excruciating. My wife ended up calling around until she finally found someone who said "I don't see why we couldn't...")
But that was yesterday, and it continued to worry at my brain, and when I woke up this morning I realized I would genuinely prefer to have a fractured wrist than go through another standing mammogram, and that no matter how I explained it any place that refused to acknowledge that someone who wasn't wheelchair-bound might still genuinely need a seated mammogram, it wasn't going to work. I'm not saying all able-bodied people are incapable of empathy, but it's definitely not the default for a lot.
So I started searching around and calling until I found one that said, "Of course!" They also, incidentally, do micro-dose mammograms, so there's less radiation exposure. So, yay! One more moving-related dread dealt with.