PICTURE this … you have been going to the same doctor for 30 or 40 years.
On making a new appointment, you find that they’re in hospital with a major surgical problem and won’t be back for two months.
What do you do? After all, they know all about you, every nook and cranny, every complaint you’ve ever had. Now you’re lost! What to do? Who to see? A real dilemma!
Another doctor would most likely be younger. Not knowing anybody else, do you choose someone who is recommended to you, or decide based on how long a doctor has been working at the practice? Or just go with your gut feeling.
Will that doctor be considerate of your age? Will your younger doctor treat you with respect and try to and find out your problem? Will they ask questions of you, will they have the time now that others may have to pick up the shortfall? Or just brush you off, as being old and with too many complaints.
Most older seniors have multiple complaints – how do they deal with these?
Is it going to be like speed dating, only this is “speed patient helping” in the shortest possible time available.
How does a new doctor deal with a patient that needs a carer or an advocate with them, to understand the complexities of the visit?
Should the patient complain of chronic back pain, will the doctor brush off their complaint, their failing memory or back pain and say that it’s normal at their age?
Maybe the patient is on multiple medications, and the new doctor, maybe with greater learning capacity, is loath to change what another doctor has prescribed. After all, they can only read the notes left after a visit to try and assist you.
Most seniors going to a doctor these days have many problems associated with their health. When just 10 minutes are allowed, one often concludes the appointment without finding out the actual cause of something else that may be troubling.
The drugs that are given in your early life may not be suitable when one gets older. Even though there are myriad side effects shown, and understood, there are others that can effect some people quite differently and can be extremely dangerous.
Some knowledge is only gained by situations not realised at the time. There are seniors who refuse to see a doctor, wary of a hospital stay, while others may have a lifelong distrust of the medical system, fearful of what the doctor might say, and don’t want to know. This in itself is a major problem, putting something off, maybe making the situation worse.
The answer is maybe finding a geriatrician who is an expert in caring for older people, but you would need a referral.
Still the problem exists, how should doctors treat the many ailments you may have in the short time available to them.
All the best for a full recovery to my doctor.
