Judging by the title of this post you can guess that I saw my surgeon for a two-week update yesterday. And that it wasn't really a comforting visit. In the five minutes that he saw me (maybe it was more like 4:53 or so) he said all is well with my knee and to keep working on my physio, which is all good and what I expected to hear. Although I wasn't really looking for more than that, I started to think more about it and all of my previous dealings with him. This wasn't the first time I thought about this, but I had a good chunk of time to ponder it further on the 75 minute rush-hour drive downtown, 30 minute wait past my appointment time and then the 45 minute drive home.

In all my meetings with him he's been what most would liken to a robotic machine who sweeps into the tiny examination room, asks the same questions he asked you the last dozen times and then tells you to come back in a few months to do it all over again. Don't get me wrong though, this surgeon is the best at my particular surgery and that's why I waited to have him operate on me and he's always answered all my questions. I know he's a super busy man who doesn't get time to breathe and he probably barely knows what office or hospital he's in at any given moment. I know his time is in more demand than a Tim Horton's worker at 8 a.m., always looking at me like he's meeting me for the first time, asking the same few questions that I've answered dozens of times. Is that really a good thing?

I'm not asking him to cuddle me or even like me, but some clue as to who I am and acknowledgment that he's in fact listening to what I tell him. From people who've had bad experiences at hospitals or just a visit to the doctor, it seems that in most cases that I've heard it stems from the doctor or nurse not treating them with respect whether it's in their actions, inactions or verbally. This seems to be a common frayed thread in our health care system here in Ontario.

I'm not trying to bash doctors or nurses or anyone in the healthcare field because I know there are many factors that attribute to this, the most common being in more demand but being underfunded and understaffed, not to mention being disrespected by those who abuse our system. This is a huge subject that I don't want to get too far into in my lowly blog :-) but it's one that I've experienced on numerous occasions for my two surgeries and that many others I'm sure have shared. Whether it's a symptom of the other issues I mentioned or not, it is happening and it's affecting the mental health and quite possibly the physical health of patients as well.

Of course not all healthcare workers are like this. His assistant has been personable and nice as I have with her and so were most of the hospital staff on my visits. I guess maybe it's these people who set the bar high and not everyone can live up to that. I guess not everyone can be like our favourite Dr. Huxtable. Maybe I just need a Jello puddin' pop.