Have you noticed there is an in-between method of dealing with the medical world that comes short of Emergency Room visits and even eliminates in-person appointments?
It began for me with BigFoot. Remember him/her? About the time I was really getting plagued by pain and questions, that is when Covid hit.
Being in the Senior Set I was doing everything possible to isolate and that meant biting my nails over meeting MDs in their own offices, clinics or hospitals.
I began cancelling appointments.
Until one doctor suggested Tele-Visits.
We had 3 of those over a few months and in some ways our conversations were even more educating than if we had met in person.
And although I was and am still hesitant to bare my soul to a relative stranger, the comfort of distance is making it easier to loosen my tongue. Those were my first TeleVisits and I found them enjoyable, particularly if I placed the phone on my right ear (the one with more acute hearing).
I went from talking to an orthopedic doctor on the phone to working next with a would-be Health Coach. Ever hear of that?
My Sweet Health Coach needed people to practice on until she could get accredited. The work was all done by phone and computer.
I think it was a Zoom meeting.
Being part of the resistant Senior Set, I have steadfastly resisted understanding anything about Zooming.
Zooming is what my little dog, Elsa does when she is happy. She gets the Zoomies and runs through the house in wild abandon.
Anyway, I worked with my would-be Health Coach (on the phone) and it was probably similar to psychiatric sessions with Sigmund Freud. I never met Sigmund but I imagine he must have been a good listener.
So, I bared my soul and my Coach would nod verbally as if she really understood my problems. Oddly enough the calls helped. Maybe I just needed to talk.
Finally when Covid slowed down a little I made an appointment with a Dietician to see if I could get guidance on healthy eating. The last book I read on nutrition was Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit by Adelle Davis, written in 1954. I still love that book even though whole chapters should be ignored.
But I learned a lot at my first meeting with the nutritionist and made an appointment #2 but then Covid came back and we arranged a TeleVisit.
And once again I am baring my soul over the phone lines and I am sure everything I say and my inner most secrets are even being recorded!
It seems to me the whole world has now fallen into a no-touch medical environment that promotes talking, talking and more talking and the value of touchy feely connections is getting lost (or is already gone missing) in a computer connected society.
I do highly recommend TeleVisits though. It is a place where you can at least bare your soul.
Virginia Views 