I've had a great run with good health for more than 70 years. Aside from minor toe repairs (years ago, due to my running days), hip replacement surgery last week was my first major encounter with the operating room. It was quite the experience.
The doctors, nurses, and entire medical teams all get high marks. But the changes in our healthcare system I've noticed leading up to this "procedure" are dramatic and significant from two or three decades ago. Covid played its part in burning out medical staff from their jobs, and the Boomer generation statistics represent not only patients but also retiring nurses, physicians, and medical technicians. The health care industry is now so fraught with stresses and pressures that young people aren't drawn to enter it in the numbers they once did.
Today our once-stellar healthcare system is, quite frankly, a sorry shadow of its former self.
When my husband survived cancer in the 1990s with several ancillary conditions, he had probably half a dozen doctors in various specialties. If he had an ache, pain, or symptom of one sort or another, he'd mention to me, "I'm going to call Dr. A. on Monday and set up an appointment." I'd come home from work Monday evening and ask when his appointment was scheduled. Some variation of "Thursday at 2:00" or "Friday at 10:00" was the reliable response. He was always in, out, and treated within a few days. And he was seen by a physician.
Try to schedule that appointment today. "We have one opening on July 9" is the more likely response. And most likely, come July 9, you'll be examined by a physician assistant (PA), not a doctor. No disrespect towards PAs--most of them I've seen are excellent--but I think my monthly insurance premium is paying for doctors. Just saying.
The night before my surgery I received both an email and a phone call from the hospital's billing office. They wanted me to pay my "estimate" for the operation in advance. Excuse me, but nothing's happened yet. Do you pay the gardener before he mows the grass? No thank you. I'll wait for an itemized final bill--on paper please, sent via USPS.
It took nearly one year (May 2023) to get from my family doctor recommending a consultation with an orthopedic doctor to meeting with the surgeon (November 2023) to scheduling the surgery (January 2024). It was originally scheduled for April, but I got a phone call in mid-February saying that there was a cancellation in March and asking was I interested. Well, is the pope a communist? Since I could barely walk at that point, of course I was interested.
Now it's behind me, and all that remains is the physical therapy (PT). I've already started that, and the home health care organization is wonderful. They are skilled and responsive, which is especially impressive considering they are picking up the slack left by three other home health care companies in my city that had to close due to newly imposed Medicare and other government rules. I now have practical knowledge of just how bad things turn when government gets involved in our medical care. The government could make a hot mess out of buttering toast.
So, if you need any kind of medical attention for any sort of condition, don't hesitate to start the long process towards treatment. Call your doctor's office today (if you can reach them). And I wish you good luck getting in to be seen before July 9.
