So Glad I Found a New Doctor

I had been seeing a doctor who was very nice, and the one with the highest reviews and most experience with my particular health condition. However, I am directionally challenged, and my GPS would go nuts trying to get me there. The area is unfamiliar to me and quite confusing with winding roads and many huge parking lots with a college campus near the hospital campus and the buildings being distant and hard to differentiate and identify for me. Even if I could find the building, the way the parking lots were set up, it was too hard for me to figure out how to get to the one in front of the building, I'd get trapped in a distant one and all roads seemed to go out to the main road - so it was a major, major source of stress for me to navigate and I was always late and at risk of losing my appointment. The staff was always rude (whether I was late or not) and harried - very abrupt, unfriendly, with that hint of condescension that is totally unnecessary. I had to wait a long time to see the doctor. She never got back to me about lab results and whether I needed to start or change medicines despite telling me she would. The front desk would never let me through to the doctor to find out about results or medication changes - instead they'd block me, trying to offer their own medical "expertise" about whether I should change my medication levels, without a medical degree and without even knowledge of my condition or medicine!

It stressed me so much that even though I had to only go several times a year, I decided to try a different doctor. I was very worried the new one would take away my medicine, be even worse than the other doctor, and that the location would have the same issues. For a long time I just procrastinated, worried to make the change, "rock the boat" (irrational, I know, but it seemed to add even more stress to an already stressful situation). I'm glad to report that the new doctor is just as good, just as nice, is taking my concerns seriously and ordering appropriate tests. The front desk staff is relaxed and nice, the phlebotomist was also very nice - the results were in very quickly with clear results (this was not the case with the last doctor), and this doctor specifically told me that I should contact her if she doesn't talk to me within 3 days concerning lab results, so I feel comfortable doing that.

The location is closer to my home and work, and is much easier to find from the highway - the parking garage is right off the main road and it is uniquely dedicated to the building where my appointments are - and attached via elevator. When I leave, I just make a right turn and the highway taking me home is straight ahead! So easy peasy!

All in all, I am SO glad I made the switch! Instead of being more stressful, it ended up reducing a lot of stress long-term.