"Shh," he whispered. "Stop making sense."
May. 29th, 2008 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikyrianI had another dermatology appointment today at a brand new doctor's office - the Clinical Skin Center of Northern Virgina with Dr. Michael Stashower. They had me strip down to my undies, made me put on a paper gown and sit in a room for almost fifteen minutes by myself. When he came in for the exam it was pretty much the same song and dance (except for the part where he pulled down the paper gown to expose my breasts for the exam. That was weird. At least he was professional about it? I guess?). Y'know - take better care of your skin, seriously, you use Irish Spring, seriously?, get rid of the ferrets, yadda yadda yadda.
The big thing that came out of this exam is...you guys know that red spot on my chest, right between the two clavicle bones? He took one look at that and told me to get an appointment with an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist posthaste. Apparently it's a congenital defect that could lead to thyroglossal ducts/cycts, bronchogenical cysts, sinus cysts, and/or cancer.
Me - AH-Buh-wah?
I did a little bit of research and it's apparently something that doesn't usually get diagnosed until later in life because most general practitioners wouldn't know to look for it. If I hadn't had a weird skin problem, it would have been much later until a doctor would have thought to even think it was a concern. So...yay for the disease weasel's giving me a pox?
He told me it probably wasn't going to turn out to be any sort of problem, but that it was best to get it imaged, preferably by a CAT scan. So now I have to go to my primary care physician to get a referral to see a ENT specialist. Which is another sixty bucks ($20 to see PCP, $40 for specialists. I thought HMO's were supposed to be CHEAPER?) for medical care.
I caught a bit of Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine" today. I think I've seen some of it before, but I didn't see this part. Most of you probably know this, but for those of you who don't, BoC follows the "history" of gun violence in the US. While I was watching it, and Travis happened to be sitting on the couch playing his PSP, I had a moment of Zen a la The Daily Show.
I was watching the part where Michael Moore was interviewing a couple of people in the media industry, if you want to call it that, about how gun stories are the more provocative and sensational and higher rated stories then say, pollution. That it's easier to sell people on the violence of the guns and their consequences.
He asked one reporter, "If you had a choice between a half-drowned baby and a gun story, which would you go for?" And the reporter replies, "The gun story. Every time."
Then he goes on to interview a top exec producer for COPS and World's Most Violent/Extreme/Whatever Police Chases. And there they both discuss the evils of producing works that glorify the rage, violence, and whatnot of guns and the destruction it brings to people's lives vs trying to teach people how to stop spreading that kind of violence and how to solve the problem.
They came to the conclusion that the violent/bloody stuff sells better and it's too hard to get people to watch the other stuff. Which, no kidding, is a no duh.
My moment of Zen was this: I was watching a show where the parts that I had seen were glorifying violent crimes to sell the documentary to a wider audience while preaching that it would be infinitely better to try to teach people how to solve the problem without offering any sort of solution!
I think my brain broke, just a little. And while musing on this aloud, I hear this odd noise, like air leaking from a tire. I looked at Travis, where he is concentrating fiercely on his game.
"Shh," he whispered. "Stop making sense."
"But--"
"They don't like it when you make sense."
After that I just had to change the channel (to The Daily Show, ironically, where I saw the hysterical bit about who should be Obama's running mate).
The big thing that came out of this exam is...you guys know that red spot on my chest, right between the two clavicle bones? He took one look at that and told me to get an appointment with an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist posthaste. Apparently it's a congenital defect that could lead to thyroglossal ducts/cycts, bronchogenical cysts, sinus cysts, and/or cancer.
Me - AH-Buh-wah?
I did a little bit of research and it's apparently something that doesn't usually get diagnosed until later in life because most general practitioners wouldn't know to look for it. If I hadn't had a weird skin problem, it would have been much later until a doctor would have thought to even think it was a concern. So...yay for the disease weasel's giving me a pox?
He told me it probably wasn't going to turn out to be any sort of problem, but that it was best to get it imaged, preferably by a CAT scan. So now I have to go to my primary care physician to get a referral to see a ENT specialist. Which is another sixty bucks ($20 to see PCP, $40 for specialists. I thought HMO's were supposed to be CHEAPER?) for medical care.
I caught a bit of Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine" today. I think I've seen some of it before, but I didn't see this part. Most of you probably know this, but for those of you who don't, BoC follows the "history" of gun violence in the US. While I was watching it, and Travis happened to be sitting on the couch playing his PSP, I had a moment of Zen a la The Daily Show.
I was watching the part where Michael Moore was interviewing a couple of people in the media industry, if you want to call it that, about how gun stories are the more provocative and sensational and higher rated stories then say, pollution. That it's easier to sell people on the violence of the guns and their consequences.
He asked one reporter, "If you had a choice between a half-drowned baby and a gun story, which would you go for?" And the reporter replies, "The gun story. Every time."
Then he goes on to interview a top exec producer for COPS and World's Most Violent/Extreme/Whatever Police Chases. And there they both discuss the evils of producing works that glorify the rage, violence, and whatnot of guns and the destruction it brings to people's lives vs trying to teach people how to stop spreading that kind of violence and how to solve the problem.
They came to the conclusion that the violent/bloody stuff sells better and it's too hard to get people to watch the other stuff. Which, no kidding, is a no duh.
My moment of Zen was this: I was watching a show where the parts that I had seen were glorifying violent crimes to sell the documentary to a wider audience while preaching that it would be infinitely better to try to teach people how to solve the problem without offering any sort of solution!
I think my brain broke, just a little. And while musing on this aloud, I hear this odd noise, like air leaking from a tire. I looked at Travis, where he is concentrating fiercely on his game.
"Shh," he whispered. "Stop making sense."
"But--"
"They don't like it when you make sense."
After that I just had to change the channel (to The Daily Show, ironically, where I saw the hysterical bit about who should be Obama's running mate).
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 04:44 am (UTC)As for HMOs being cheaper, hahaha. The whole idea of the HMO is to make health care profitable, not for you, but for the people who own the stock of your insurance company. For people who require relatively little medical attention, it might be cheaper to be uninsured (I know that would be true for me; out of the last two years, I've paid more in premiums than I've received in medical services). But it's peace of mind that you pay for with an insurance company. If I fall off the deck, they pay.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 01:59 am (UTC)Well, it used to be cheaper than our other plan which was a three tiered flexible plan. But having just spent $50 on three medications, one of which was $40 alone, I'm beginning to wish I had chosen the more expensive plan...less copayments, less in prescriptions.
postscript
Date: 2008-05-30 04:55 am (UTC)Since my mom has a chronic illness, and took me with her to appointments growing up, I've seen many more doctors than most people, and, as a result, I like a little more information with my medicine.
Re: postscript
Date: 2008-05-31 02:01 am (UTC)I'm not overly concerned with malpractice or anything like that. It was just an odd moment. Although, I think I was more flustered after the fact then when it happened. *shrugs*