More like fee and time-suck fatigue
I have 3 eye doctors, a pulmonologist, cardiologist, a primary, and an ENT and dermatologist in the wings. Probably bone doc before long. I am tired of what feels like endless doctor appointments that are mostly hi how ya doin, pay me, see ya later. More time spent in waiting rooms than with the doc. And the tests endless tests, which are so darn expensive, even with insurance. We do without a lot just to pay the medical bills. Sometimes I feel like just saying no., enough already
Hi.
You are not alone in feeling this way. Many of us in this community share similar frustrations. I've written about the challenge of managing multiple doctor appointments and the toll it takes—financially, emotionally, and time-wise. You can find an article on the topic here: https://copd.net/living/tired-doctors. What has helped me personally is trying to streamline my appointments. For example, I schedule all my doctor visits on Mondays to limit disruption to my week, and I avoid non-urgent visits during the summer months so I can focus on enjoying that time. It’s not a perfect system, but it gives me some control over what can feel like an endless cycle.Have you tried anything similar, or found other ways to make the process less overwhelming?Take care,John. Community Moderator Thanks, John. I don't schedule anything in winter or summer; no extreme temps for me. No early mornings or late afternoons. I also do telehealth visits whenever possible. None of our doctors are within half an hour of our homes, one appointment in a day is enough, other than test; I tried to get them all in on the same day if I can. The exception is when my husband has an appointment too. We try to schedule them so that they are in the same office bldg at the same time. And now, everyone gets paid in payments. I control what I can. I just get weary of it all at times. We joke about church and doctor appointments being our busy social life. Sense of humor is what keeps us both from throwing in the towel.
Thank you for the update. Your Faith and sense of humor certainly can ease the burden of all the appointments -- and make life enjoyable despite these burdens. And it sounds as though you have a great system down for managing your time. Here is wishing all the best to you and your husband. John. community moderator.
I feel your frustration constantly these last couple of years been at multiple doctors appts for multiple issues besides the COPD. Currently I have 4 different doctors just for my lungs, silly right? But it is what it is and they are all trying to keep them working for me. Yes, I have many other issue, the BAD gene pool ran real fast to my and my siblings. How we cope with it to try to lighten the air about all our woes and we started to how many "ologist" we could collect among the 3 of us that got hit hard with that nasty gene pool. "ologist" is what we call the specialist in their fields, just a name we made up for it. Anyway so far I am in the lead be 2 or 3, have sister though coming after me pretty darn quick, wish she would have to, but no choice if you want to live the best life you can. Would you like to join the family group of "ologist collectors" ? I wish you the best and hope you get some relief soon from all those visits.
Thank you for that. Sounds like the pool has been muddied. Ours too. Hearts, kidneys and lungs under attack in my family. Doesn't help to dwell on that side of life , does it? Like you, I find a smile or a laugh wherever I can. My husband and I find lots of ways to enjoy life. Seems we have kind of a sick or morbid sense of humor sometimes, according to our kids, but when you're looking death in the face this often, what better to do than poke fun at it? As far as relief seom docs goes, I scheduled no doctors until spring (barring the unexpected). Shots and vaccinations done, we're looking forward to a vacation in the Gulf before Christmas for some good, old-fashioned fun. Hope you can do the same.
