I'M NOT EXCITE-D
I'll get to the logic behind the title of this post in a minute. But first...

Message to Karen who posted a comment on 11/19: Thank you for your post. I'm reluctant to post your comment because you included your last name. If you post another comment (it can be the same thing) without your last name, I'll be happy to publish it. Also, sorry for the delay in responding to your comment...

...Which leads me to the subject of this post. Thanks to Excite making so-called "upgrades" that worthless Vista can't deal with, I can no longer access my Excite account. I will be looking into getting another anonymous account from a different provider soon. In the meantime...HEY VISTA! HEY EXCITE! Do you think that MAYBE you could get your collective shit together??

So last Friday I had an appointment with a dermatologist. When I went for my annual physical in June the way-too-overeagerly efficient physician's assistant who saw me instead of my doctor insisted on asking me about my skin because I'm fair & have other risk factors. So I pointed out to her several moles on my body that are bigger in diameter than a pencil eraser. She noticed one on my belly that was not only 2 different colors, but had also sprouted a tiny island of a freckle nearby--2 things I myself had not caught. The doctor arranged for a referral to a dermatologist. It took me this long to get a live human being to answer the phone at the derm's office so I could schedule an appointment.

So I'm in the derm's office & filling out the pre-exam form. It lists a bunch of medical conditions and asks me to check off the ones I have. The only one listed that I actually had was depression. It asks me if I have any other conditions. I list anxiety.

Then it asks me to list all the meds I'm currently taking. I always love answering this question because I'm on so many fucking meds. So I list them all, list the dosage, and also list my PRN meds and indicate that they are in fact PRN.

Then I'm asked for the reason for my visit. I wrote, "I have a suspicious-looking mole & I'd like to have it removed."

So I'm ushered into the exam room & about 2 minutes later the derm walks in--younger woman, maybe early 30s. She asks me to show her the mole. So I adjust my clothing & point it out to her. I point out the discoloration & the island, and I start to tell her that I have risk factors when she cut me off.

"I can tell you right now that it's probably not cancer, but I'm going to remove it anyway so you can stop worrying."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's not discolored. But I saw all the meds on your form & I'm just going to take it off so you can stop worrying about it."

At the time I was relieved that I wasn't going to have to talk her into taking it off. But now the more I think about it the more annoyed I'm getting. Truth be told, I wasn't even that worried about it. Otherwise it wouldn't have taken me 5 months to set up the appointment--I would have been a LOT more persistent about it. But this derm just made an inappropriate judgment call on me. She took one look at my med list and assumed I was a hypochondriac.

It always amazes me how some of the deepest prejudice towards mental illness comes from the medical community itself.
- posted by Pat @ 8:08 PM