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| - Hmmm. Why didn't I check the Yelp reviews first? I got a referral from my GP for this clinic because I needed to have some funky freckles and moles checked out. I've never had one of those body scans, or mapping, or whatever it's called before, so I felt I was long overdue. Especially because in my childhood I was sunburned practically all summer, and in my early 20s I indulged in tanning beds.
My appt. was for late afternoon on the 1st and when I had called to set it up, I mentioned that I wanted to discuss 3 things: checking out the funky freckles, talking about my overly rosy cheeks, otherwise known as rosacea, which had spread to my chin in the past year, and getting a mole removed on my neck.
The clinic is really nice, and the greeting and paperwork went as expected. No big deal. A nurse called my name and showed me back to the exam room. Her manner was a little brusque, but I do appreciate efficiency, and I'm not there to make friends, so that was fine. I came to appreciate her manner a little more later in the process.
Then I met my PA, and for the life of me I can't remember her name. I know she told me, but it's the pretty blonde with a newborn at home. Since I've never had one of these body freckle scans before, I don't know how long it's supposed to take, but as I flipped and flopped in my paper napkin top and bottom, she took about 60 seconds on each side. It seemed really quick, and I am full of brown freckles and weird moles. Trust me. She lingered a long time on a freckle I have up on my right shoulder blade, but decided not to remove it. The one she decided to remove was in a bad place, on the underside of my left boob, and I was happy to get it off there, believe me, but I knew this biopsy might hurt, and the healing time might be a pain, just based on location. So I'm bracing myself for the biopsy.
The nurse who had helped me earlier came back in to numb the site. I would give her 5-stars based on the fact that I couldn't feel that shot at all. She's a pro. Considering the area she was sticking, I thought it would hurt more, but I barely felt it. Thank you thank you thank you.
Then the PA came back in, scooped out the freckle, told me my skin was tough (thanks a lot), bandaged me up, gave me a paper with aftercare instructions on it, and said, "Call us if you have any problems".
I said, "Can we talk about my red cheeks and chin and see if there's anything I can do about them? I think it's rosacea, but I wanted to see an expert." She said, "Have you ever been diagnosed with rosacea?" I said no, and was thinking, "Isn't that what I would have done here??? At the dermatologist???" What the heck? She proceeded to stare at my face. And then said there's a cream available, but it really only works for one day....and then kind of trailed off. I felt like I was in The Twilight Zone. Well, get to diagnosing, doc. She didn't seem that interested.
Then I mentioned the mole on my neck, and she said, "That looks normal." I said, "Yes, but I'd like to talk about having it removed because as I'm getting older, it gets bigger, and another one seems to pop up every year or so. What can I say....I come from a moley family. I want to have it removed for purely cosmetic reasons so there will be no scenes reminiscent of that one in Uncle Buck when I'm old. She said, "Insurance doesn't cover that" and made no offer to remove it anyway. So she'll only do what insurance covers? I have money to pay for it. Really. It was the end of the day, so maybe she was ready to get out of there. I don't know, but she seemed overly ready to be finished with me.
I decided to just cut my losses and go home, take care of my biopsy site, wait for the results, and decide from there if I'm going back. The biopsy results were fine, and I'm not going back. When it comes to Yelp reviews, 2-stars means "I've experienced better", which is definitely true. When it comes to health care, I also deserve better. I will definitely be looking for a more highly-rated dermatologist.
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