Tipping Point

I hit the tipping point yesterday.

The appointment with my primary doctor in town to drain my knee and to have her write a referral to  the orthopedic clinic of my university hospital was to begin at 9:25AM. Great. I was out of the house by 8:30, shopped at CVS to buy Betty a birthday card and a Barnes and Noble gift card along with a few other items for us before going to the UPS store to mail it and other items. That allowed me time to get to the bank right when they opened so I was able to pay my credit card bill.

Perfect. On time.

I was back in the car getting ready to head into town for the appointment when my cell phone rang. It was the doctor's office. The woman told me that the doctor did not have time to drain my knee and that I could self refer to my university hospital. I was stunned. I replied that my university hospital required a referral since I had not been seen there for a couple of years and this was an entirely different issue.

After getting home from the rehab class later in the afternoon, I found the office had left a message saying that the doctor would not be writing a referral because I can do it myself.

In other words, my primary doctor refused to drain my knee and refused to write a referral.

I AM DONE.

The two doctors have not been happy all along to be in a secondary position since I see doctors at my university hospital for everything but the minor stuff. They didn't like this.

I got their message.

I will be choosing a new primary doctor.