I have two bad legs which needed multiple operations over my
lifetime. The worst one is my left leg. My left leg became painful
on Saturday, August 12. It was so bad I needed crutches to get around. I
called my doctor and they had no openings. They suggested I go to urgent
care. Jean and I went to urgent care on Monday, August 14th.
We rolled into urgent care. I did not need crutches to walk
in the door. I paid the $25 copay, registered at the front, registered
inside urgent care, sat down, and we were whisked into a room within 5
minutes. The nurse took my vitals and determined I was still alive.
She said the doctor would be in shortly.
The doctor, Susan Montgomery, did show up. She was a middle aged woman
and she looked at me with suspicion.
“What is wrong with you?”, she asked in a very condescending
voice.
I responded. “I have extreme pain in my left
leg. It is pain that comes and goes. Right now it is less but
Saturday night it was really bad.”
She looked at me not believing me. I think she thought
I wanted drugs.
“Let me look!”
I showed her my left leg with the abundance of scars from
prior leg operations. Her face softened.
“So you say this has been going on for a time?”
“Yes, and it got really bad on Saturday.”
Susan smiled. “I want to have some X-Rays on that
leg. Then we will see what is going on.”
A nurse escorted me to X-Ray and they took eight X-Rays on
my left leg and foot. They then led me back to the examination room.
After 10 minutes of waiting, the Dr. Montgomery knocked and walked
in.
Her approach was 180 degrees different from the time we
first met. She was very friendly. “With that leg I have no doubt
you have constant pain. The X-Rays show you have bone on bone by the
knee. You probably need a knee replacement. I will refer you to an
orthopedic surgeon.”
So, I have a scheduled visit with an orthopedic surgeon on
September 1st. September could be a painful month.
The moral of the story is once somebody like me retires, the
body immediately falls apart.
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