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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Health service

A friend recently told me that she was glad that I was no longer writing about my illness and surgery. This post will break that pattern - sort of.

I had to see the biofeedback nurse today at 11:30 am and then my surgeon at 1:10 pm. The general instructions are to arrive 30 minutes early for appointments. After checking into the system, you are sent to a common waiting room from which you are then called back to your specific clinic. I had to teach two classes this morning so I taught the last in my street clothes and then raced for downtown, hoping that I would find parking. I arrive at about 10:30 am. About two minutes after I sat down in the large waiting room a nurse from the Urology clinic came out to call in two patients. He recognized me and smiled and waved. Five minutes later he called me in, took me to a different room to change because the usual one was in use and I was then shown into the nurse's office. She explained that she was running ahead of schedule because of a cancellation. But she also told me that they had looked at the schedule and realized that it didn't make sense for me to wait to see the surgeon. So he would see me as soon as she was done. She was right - he was ready for me as soon as I was dressed. I ended up leaving the building before my first appointment was scheduled to begin.

This is not an anomaly. The Urology clinic staff have made a conscious decision to run on time or even early. In my fifteen or so visits, they have always been early. When I discuss this with the staff their reaction is always "We have no right to think that our time is more valuable than our patients'." That is just the first in a series of care decisions that can only have a positive impact on health outcomes. Bravo to them.

On the mitochondrion front: a really good solution to muscle and an idea that ditches bone and substitutes hemoglobin. It sounds complicated but is in fact simple and restful.

Time = 52 min

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