Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by nel on February 18, 2011 at 8:27pm

Hi Jen , Compassion : " do to others what you would have them do to you."......my Docs and rest of Health Team treat me as well as I treat them ....I respect them and in turn I feel respected...and not only diabetes related :)

Permalink Reply by PJtype2 on February 18, 2011 at 8:38pm

A listening ear; and he expresses what I consider to be true compassion;
in the consultation to my anxieties

Permalink Reply by Linda G on February 19, 2011 at 4:45am

We lucked out with most of our doctors...family physician, optometrist, allergist. As well, our pharmacist is the epitome of care, compassion and service.
Our family physician, however, is on sick leave as he has suffered a heart attack (2 consecutively), and though I want him to return, and the prospect of foraging for a new one in not only daunting in this age of doctor shortage....but we may not have one as good....honestly, I feel he should take this as a red flag and retire. His office receptionist says he is too young, but he's 56. Why NOT retire early...but he's already inching his way back in by slowly coming to his office to do paper work, and apparently (the pharmacist tells me), returning home totally exhausted. He plans on coming back in a month!!! My sense is, why risk another infarction, take the time to be with your family. His children are my children's age....there are grandkids in the future!!
So is compassion necessary?? You bet!! It makes or break....and would I be writing this way about my family p. if he was NOT compassionate!! He was one to offer samples of meds when I didn't have coverage yet. He never charged to have forms filled...and always went the extra mile.

Permalink Reply by bikette on February 26, 2011 at 12:26pm

We didn't exactly 'luck out' with our 'team' of medics. We learned through very painful experience who was good for us and who wasn't. Then we set about trying to win over the doctors we really wanted to work with. Mostly it was a long long wait and some perseverence and even having one doc call another doc on our behalf. Once you get people you can work with, it's really difficult to let them go. There is a rating system on the net now. I checked out a few docs on that system and found they all passed, but there were not a lot of 'votes' to consider representative of their practice.
And I'm with you, Linda.... really great doctors will push themselves well beyond their own physical limits and we, as caring patients have to recognize this and do our best to let them heal when they need that time. But what do you do in the meantime??
Not to worry. Mr. McGuinty promised us more doctors and he wouldn't lie!!