Do Not Let Yesterday's Shadows Spoil Today's Sunshine

“Don’t let the shadows of yesterday spoil the sunshine of tomorrow.” Think what that saying means to you. If something bad happens to you on Friday, something great could happen on Saturday. I think it means that today’s sorrow can be overcome by tomorrow’s joy. Tomorrow is one day of the future you have always thought about. When it came time for me to go on Medicare, I went to the Social Security office, took a number and waited my turn. Then I found out something pretty awful. They said that the Social Security number, I gave them and the one that was really mine was not mine. It seems when I married in 1960 and changed my last name, the card was mailed to me with one wrong number on it. I did not notice it and since I was on my husband’s health insurance policy, no one really asked for my SS number in those days. If they did, it was not used and so no one told me it was wrong. When I applied for supplemental health insurance to take over when Medicare did not pay it all, the doctor got back a letter stating they could not give me insurance, because I had about twenty illnesses and diseases and therefore was uninsurable. The doctor wrote them back, that he was my doctor for fifteen years and I had not had not even one of the stated illnesses. It came to be that the wrong number on my new card was the number of a lady who had all these problems. They did not want to insure me, because I was not me, I was her. So after about two hours there and with a kind clerk helping me, they realized that I was me and she was her and I had the wrong number. So they cleared the way for my number to be changed, as it was before I converted it to my married last name. It took a few weeks and a letter came stating that I was # so and so and not the other number. Everything was cleared up, but it left a funny, odd and unusual feeling with me. Here I was me and she was me and I was her and she was the one with the great number of health problems. It all worked out and I got the supplemental insurance and was able to use my former number which was really me and not her number, which was her. I was lucky the doctor saw that the patient they were describing to him, was not one he knew. It was her and he did not know of her. I felt like I had been a hidden person with the right name and the incorrect SS number and this had gone on for about thirty-nine years. I was fortunate that I did not need a costly operation or procedure during these thirty-nine years, because it would not have been sanctioned or processed. I would have been in deep trouble, if it was necessary at once. So a simple one number mistake made by a computer or shall we say the person working the computer could have changed a lot of circumstances. When I had an operation in 1997 on a toe, the doctor came into the room and drew a circle with a blue marker pen on that toe. I asked him why and he said to make sure the proper toe was being operated on and not one on the other foot. They do markings now with lots or most operations, to make sure a terrible error does not occur and the wrong part is operated on by mistake. They have robots now programmed to do some operations. I guess the real doctor is there too, but who would want that? Not me. I want the proper medical person to attend to me so I know that he learned all he could in medical school and in residency and with other experiences in that field. When my son was given a procedure called Lithotripsy for kidney stones, my daughter-in-law and I did not know that the doctor who was supposed to do it was late and he had another doctor do it. True, it was not a real operation; it was a machine run I think by the doctor to break up the stones. The second doctor came out and I had used him myself, and he said Hi to me and said “your son is doing well and came through it fine and he will be going home soon.” I told my daughter-in-law that meant he must have seen the procedure and was nice enough to see me there and to come out and to tell me that. However, the doctor who was supposed to do it never came out. When my son was released, he was really angry. He was told his doctor was running late at the other office and that they advised him that the second one would attempt it. My son had the choice of not doing it, when he was all prepared for it and or coming back in a few weeks for the original doctor to work him in his schedule. It all worked out alright, however, I and my son and his wife thought it very odd the way it was presented to him. It was take it or leave it. He had come in from out of town to use the same doctor he used when he lived in Baltimore before his marriage and moving away, and he was changed at the last minute. When we are use to someone tending to us and it is health related, we should not be shoved around. We should be treated with courtesy and he should have been advised of this change immediately and not when he was prepped and ready to go. Sometimes, people are not considerate of other folks’ feeling and desires. This was not a change of actors in a play; this was not a change in paint color in one of your rooms by the painter; this was not a blue automobile substituted for a gray one , because the dealer wanted to make the sale regardless of your wishes. This event was about life and his life. They should have advised him that the doctor will be late and do you want to wait, not take it or leave it. They should have read the following saying and tried to use it in this health situation. “A careless word may kindle strife, a cruel word may wreck a life, a timely word may level stress and a kind word may heal and bless.” When we have to receive a medical procedure, we are scared and even though we now have instant knowledge with Google and we can find out all there is to know about anything and that can help to alleviate stress or strife; we still want the assurance of the medical person who is carrying out this specific process. When I gave birth to my son, my obstetrician was out of town and they brought in his associate to deliver my child. I had never met him and now days the ladies all meet at least once all the doctors in the OB practice. This is done so she will not be in the company of a stranger. In my days, forty-seven years ago, that was not done. We went to sleep then, no pushing, lots of breathing and long labors; we awakened and were told you had a boy or girl. This stranger doctor came in and said to me “you have a boy and I am Dr. C and I just delivered him.” I asked where Dr.S was and was told he was out of town. Everything worked out OK, until I started to get terrible headaches and I was informed that they had given me a spinal. I did not know that and no one told me that you cannot lie flat afterwards for many hours. So I did lie flat and a nurse came in and hollered at me, why was I doing that and I said why not and she said you had a spinal. Of course, that was an error too on their part, not notifying me about this and I suffered for over a month at home with what they called spinal headaches. I blamed the delivery doctor for not informing me of that happening. People are lax many times in lots of things, but when it is a medical event, everything should be double checked. Perhaps, now with computers, patients are more informed by the staff, as to what is going on, so nothing goes wrong. Truthfully, we, the patients are better off with being informed. My son and I were both in situations lacking in real concern and with the giving of necessary information. I am sure things are different now because we are all more educated in knowledge about our bodies and we do not think that the medical people are gods and that we are to accept whatever they tell us to do or to have done. The smart consumer who is the patient should ask all the questions he thinks of to make him feel more comfortable, before the incident occurs and if the doctor is impatient with you leave and find another one. There are hundreds and thousands of doctors who will sit down and be patient with the patient and that is your right, your need and your goal. Do not be thwarted by a snippy nurse or even the doctor and pulled into a situation you are not prepared for or even want. You are the consumer and you deserve all the knowledge that can be imparted to you, to use for your health and security. Once my former doctor told me upon my asking a question, he said “I do not have time to answer that now.” I replied “you could have answered the question in the same time that you told me you did not have time.” He is not my doctor since that reply. He is my past and previous doctor. I was too smart to continue on with him. Be as smart a consumer when it affects your body and mind as you are when you buy a new car, a new home, a new TV or even a new shirt or dress. A timely word will level your stress and a kind word will heal and bless. We deserve to be healed, blessed and most of all to be apprised and enlightened. We should not let the shadows spoil the sunshine of tomorrow. elita sohmer clayman