SarahKeturah's Journal

I know I posted just earlier.  But, it has come to my realization that what I suspected is true. 

I started thinking about it......and wondered if being on my period would affect my ESR rate.  Of course, even a young woman doctor fresh out of UCLA isn't perhaps in tune enough to think about asking their patients if they are on their period before administering an ESR rate.  Of course, it has frustrated me in the past that a gyn doctor before administering a pap, doesn't consider your period either (even though they track this stuff when you come in)!  I have learned over time to ask before I make the trip, "will my period affect the test?" and that is before anything is done.  I didn't think to ask my doctor who sprung the blood tests on me that day......it simply didn't come to mind.

And I looked it up and found that you shouldn't take an ESR test on your period because basically the results are invalid.  Since my ESR was 72 when I felt my best but was pregnant, I was wondering why at 50 I didn't feel all that bad.  And after thinking a while I had come to the conclustion that perhaps being on my period had something to do with it.  I had told the nurse who was taking my blood (because I was concerned about all the blood loss) but she seemed unconcerned.  Of course!  Ever get the feeling that no one wants to really take responsibility for anyone else?

I get that feeling all the time.  I tell you, I don't want to be one of those people.  I want to help other people if I get the opportunity, even if it puts me at risk.  I realize that it's always easier said than done, and I regret moments in my life when I froze up and didn't do something when I could have.  Perhaps this is a crazy tangent, but it just shows me that generally, people take time to process stuff and don't react when they can.....I'd like to think that if the next moment happens where I could have reacted or said something, or whatever that I will be paying attention enough and act quickly enough.

Ok, enough of that tangent.  I just feel that doctors are simply not up to par.  And I also looked up the prices of Minocycline and Sulfasalazine.  It's no wonder that my doctor would push the Sulfasalazine....it's like $4 a pill (depending on who disperses it) and at 6 pills a day, that's fairly expensive, compared to Minocycline which is closer to .18 cents a day.  Our health care system is just so frustrating!   I don't want to believe that everything is run by money, but it is!  I wish someone would prove me wrong.  It's also no wonder that my older, retired doctor was just fine with me trying Minocycline (if that's what I wanted to try next), it was because he was ready to retire.....he didn't care about money any more.  And this is partly why I chose an old man (with a good reputation) was to avoid this exact situation that I now have with a young doctor who is I'm sure, not only trying to go by the book, but is influenced by the pharmaceutical companies and as well, also I'm sure trying to make a lot of money.  And who knows what they teach these guys in college.  Perhaps the pharaceutical companies are also supplying them with text books.  how would you know?

I'm certainly questioning everything these days and learning, that doctors for the most part, don't have my health truly at heart.  It's more about money and making sure that their ass is covered in the process.  Am I wrong?