I Hate Doctors

This is kind of what it feels like.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I have a chronic illness called Celiac Disease.

I have been trying to contact my doctor's office for AN ENTIRE DARN MONTH to get a letter explaining to my professors that sometimes, I am going to be sick.  There will be times when I can't feel my hands.  My short term memory is pretty much gone.

The doctor's office knows all of this and has extensive record of it.

When I showed up there today (because the nurse's assistant kept sending me blank emails...technology, it's all the rage right now) - I was told that, without having an operation on my small intestine, I could not get a letter.

The diagnosis is all but confirmed:  The doctor has seen my body and physical symptoms, I've had so much blood work I have to take pills to replace all the blood I've lost, and I've had a bone scan that showed holes in my spine due to malabsorbtion of nutrients.

This is not enough for the medical office.

The operation will tell me that I have Celiac Disease, which I have known - and my doctor has known- for almost two months now.

The operation is nothing more than a transfer of funds from my insurance company to my doctor.  It is painfully transparent to me now that medicine doesn't work when it's run as a business.

Just in case anybody thinks I'm for universal healthcare now- NO NO NO NO NEVER.  I probably wouldn't even have a diagnosis by now if I lived in Canada or Western Europe.  I would probably also be gnawing on a baguette right now, which would be extra bad.

I cannot have the operation while I am in school because I have a history of bad reactions to anaesthesia.  I will have to wait until winter break to consent to this useless violation of my body.  But I am in school NOW.  My diagnosis has been known for MONTHS.  And I can get no help until my doctor makes a profit.

If, by chance, I still have any mafia relatives floating around out there - Georgetown Hospital, Second Floor, Gastro Unit.  They would like some cannoli.  Use extra flour this time - I need you to bring the pain.