Hungry Hungry Hippocrates

I am forced to concur.
This is not my design, btw, I just Googled it.
It is for sale though.

I had three doctor's appointments scheduled today. One, with my otolaryngology oncological surgeon, another with my general practitioner, and finally the weekly physical therapist visit.

Except the physical therapist wasn't today. I forgot we're skipping a week now.

My family doctor was talkative. A lot. Said he wasn't confident he could get a speech therapist for me. It wasn't that he didn't think I would benefit from one, it was that he didn't think it would get approved. I talked to him a little about the problems I'm having with Ironwood and United. He knew a good bit about it. Then he went on to explain how a certain healthcare organization out here was bent on becoming the Kaiser Permanente of the Southwest and they were pitting health service groups - like Ironwood - against each other and pretty much using the insurance company as muscle. One of my Ironwood oncologists had suggested that I try to get Access to switch me to Mercy Care. I wasn't about to call them. I'm not even going to give them a reason to look my way, for fear they'll do something random.

My surgeon is the opposite, bizzaro version of my family doctor. He says almost nothing, and when he does, it's not clear what he means because his face is a blank. I can't tell if he's passive or pissed or asleep. He asks how you are and then just listens. No follow-up questions, really, he just moves on to the next thing. Looked in my mouth and the back of my throat and said everything looks good. Felt the nodes and such and said everything looked good. We talked about the upcoming PETscan and he said 2 months is too soon after the last one. He added, if he were an insurance company, he'd deny it. I'm not sure how to take that part. I can think of a few reasons, but only one that's bad for me. I don't want any more rads than I need, but I also don't want to skip a scan because it's beaucoup cash. In the end, I understand that I'm on welfare, so I'm not likely to be getting the best of care. Doesn't mean I gotta be happy with that, though I have to say, even though I have a lot of minor, daily complaints, I can't complain about the overall care I've gotten.

Side note: A few years ago it was pointed out that the true symbol
of Hippocrates and physicians was not the Caduceus but the Asclepius, which is
basically just a stick with a bent tip, not a bad-ass sceptre of winged power.
The world said no.

I don't have to see him again until April. I also found out that my surgeon doesn't take Mercy Care.