Jana Remy
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Jana Remy

  • Writing
    • Disability
    • Making History
    • Digital Humanities
      • dayofDH
    • Canoeing
    • Creative Nonfiction & Essays
    • Feminism
    • Bibliographies
      • Pacific Worlds Bibliography
    • Social Media
      • Mentions/Links
  • Scholarship
    • Awards/Fellowships
    • Conferences & Invited Talks
    • Collaboration
    • Workshops
    • Conference Planning
    • Technical Skills
  • Teaching
    • Blogposts About Teaching
amputeebodydisability

doctor

written by Jana February 28, 2012

One of the by-products of my recent-ish divorce is that I just barely got my own health insurance policy.  It’s the first time that I’ve had insurance on my own (not as the result of being a dependent of someone else), and seems a pretty big step for me in being financially and legally independent.

So recently I saw my new doctor for the first time.  I went specifically to get a prescription for some changes to my prosthesis.  When we met I explained to him exactly what I needed, gave him the contact info for my prosthetist, etc.  I didn’t expect for him to examine me, nor did I even sit on the exam table in the room.  Also, when he queried me about whether I was up to date on my vaccinations, I could tell that my reply left him a little bit speechless.

“How do you know so much about this stuff? He asked as he gestured to a screen on his computer showing checkboxes for my immunization record–just after I’d given him a 10-minute spiel about the Tdap vaccine.

“I’m a medical historian, with a strong research interest in resurgent disease.” I replied.

I must say, there’s something about going into a doc’s office with some confidence, knowing exactly what I need and how to get it, that tends to offset any anxiety that I feel from having had so much medical trauma in the past.  Perhaps it’s a bit intimidating for the physicians that I interact with–but I think they tend to find it rather refreshing among the garden-variety sore throats and coughs that they see all day long…

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3 comments

Penny February 28, 2012 - 12:56 pm

When we were in the NICU, the attending was doing rounds with a group of interns(?), telling them about Jake’s anatomical anomalies, and misspoke–he described the portal vein as the hepatic vein, more or less. Anyway, Peter caught it, and said no, I think you mean the other way… and you could see the interns murmuring, yikes, he corrected Dr. So-and-So. But the doctor said “Oh, right, of course,” and moved on. And from then on we got maybe a little more advanced vocabulary in our own briefings. :)

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janaremy February 28, 2012 - 4:16 pm

It’s true that the language generally shifts quite a bit when the docs realize that you know what you’re talking about (and sometimes it even makes them a bit nervous…)

Reply
Penny February 28, 2012 - 5:31 pm

I’ve learned to be careful with my language in hospitals–I can just see them writing “mother uses a lot of medical terms” as if that’s a terribly worrisome sign. But I think “mother exists” is the real problem for some hospital staff, so I can’t win.

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About Me

About Me

Hi there friend, and welcome to my blog. I started writing on the internet two decades ago. Since then I've started and finished a PhD program, left the Mormon church and became a Quaker, got divorced, remarried, found full-time work in academia, took up rock climbing and outrigger canoeing, and traveled across the globe (China! Belgium! Italy! Chicago! Montana! Portland! Gettysburg! and oh-so-many points in-between). This blog is eclectic and random--it has poetry and cooking and books. And cats. And flowers. And the ocean (my ocean). But in that sense it's a good reflection of me and my wide-ranging, far-reaching, magpie curiosity.

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