Ticked off the list

[ewt]

Well, whatever it is, it isn't Lyme - probably just irritation from a spider bite or similar. Lyme wouldn't have a blister and would be much redder and bigger. I'm to keep it clean (duh) and monitor for any changes and go back if I feel really sick or anything.

Ho-hum. That was a waste of an afternoon, in one sense, but a relief in another. Yay for not having to take yuckky antibiotics. Yay also for micropore tape.

Comments

[mrsneeze.livejournal.com]

Heh... I have a lot of sympathy with doctors on things like this. I mean, they do know stuff, and I don't really. It's like when I get people come up to me with a computer and tell me their hard drive is broken and can I fit a new one for them, when it's just that they've broken their software or had accidentally reassigned a mount point or something - they effectively are wasting my time by telling me not what's actually wrong but what they think is the root cause of whatever is wrong. So as a doctor, I'd rather someone came up and said "I have a swelling in my right eyebrow" than "I have eyebrow cancer".

Hmm. Nothing wrong with a bit of paranoia I suppose though, if you really think it might be dangerous. Umm... and this comment is supposed to said in a friendly tone of voice, although I'm a little bit on edge atm. Don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you off ;)

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I have a fair amount of sympathy as well. Bodies are complex and people get all sorts of ideas about what might be wrong.

I went, I said, "I have this rash, I didn't have it yesterday, I've been out in long grass a lot and want to confirm it isn't anything nasty, especially because it has this little ring around it and little rings around things are usually bad news as I understand it, any ideas?"

I know the problem of people going "I think it's X" when it isn't anything like it; I also know that I lack the training to differentiate between EM rash and ordinary run-of-the-mill irritation, when that irritation doesn't seem to be normal for me. I went to the walk-in centre not because I was convinced it was Lyme, but because it could have been - the rash is pretty variable - and I knew I couldn't tell, especially as with my other heatlh problems I might not notice some of the other symptoms, and as someone who traipses around foraging a lot I'm probably at slightly higher risk than most (and I was particularly stupid about a week ago and walked in some very long grass in a skirt - would never do that in tick season in Canada but just forgot here).

Basically, if I don't know about identifying something I take it to someone with more training; I wouldn't expect someone to identify mugwort successfully after seeing it in some of the pictures online. These things take practice.

I apologised for taking up their time (about 120 seconds in all) and the nurse said that I absolutely did the right thing by coming in if I don't normally have that reaction to random bug bites (I don't, or haven't previously). They weren't terribly busy. I may disagree with them (or at least be unconvinced) about the prevalence of Lyme disease in this country but I'm not going to insist that I can identify a skin rash and they cannot when I know I do not have the expertise; whatever else happens, that particular rash is not likely to be due to Lyme disease.

I did have some trouble with my GP for a while where she did not take my physical symptoms seriously; this is a completely different problem, though.

[vashti.livejournal.com]

It's true, it can be annoying; but it's equally annoying to go to the GP with a couple of days sleeping off a fever and swollen, striated tonsils and get given the old wink and nod when you say you have tonsillitis. After he looked, he sounded very surprised and said "oh yes, you do, don't you?". Like I hadn't had a couple of hundred sore throats growing up for various reasons.

I think the point of that is that yes, while it's annoying to have someone who doesn't know anything tell you your job, it's also annoying to have uppity professionals assume you can't possibly know anything.

[mrsneeze.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's true too. Very irritating when people don't listen (and the computer analogy breaks down usually then, since its easier to check things ;) - I had a friend who was blatently suffering from insomnia due to stress and perhaps depression - loads of bad things going on with her life - and the doctor says "You're drinking too much tea. Less tea and all will be fine". Bah.

The problem is that (presumably) the vast majority of the people who go and say "I have tonsillitis" really do just have a sore throat though. If they didn't, your doctor might well have taken you more seriously... at least in the end he did agree though :)

[mrsneeze.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you've thought about the issue. I think you'd just picked up on a pet irritation of mine :) And as you say, it's great to go along and say what's physically wrong and then maybe state a worry about what it might be, that's both respectful to their profession but at the same time stating your position.

You do have to wonder about the stats, I suppose. I wonder if Lyme's is common in certain areas and she really meant that "I've only heard of one case in ages". maybe I should read the other thread ;)

[idoru.livejournal.com]

I have a bad habit of already knowing what's wrong when I go to the doctor. Of course, with me, usually it's: sinus infection [rare these days], UTI.. something that I've had before, where I just need to go in so I can get drugs. If I DON'T know what's up, I consult the Inter Nets, and become one of THOSE patients, one who goes in armed with questions and papers.. which, I guess, is better than one who will accept an antibiotic as the panacea for every old thing, but it must be annoying for the doctor who wants to do their job.

[damncutekitty.livejournal.com]

I think it is good to go to the doctor armed with information. I suffered the side effects of uterine fibroids for YEARS while my doc wrote it off as just "hormones, you'll grow out of it". Had I done a little research I would have known to demand an ultrasound. By the time I got proper care the damn things were ENORMOUS and I had to be hospitalized.

[403.livejournal.com]

That's good to know.