Print out the eye chart, cover one eye, and see how you read it from 20 feet out. I failed line 8 abysmally.I went for my annual check-up, and I must say, this doctor was thorough. In fact, he was too thorough. He told me way more than I ever wanted to know.During the two-hour examination, I found out I’ve gained weight (too much ice cream), my blood pressure ...
Colleen Kelly Mellor
Using gender as sole determinant for a choice of doctor
It happened 25 years ago and I never forgot it. I’d been in the forefront of women’s consciousness-raising; I recognized that women had been professionally downtrodden for years (in certain fields), and hoping to do my part to balance the inequity, I opted for female doctors whenever possible.But using gender as sole determinant for my choice of doctor would prove to be a huge mistake … as I’d learn.At ...
Screen your sleep lab when evaluating your insomnia
Insomnia plagues me. In that, I’m no different from millions of other Americans. But I am different in that I sought supposed experts to help me deal with this situation. My experience proved to be a nightmare.First, I believed my sleeplessness due to the fact I feel “on,” all the time, doing too many things in the space of 24 hours. ...
Kernels of humor in a tragic cancer story
I didn't always recognize its importance. I mean when I was younger, I thought that being attractive, slim, athletic, articulate were sure-fire antidotes to one’s suffering a life of mediocrity. I just never recognized the value of something I took for granted, my sense of humor. And then life happened.When I was 36, my husband (who was older by 12 years) was diagnosed with lung cancer. Inoperable, incurable, his type ...
Choose your primary care physician with particular care
I told a friend what I did recently to get in to see a dermatologist and she was shocked.“You wrote a letter asking her to take you as patient?” “Wow!” “Yes,” I admitted. “I’d called her office for an appointment; she wasn’t taking new patients; I needed to resort to an over-the-top approach.”You see, I’d researched her (ok, I Googled her) and after reading her background, schooling, and patient reviews, ...
