Chapter 7: Navigating Doctor Visits
On a warm second Saturday of October 2017, my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri met me at my mom's apartment in Highland Park to cook some foods with vegetables in them. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "I have made a lot of things using vegetables for us to eat for dinner: ginger sesame green bean stir-fry, broccoli stir-fry, fresh corn on the cob, and carrot cake for dessert, as well as beer to drink," I told my friends. "Wow, lots of vegetables!" Henri exclaimed. "That's a very good meal, Angel," James remarked. "Thanks, James," I replied. "That reminds me. We still have one more part of physical health to discuss. Besides eating healthy foods and exercising every day, there is something else we should do to maintain good physical health." "What's that, Angel?" Sarah asked. "Navigating doctor visits, of course," I replied. "Oh, of course," Sarah agreed. "Does anybody know why it is important to see the doctor regularly?" I asked. "I know why," James replied. "So, he or she makes sure that our bodies are strong and healthy, sort of like when I broke my wrist playing football in the backyard with Henri." "What types of doctors do you see?" I asked. "Like medical, specialists, therapists, etc.?" "I see all those types of doctors, but I also visit the eye doctor," Sarah replied. "Like the time when my old boyfriend, John Paul, took me to see an R-rated movie and needed to have my eyes checked." "Henri, when do you generally see your doctors?" I asked. "Oh, about once every two to four months," Henri replied. "Who usually makes your appointments?" "We do, Angel," James replied. "As a matter of fact, I made my doctor's appointment with Dr. Lee all by myself when I was 15 years old." "Good job, James," I praised my male friend. "Do you prepare before you go?" "Absolutely, Angel," Sarah replied. "It is important to have everything you need for a doctor's appointment, and I remembered all the letters on the chart that Dr. Siegel was showing me." "Do you find communicating with the doctors and staff difficult?" "Sometimes I do, Angel," Henri replied. "James, Sarah, what were some steps of visiting the doctor that you utilized?" I asked. "Well, we assembled lots of important things to take with us, Angel," Sarah replied, "such as my health insurance card." "Something fun to do in case I had to wait, such as my cell phone, magazines, books, crossword puzzles, or sudoku," James added. "Some sensory items, such as a fidget spinner or cube and a stress ball." "A list of questions or things I wanted to talk to the provider about." "A completed symptom worksheet." "Any logs or diaries related to my health." "Containers of all my current medications OR a list of all my current medications." "Any instructions or homework from an ER or hospital I have gone to recently that might be applicable." "Names, address, and directions to get to the office." "And anything else the provider asked me to bring." "Very good, guys," I praised my friends. "Now, what are some things you would have done after your visits to the doctor?" "Wait a minute, Angel," Henri chimed in. "Sometimes, doctors give me instructions for follow up, which are very important to follow." "That's right, Henri," I remarked. "Do you know why?" "To make sure we stay healthy, of course," Henri replied. "Sarah, James, what types of things might your doctors have asked you to do?" I asked my older friends. "They might have asked me to make a follow-up appointment," Sarah pointed out. "They might also have asked me to make an appointment with a professional they referred me to," James pointed out. "They might have required me to get a lab or x-ray of my eyesight," Sarah added. "They also might have required me to take medications as prescribed for my wrist to feel better," James added. "Now, let's role play pretending to schedule any recent doctor's appointments or the ones you guys made when you were teenagers with each other," I suggested. I role played scheduling a doctor's appointment with my former doctor Dr. Praniewicz from Lower Burrell for a terrible cold with Sarah, Sarah role played scheduling her eye doctor's appointment with her former doctor Dr. Siegel for terrible eyesight with James, and James role played scheduling his doctor's appointment with his former doctor Dr. Lee for his broken wrist with Henri. My cat, Mattie was watching us. "Your cat is so cute, Angel," Sarah told me. "Thanks, Sarah," I replied. I picked Mattie up and hugged her too tight. "You gotta put her down and give her space if she looks scared, Angel," Sarah told me. "I love her, though," I explained. "Show it in a different way," Sarah replied. Pretty soon, it was time for my friends to leave. "Thanks for a great evening, everyone!" I told my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"