depressed over the over use of DOCTORS and PROCEDURES..approaching 80

Count me IN! I am a retired RN, most of my career was spent taking care of first the active duty, then I went into the Veterans hospitals and finally as a Director of Nurses for almost 20 years for Long Term/Rehab patients. So I know first hand how the Medical Community refers to us oldsters! First let me say I hate the expression that the physicians, NP etc use as "improving your quality of life." NO, my quality of life was when I didn't have all these ailments......it a "change of life style." No quality to it most of the time. I too. am tired of going to one specialist to the other, (who by the way don't even communicate with each other) that misses and/or overlooks several things. I truly wish that everyone could have an informed advocate that could competently help manage the care the geriatric patients receive. Also I think that there should be a pharmacist in every physicians' office to do a medication review and approval before the Dr can write a new prescription to assure it is not contraindicated based on health status and/or will cause side effects, because if you have a side effect to the new medication....guess what, you get put on another one....and so it goes. Me and my Soap-Box! I'm in my 70's and thank goodness am alert, oriented and have not lost the capability of doing deep-dive research on anything a physician may recommend in caring for me. I am sure there are some physicians out there that a quite happy I'm not their patient. But I am respectful, I just ask alot of questions. Enuff for the nite. God Bless!

@margaretob None of your issues are at all doofus, and the gastroparesis (I had to look it up) sounds nasty. As for anything ending, it will all end at once ... I admire you having faith, but I'm not sure how helpful it is. As for the end, I'm not at all sure how to deal. I really just want to be taken by surprise, swiftly.

@foundryrat743 no one says you have to do all those things. It’s your decision. As my doctor said: “just because a doctor tells you you should do something doesn’t mean you have to.”

I’m feeling a small sense of comfort reading this, everyone is in the same age group and the disappointments we feel are very similar. I sometimes think that I am losing my mind, I have never been treated so poorly by the medical profession and I don’t want to be kind and accepting of these people, I agree that the world changed a lot in the last few years and not for the better…due to several health problems I was forced to deal with them, even my primary health care provider is like a rude stranger to me. The biggest issue for me is my lack of support from family and friends, I realize that I am not alone but I can only feel my own pain, it really does help to talk about it with people here.

@frouke HEY FROUKE I feel the same way. Passed up the PHYSICAL AND BLOOD WORK and LECTURE this year. ONCE a year is ENOUGH. Insulin dependent diabetic for 31 years and it works. Now neuropathy in both legs, take MOTRIN, refused double knee surgery, and recently GASTROPARESES...no solid food but liquid works okay.
AM eighty one this past JUNE....Thanks for the encouragement, we all need that and the PRAYERS if you so can. I will do the same...MargaretO

@frouke That’s exactly how I feel! Even my primary care Dr. has been getting edgy with me! So much has changed, since COVID! I don’t recognize”The good ole USA”, anymore, where medical pro staffs used to say “How can I help you, and do you need my advice on an ailment that may be concerning you?” Instead, like just this last week, I had recently been diagnosed with Arterial Fibrillation, after a very scary episode, where I felt like my heart was flip flopping in my chest, and the primary doctor said, “Well, at least you could feel something happening! What about those people, where they have a-fib, but don’t feel anything going on in the chest?” I could express other similar encounters, but, the bottom line, is that, at least where I live, I get the impression that medical pros are tired of dealing with elderly people, on Medicare!

The most difficult issue in healthcare today is finding a good primary/general/internal medicine provider. That’s entirely due to the system — they aren’t paid enough (often these practices LOSE money, and have to be somehow subsidized), and, they aren’t allowed enough time to manage all the complexities of chronic illness and aging.
I now know both categories well. I am a retired primary care nurse practitioner, and I just turned 69 yrs old. Thankfully I’ve been able to keep my weight down in recent years, which helps me avoid some problems. But don’t think I don’t know how hard it is to manage weight!
Try to find a gerontologist if you can. They know all about the problem of poly-pharmacy and will help you reduce it. Ideally they will appreciate your views, be open to questions, and respect your choices.

@foundryrat743 You hit the nail on the head! It's the Medicare ........no good reimbursement or you will see dr going the other way and order every test they can think of and keep you on the road going for appointments/procedures just to pull in those Medicare dollars???

kdalda75 | @kndaustin71 | just now
In reply to @foundryrat743 "@frouke That’s exactly how I feel! Even my primary care Dr. has been getting edgy with..." + (show)

@foundryrat743 You hit the nail on the head! It's the Medicare ........no good reimbursement or you will see dr going the other way and order every test they can think of and keep you on the road going for appointments/procedures just to pull in those Medicare dollars???

@kndaustin71 You are correct! Medicare is what compels some Doctor’s to behave the way they do, at times!