Quick Follow-Up to My Medical Rant

Just wanted to post a quick follow-up to my sleep-deprived medical rant from earlier this week

Things I love about the US medical system:  Being able to get in to see a specialist VERY quickly.
Things I hate about the US medical system:  The enormous bill I’m going to get for appointment with above-mentioned specialist (but at least I’ve met my insurance deductible for the year now!)

Short version: There is nothing wrong with me (at least as it relates to my iron/anemia).
Long version: I need to fire my PCP (primary care physician/family doctor).  According to the hematologist, my iron levels were never high enough to cause alarm.  They were lower when she ran new labs on Wednesday, but looking at the results from the tests my PCP ran, the hematologist said there was no need for any concern to begin with.  As for the anemia, the hematologist said: “I don’t know what she (my PCP) was looking at.  Your hemoglobin levels were normal on the labs she did.  She must have been looking at the wrong line on the report.  Your hemoglobin was normal then, and it’s normal again today.”

So, I  spent three hours of my life and copious amounts of cash sitting at a cancer clinic listening to a 40 year old guy tell an 70 year old man about his brain tumor, while the 70 year old was talking about his leukemia.  Nothing like a little “hope you don’t die” casual conversation to brighten the day.

There goes my “I’m tired because I have anemia” excuse for next weekend.  Now all I’m left with is “I’m tired because I’ve ran 40 miles, but I’ve got 60 more to go so I better learn to love the pain or it’s going to be a LONG day.”