Waiting

09/30/2022

Spending time in a doctor’s Waiting Room makes everybody I know, even my very patient husband, crazy. For reasons that I have sometimes thought about more often recently, I have some reflections.

The other day, I had a doctor’s appointment, the older you get there is more time spent in those rooms filled with mostly fidgety people. Since COVID, there seems to be all kinds of prohibitions about masking, and most health related offices still require questions about COVID exposure and travel,”Have YOU been out of the country in the past two weeks?”

After what seems like an interminable wait in the main waiting area, you finally hear your name called; with a name like mine you wonder what mispronunciations they can butcher it with this time, and you are put into yet another waiting room. You’re offered some kind of cover up that never seems to cover whatever you need to keep unexposed.

You get to wait some more but now you are cold and whiny.

Finally, if you are lucky, the doctor shows up. But, more often than not, it’s some nurse or P.A. That person asks you the same questions that you have probably been asked a million times before, maybe not a million but a lot.

Still no doctor.

Then you are taken to all different machines and labs where you are poked and prodded for tests that will determine your future. You hit the jackpot if the doctor actually gives you the findings while you are in the office; don’t count on it.

At the doctor’s visit that I had this week, a beloved and highly respected, popular doctor with whom I have a long and strong relationship, sensed my frustration; I had been waiting for his hopefully “good to go” release for over (I could have written “about” but as I say, I was Waiting) an hour. This was time spent on top of all of the intermittent tests and waiting between each stop and go.

This is what he told me. “ I am lucky that I have a popular practice; there are a lot of people who seek my help and expertise. I give each one of my patients the same care and attention; I don’t rush and I am very careful. I hope that is why they come to my office. I wonder if they get as nasty waiting for a weekly manicure to dry? Or what about a monthly mani-pedi?”

His practice is, by and large, women past 40.

“Do I have to apologize for expecting someone to wait once a year for an appointment that could potentially save their lives?”

I have to agree. Even though I surprisingly kept my mouth shut and did not respond with a quick,” At a mani-pedi appointment you are not worried that a ‘shoe will drop’ and there will be bad news.”

A lot to take in and think about.

I have a fabulous doctor story to share. Bob and I are lucky to have lifelong friends with whom we are still very close; one of them has been struggling with cancer for the past several years. He is on a protocol.

This friend spends a lot of time in doctor’s offices waiting. Right before Rosh Hashana he had a check up. Sadly, he had a tough result, another tumor had raised its ugly head. Over Rosh Hashana, I’m sure he and his loved ones seized the opportunity to have a serious conversation.

As we all do/did!

Wednesday,Tzom Gedalia, he returned for follow-up scans. Everyone, including his doctor, called it a miracle when the scans were clean. There is No Tumor!

I am confident that his tfilot were answered and that his wait was well worth the time.

At this time of reflection and prayer, we have to treasure the opportunities when they present. We need to take the time wherever we are, to read a book, write an email to a forgotten friend, plan a menu or write a reflection.

We must always remember that our time in this world is limited and to make the most of the time we are gifted.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a meaningful, easy fast.