Is There a Doctor in the House

For many years, I’ve been taking allergy shots which are supposed to help your body get used to certain things so it doesn’t overreact. I did because it felt like I was getting a sinus infection every fall and bronchitis every spring. Pretty sure I’m allergic to every type of pollen out there. Was told the shots aren’t a cure but might reduce the symptoms which they have. I’ve still had a couple of bouts with respiratory infections but the frequency has been greatly reduced.

This year is different. I don’t know why. Maybe the ragweed is producing some kind of super pollen. With all the stuff draining out of me, it has triggered a cough that has been with me since Labor Day. Kind of on and off thing. I’ll be fine for a bit and then, for no good reason, a coughing fit is triggered. Sometimes, the cough sounds like things are breaking up. Sometimes it is just dry. Either way, it is no fun.

The good news is that is hasn’t really disturbed my sleep or bothered me when dancing or other exercise. I mean the coughing fits can certainly come up on lessons or when I’m trying to sleep but the timing is more random so I can have nights that are essentially problem free.

I know that there isn’t really going to be anything that can be done. You try to manage the symptoms and hope for the best. Still my wife has been bugging me for at least a week to go see a doctor.

I knew that trying to get in to see my family physician was a lost cause. Just for fun, I checked and the earliest appointment was with the nurse practitioner in early October. They do have the standard lines about calling if it is urgent. And the last time I mentioned this to my doctor, he said the same thing. But since the cough is really the only issue, it doesn’t seem urgent to me.

That would leave urgent care (done that before) or even the little clinic in the drugstore (also used that as an option). Kind of makes me wonder why you even need a primary care doc. What’s the benefit if you can’t ever get in to see them. Well I can but I have to make the appointment well in advance.

But they had another option of talking with the “Virtual Care Team”. Could have arranged a video thing but I opted for the text option. Just made a few selections and typed in some info on what was bugging me and a short time later got a response from someone with all the same advice I’d been doing and a prescription for some cough medicine.

I suppose this is part of the future of medicine. There was the standard disclaimer that if things weren’t better in a certain period of time then I needed to follow up. There were things in there that just felt like boiler plate responses – like a recommendation for tylenol to reduce a fever even though I never said anything about a fever. Kind of like they just had canned responses for a cold/allergy/upper respiratory and just spit it all out.

The response said the cough could last 4-6 weeks but if things weren’t better in five days then I should follow up. That seemed a bit strange. And what are they going to do in a week except prescribe more stuff and give me the same advice.

It was a little odd to do this all online. I suppose it wouldn’t be that much different if I went in to the office. I guess the only differences would be some check of the vitals to make sure I don’t have a fever and that my lungs sound fine. Guess it saved me from sitting around a waiting room with other sick people.

At the very least, it means my wife can stop bugging me to go see a doctor.