can I have a you make a copy of the script for my records?

"Why do doctors make you wait so long?"

I want to answer, "because this is the fourth time this month we've been here, you silly little hypochondriac, and they know this and are probably busy with people who have something real wrong with them." 

Instead, I say, "you should ask her, I bet they do it for fun." 

She laughs and proceeds to wiggle her "swollen" foot, the reason for this particular visit, in circles. 

"I can't ask her, that would be rude! She's the doctor, she can make us wait as long as she wants."

"I suppose she can." 

After a 46 second examination of her foot, it's off to get an x-ray. There's another few hundred dollars to tack onto her bills under "unnecessary medical procedures with normal results." 

These people know that, and that's why they play into it. As much as I hate dragging her to the doctor for her newest WebMD diagnosis, I hate how these doctors handle it more. Feeding into her delusional vertigo by saying, "it could be a side effect of any of your psych meds," and sending us to her psychiatrist to have them reevaluated is not how you handle a girl who thrives on the attention.   Of course, the psychiatrist left the meds the same, but had me schedule a follow up in three weeks. 

And so the never ending cycle of waiting rooms continues. I spend more time in exam rooms than I do in my office, watching the "concern" in the doctor's eyes grow as she describes why she needs a full body MRI.

"We better schedule one, just be safe," they say.

"We'll get more money out of this," is what they want to say. 

She returns from her x-ray and the nurse tells me, much to my surprise, that everything looks normal. The nurse tells her to ice and elevate as she wraps it in an Ace bandage. It's exactly what I told her the day before, but I can see her face relaxing as the nurse wraps. 

As we walk out the door, I tell start to tell   her, "told you so," when she wraps her arms around me and squeezes.

"Thank you." 

I go through a lot of trouble, and it can drive me insane, to give this girl, and others, peace of mind. In this field, going to the doctor to get a new medicine, or even to be told that you're fine, is something they can understand. This is where they find reassurance that they really are going to be okay. It may push me to my breaking point if I have to sit in another 32 degree waiting room, telling myself i do NOT have to pee, this week, but it all melts away when they say thank you. 

That is, until the next time...