The frustration is palpable. The anxiety just mounts.

The irritability builds especially during those endless waking hours that occupy the nighttime when sleep is supposed to carry us toward dawn…but instead holds us back from our finish line as we try to imagine solutions that we know actually don’t exist.

Making appointments with medical specialists these days tends to be a lesson in fortitude since we seem to be just pointing and choosing a name from a provider list of unknowns. Maybe if they were categorized with star ratings like movies on Netflix it would lend itself to greater confidence to decide which name “sounded” more appealing. Biographies including areas of speciality studies seems to be a thing of the past. 

The complexities of medical conditions as we age is daunting.

At least it can be when research has uncovered new variations for every sort of malady. I'm not ungrateful, mind you. I think it’s a wonderful day and age to be alive…

However, staying alive within the framework of some of the numerous symptoms that might be associated with an issue can definitely take tenacity. 

Let’s take for instance, a sleep issue. Back in the day, when life was more of a rugged nature, we worked, we ate, we slept like a baby, and we woke up and began again.

Getting sleep and staying asleep were non-issues back then.

I recall my grandad taking a “nip” before bedtime and was asleep before his head hit the pillow right after he declared “Amen” as his prayers were concluded.

NOW, a sleep study is required for a diagnosis to be conducted in a strange place, far from home with machines attached to our heads and the drone of a recording device in attendance. Nighty night…I think not.

The plethora of possibilities for that resulting test could result in such a variety of sleep diagnoses and solutions starting with  devices to wear all night long  … OR  a prescription …take two before bed. 

What could possibly go wrong with either of those options? 

Back to my reference of eight months….we’re clearly no longer in the COVID frenzy of a few years ago. Routine medical care is now sort of readily available but not always as close as the local Doc who used to be in our community. We’re traveling now. Like it or not. 

We are however in the current situation where a variety of options for medical insurance policies change annually and physician availability is steadily declining. It reminds me of the old adage…I’ll take one from column A and two from column B scenario. 

It all seems like a crap shoot. We’re betting on possibilities not  overall good medical care. The what if’s don’t come into play most of the time and can catch us off guard and much lighter

 in the pocket book.

Doctors have retired. Dare I say, most of the good ones who would sit, listen and share thoughts with us that are not timed to their Apple watch alarms. 

Have you witnessed your Doctor entering the examination room where you’ve been sitting for however long and their first glance is the time on the clock not at us? It’s not necessarily their faults that this is now the norm…but let’s face it…they are the ones who didn’t strongly object either.

So here we are…facing a crisis of sorts. We’re caught in this trap that is not of our or their making. We’re traveling a considerable distance from home to a medical office that we’ve never been to before to meet a specialist that we were not personally referred to by our physician assistant who also has limited knowledge of who we are and we are sharing concerns about symptoms that may or not be serious.

And all of this took… most likely eight months to get on a schedule.

Is anyone else seeing the problem here? 

Pat Larsen is a syndicated columnist who lives, works, plays and prays in Greene County, NY.

Have a thought you’d like to share? Contact Pat at pelarsen528@gmail.com