Back to Dr. Miller

A few days, a robot called me to ask me if Friday was a good day for an appointment. I pressed "1" to confirm. What a strange way to get a doctor's appointment. I had no idea who the doctor was or why I was scheduled. But it turned out to be business as usual. It was indeed Dr. Laura Miller of Lifelong in Oakland, and it was a follow-up to my blood test in July. Dr. Miller had warned me that the last CT scan I had -- the one that showed I no longer had any sign of cancer -- had a dye in its preparation that reacted negatively sometimes to Metformin, a diabetes drug that I take. The blood test was a precaution. And everything looks fine. My A1C, as measured in May, is 6.1. Stellar. My blood pressure today was 116/63. Couldn't ask for better. My weight is up (hey, I was in Las Vegas all last week!), but we didn't talk about that. We did talk about the fact that Dr. Stern wanted me to have frequent follow-up pelvic exams (PAP smears?), as 5% of uterine cancer patients see recurrence of the cancer within the first five years. We agreed that I would see Dr. Poddatoori and discuss how we would go about this. Dr. P. is on maternity leave presently, so I told Dr. Miller I'd try to make an appointment with Dr. P. in December. And so we left, agreeing that I would come back to see Dr. Miller in either November or December. Curiously, she told me that Lifelong is going to electronic medical records. And that meant, the fall-out, was that doctors would see fewer patients as they learn the system. Interesting, but a positive note that my records could be viewed by any medical staff anywhere, provided, I hope, I give permission.