The Appointment

I am really happy to say that my appointment with my new doctor went really, really well.  Better than I was even hoping, which is always a pleasant surprise.

The doctor herself is just great.  We clicked, and I feel like that's really important in psychiatric care.  I clicked with Dr. Wright, but not with Dr. F, and I'm relieved that Dr. C and I connected.  She was very patient, and thorough, and asked questions that really . . . helped highlight the key points of my whole long history with this BS.  Not all doctors know how to do that.  Her practice is really tiny, which I like, because I feel like with fewer patients she can be more invested in each patient.  Her office is in this beautiful old house downtown, with narrow doorways, creaky hardwood floors, and the most amazing built in bookcase I've ever seen.  (I know that the aesthetics of the office really aren't important treatment wise, but I felt like it was worth mentioning).  She only has one employee, who does the billing/scheduling/reception type stuff, and she's also super nice.  It's just a very calm space overall.  It's also a pretty old fashioned kind of practice: they're all paper records, they don't do electronic billing, and I left with an actual handwritten prescription.

Which brings me to my next point: I walked out of the appointment with a prescription for Lithium!  I really wasn't expecting that at all--I was expecting to leave with an order for blood work and get a prescription at my follow up next week.  But Dr. C said that since I've already been on this medication and all that, she was comfortable with starting me on it, then getting blood work once I'm almost at my old dose.  Which meant that my follow up appointment got pushed back to mid October, which means I have some time to figure out the financing stuff.

So all in all, it was just great.  Great doctor, great staff, great office, a prescription, not having to pay for another appointment for 3 weeks . . . awesome.  Like I said, better than I was even expecting.  It was as pleasant an experience as it could be for being an overall unpleasant thing, but I think I'll elaborate on that later.

Right now, I'm just glad it went so well, glad it's over, and glad to have my medication.