Sunday, September 06, 2009

I'm Sad

I knew the day was going to come, but I didn't expect it to come as suddenly as it did. Yesterday, I received a letter from my gynecologist saying that he is closing his office and retiring as of 15 September. I have had him as my GYN for 26 years, so this is very disconcerting news for me.

My GYN is only a couple of years older than I am, so I was shocked that he is retiring already--I expected him to work for another five years, at least. I guess I will be facing the retiring of my internist and dentist, next. This is one of the hardest things about getting older and I have not been looking forward to it at all. It will take me quite a while to get over this--if I ever will. I ADORED my GYN and always enjoyed seeing him once a year--as much as a woman could EVER enjoy her yearly exam, anyway. ;)

I think what has me most confused, though, is the speed of this retirement. I would never have expected him to give less than 2 months notice to his patients and it wouldn't have been surprising if the letter would have reached me six months ago. I hope I'm reading too much into this, but there seems to be a haste here that I find very surprising.

After mulling over the letter yesterday, I mentioned to K that there has to be more to this retirement than what is seen on the surface. I was very surprised by his confrontational response when he asked me, "Just WHAT do you think is behind it?" I told him that I was hoping this decision didn't have anything to do with the doctor's health or anyone's health in this family. K backed down and let it go at that. Later, I realized what K was asking me--whether or not I thought the retirement came out of the doctor's worry over the possibility of the health care bill being passed. The thought never occurred to me and I was taken aback to think K might be FOR the bill in any way, shape, or form. We don't talk politics a lot--mainly because I think we are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of what we believe--and it is best to stay away from it in every way. It's not easy living with someone who has opposite views than you on some important issues.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:04 PM

    Poor you! I hate having to change drs.

    I at first wondered if his retiring didn't have to do with health care. Hopefully it is simply because he can.

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  2. I guess, because everything happened so fast, the first thing that came to mind was ill health of his or a family member. It could, however, have everything to do with the health care debate. I'll never know and it really doesn't matter--he will no longer be my doctor. :( I'm just hoping to find someone who will be 'on the same page' as he was. I think it will be an exercise in futility.

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  3. That really SUCKS. My mother recently had to change her GYNO doctor too. And he delivered ME. She was so upset considering he was her doctor for 35 years!

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  4. The only POSSIBLY good thing about this is, the doctor I MAY get now is female. We'll see how she handles things. I do know that a lot of the routine stuff is handle by a PA--something I'm not used to.

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  5. Anonymous9:57 AM

    My GYN retired last year, and now my podiatrist is retiring. It's depressing when your doctors and dentists start being younger than you are. One of my mom's eye doctors looks like he just got out of high school.

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  6. One of the bad things that we were never told about getting older! :(

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