I know it would sound stupid for most people, but not here (I hope?)
So I am in my early thirties and I have a long history of not going enough to the doctor. When I was a child my mother was my referent doctor and she always have been in the “no need to take medecine if it’s going to heal by itself” school of thinking (I don’t mean that in a bad way: I still got my vaccines, etc, just that she would directly send me to specialists when there was a serious issue). After I left the house I never cared about changing my referent doctor (although of course my mom who lived hundreds of kilometers away couldn’t fill this role anymore) so I just stopped seeing any health professional.
As it appeared to me more and more obviously that I was autistic, I wanted to get a diagnostic (it is needed here in France if I want to have accomodations at work and such, also I would get some money that wouldn’t hurt). Among all of the steps I needed to consult a doctor. I asked some people I know if they knew doctors who would take new patients, looked all over the internet, made way more calls than it was comfortable… but I couldn’t find any. The only appointment I could get had a 6 months delay, plus it was with a substitute, and I was so stressed about it that I messed up the date and came the previous day… In the end I managed to get some papers I needed but nothing more.
About a month ago I was feeling a bit sick and I decided it was enough and I needed something to be done. All the doctors were full, as always, or didn’t take new patients, but some were noted as on vacation but with a substitute (and said substitute didn’t specify if they took new patients or not). Rather than calling to check, I decided to just get the appointment. At worst they would send me a mail to tell me my appointment had been cancelled or whatever. Still it was very stressfull.
Anyway, my appointment went very well and this substitute doctor was very nice. She told me she would open her cabinet next year and would be able to be my refferent at that point, but also that before that she could work as a “temporary refferent” for most stuff. She looks like a great doctor.
That’s all! I hope it wasn’t too boring to read through my ramblings.
Congrats!! That’s awesome. I tend to neglect my healthcare too just because I don’t want to feel like a bother and go through the hassle of finally getting access. I’m happy you were able to advocate for yourself. This will only improve your life.
For me, that would be anything beyond one call. 😆
Oh, one call is already stressfull* for me, but I can manage it. Perhaps it would already qualify as “not comfortable”. That said there is a gradation between your average “not your cup of tea but that’s ok if you can take your time for it” and “risks having a meltdown in the middle of a phone call”. It was dangerously close to that second category.
*Except those from that one person I’d marry if we weren’t both ‘commies’ who think marriage is a thing of the past.