Translate

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Depends on which way you look

Something happened yesterday that made me realize what a difference it makes which way I look. When I'm in my garden, I often look at the wall and chimney which are covered by a miniature fig vine and carolina jasmine. Recently I've wondered if the vines are blocking the air vents in the bird cover on top of the chimney. From my back garden I can't see all the way to the top. Yesterday I was on my deck and happened to glance to my right when a bird flew in that direction. I was surprised to see that I had a perfect view of the top of my chimney from my deck. I had forgotten that because I was always looking in the other direction since the birds feed on the deck wall vines berries, and tend to fly off that way. I'm still not sure whether there is enough of an obstruction on the chimney to affect how the smoke will draw if I light a fire. This is the first year the vines have made it all the way up the chimney. I guess I'll find out what happens when I light a fire. The whole issue of which way you look has me pondering other issues. Medicine is so compartmentalized that each doctor only seems to look within their field, with a few exceptions. The idea is that the primary care physician looks at the big picture but in my case that's the doctor I see the least of. I actually end up talking the most about the various issues with my dermatologist because it's easy to do that with him but it's not really his job. At this point I see a dermatologist, oncologist, neurologist, rheumatologist, pain specialist, periodontist, opthamologist, and gynecologist. That a $#$# load of doctors. That said, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a lot of smart people trying to improve my quality of life and so far as I know I don't have any active cancer. I have a lot of questions and once again my next appointment is with my dermatologist so he'll probably get the dubious honor of being the doctor with me when I'm like the woman on the T-shirt that says, "help I'm talking and I can't stop".

No comments: