I had an intake appointment with a new psychiatrist this afternoon, Dr. Awad. In person, because this doctor doesn't do intake by telemedicine, but our future appointments will be by video.

She had my chart in front of her, and, partly because of that, only needed 45 minutes of the scheduled 60.

My next appointment won't be until early May, because they're badly short-staffed right now: they've gone from four psychiatrists plus a nurse practitioner to three psychiatrists, one of whom is on maternity leave. She said that if I need to see her sooner I should send a message through MyChart, and describe why I want to see her sooner that scheduled.

When I got to the office (a little early), the receptionist handed me a medical mask, and told me that I'd have to take off the N95 mask I was wearing and put theirs on. I told her I would keep my own mask on as long as possible; when Dr. Awad saw it, she said keeping it on instead of switching was fine, it's a good mask.

She asked where I live, and with whom, and I told her, and after a couple of clarifying questions she asked "are you poly?" and I said yes.

I'd taken a Lyft to the appointment, because I wasn't sure I was up to walking even a few blocks, since a week ago I wouldn't have been, and the walk from our apartment to the trolley is longer than I'd tried in several days. After I was done at the doctor's, I walked as far as the bus stop and was still feeling fine, so came home via transit. The Lyft driver who took me to Cambridge didn't want to open his window, saying it was too cold, but agreed to open the left rear window a little bit. He also tried to drop me in the wrong place -- I had specifically entered the address as 330 Mt Auburn Street, but he ignored that and headed for the main hospital entrance, which is half a block away at 300 Mt. Auburn Street. I corrected him, and he turned around and took me to the correct address, but seemed unhappy about it.

Given all that, I'm glad I didn't need to take a Lyft in both directions.
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
( Apr. 8th, 2022 07:09 pm)
I had a telemedicine appointment with my psychiatrist today, the periodic check-in. I told her that my moods seem to be stable and basically OK, despite there being reasons [redacted] why I might be feeling down. Maybe the time of year is helping, or maybe this is the flip side of there having been no particular reason I was feeling down last month.

I told her that I've applied for SSDI -- she was unsurprised and thinks it's a good idea--and about the monoclonal antibodies.

Near the end of our appointment, she told me she's going to be leaving Mt. Auburn Hospital at the end of June. She's been working there and at the VA, which worked pre-pandemic but the burden of doing all her own administrative work in the last couple of years was wearing her out. So she's leaving Mt. Auburn, where she's been working for a few years, and staying with the VA, where she's been working for her entire career.

Since I'm not a veteran, this means I will need to find a new psychiatrist, or get my primary care doctor to start writing those prescriptions.
I just finished a telemedicine appointment with my psychiatrist. I told her about having been sick and then recuperating the last few weeks, and she asked about my moods generally -- mostly bored and annoyed with this cough, but not really down, maybe a little flat--and sleep.

We didn't use the whole half hour, which is unusual. I have a follow-up appointment in person (she offered me the choice) the first week in August.
.

About Me

redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird

Most-used tags

Syndicate

RSS Atom
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style credit

Expand cut tags

No cut tags