One of my regular responders works in a health care field. You can find his blog here. I've been interested to read about the entire health care debate from his point of view, and the whole issue has suddenly become quite personal.

I've had some medical issues come up. I don't want to write about the details, what I want to focus on in the blog is what I observe as a patient. The md involved with all of this wants to take it one step further, and wants to carry out her plans within the next two weeks. The aftermath for me would be two weeks of recovery, with no driving.

There are three very good reasons why I think the two week time frame is unwise.

One of my sisters can fly in to help me, but during March can only stay for two or three days. She could be here for most of a week later on in the spring.

The doctor's schedule would mean a two week hit to my annual cash flow which occurs only during tax season. I rely on those funds to supplement a couple of sources of retirement income.

These next few weeks are the anniversary of the last few weeks of Mr W's life, and adding more stress is a very bad idea.

I've mentioned all of these factors to the doctor, and her response is: "I understand." Followed by proceeding to discuss the procedure and the schedule she has in mind.

Referring to the title of this blog entry, what I see is that the focus of keeping the entire situation for the patient in mind, and considering everything has shifted from the medical community and all its practioners to the patient.

Maybe Rambler can answer this question. Does the prospect of malpractice concerns trump everything else?

As for me, lest any of you start to worry unnecessarily, I plan to get in touch with my primary care physician and request his input. But first I'm going to call the doctor who is contemplating all these bad planning ideas, and cancel the proposed date.