No Surgury is Small When They Are Cutting On Me

No surgery is small when they are cutting on me, but in the big picture, the three recent procedures I have undergone are not quite as earth shattering as say… open heart operations. They are dealing with Cancer, but the dermatologist informed me right away the growths were benign and so I haven’t been too troubled by this news.


I don’t like needles. To a large extent that’s why I’m not a junkie or covered with tattoos. I don’t like people carving on me, and that keeps me out of Doctor’s offices unless I REALLY have to be there. No ‘well baby” care for me, if you know what I mean. Preventive medicine is great, but I’ll just wait until I’m sick before I go. The other thing about Doctors and their offices is the interminable waiting period to see the mystic, master healer. If I make an appointment with someone, I think they have a right to the expectation that I will honor that commitment to their time. After all, time is all we really have. What we do with it is what defines our lives. So when my Doctor makes an appointment to see me at 1:00, and I rearrange my schedule to make sure I can meet him on his turf at his convenience, I believe he should be punctual. Certainly things happen that can throw one off schedule, but everyone I know seems to have the same problem and I’m not certain there are that many things happening to throw every Doctor off of every schedule everywhere in the world. Gimme a break.

Granted, I come from a family where my parents taught me punctuality was a sign of respect, and I am one of those crazy people who will, in an effort to be sure I’m on time, go find an unfamiliar destination prior to the appointed time, then go kill time somewhere else before returning on time. Old habits die hard.

As difficult as it is to believe, some Doctors will charge you if you don’t cancel an appointment early enough. I had an appointment last Friday. I was there 10 minutes early, looking like crap from the Wednesday appointment when they cut my nose off. They finally got me out of the waiting room because I was scaring the other patients of the plastic surgeon who was repairing the gaping whole in my face. Almost an hour later, the Doctor finally shows. In what other business is that acceptable? What about my time? Is there no value associated with my lost productivity waiting for Doctor God to show up with his magic fingers and tell me what a great job he did and I’m going to be soooo happy? I don’t need a cheerleader. I need a specialist who respects my time as much as I respect his. Is that asking too much?

Years ago I had a partner; a piano player who was never on time for anything. Not for rehearsal, not the gig, not dinner plans, not just to hang out, NEVER. I used to introduce him on stage as “The Late (insert name here)”. Needless to say, he’s not my partner any more. Maybe I’m anal about this, but I believe respect for other people’s time is important. Time is a precious, non recurring asset, non-renewable commodity and we should treat it with deference. I’d like to explore this subject further, but I have an appointment in a little while so I have to go now. I’ve run out of time.