Has your doctor gone paperless?

You know, no actual paper lab order form that tells you exactly what tests will be performed. The paper that clues you in as to whether you should not eat beforehand so your results won’t be skewed. Or lets you know to drink a lot before getting there so you can deliver that urine sample. Last time I had to go back to the lab the next day; I was, ahem, not prepared to deliver.

I’ve gotten used to him not having to plop down a thick, heavy paper chart on the desk in front of me. Instead he reviews my notes and history on a sleek new laptop. I just hope that it’s backed up somewhere. The Cloud? Carbonite? A master hard drive? I really don’t care who finds out about my medical history. I care more that it not get lost into the ether.

In a way, this blog helps me keep track of where I am on the RA continuum. It’s a record, granted a digital record. But after this last visit, I decided I am going to do something more; I’m going to keep a written log: Star Date, blah, blah, blah . . .

And I am going to do one more thing, be more proactive with my plan of care.  I started to on this last visit. When the check-out clerk tried to do the “this is your appointment card and this number on it is your lab order” routine. I said, no, I need the actual order form. I don’t like this computer code number thingy and neither does the lab. So I got my piece of paper.

But (big but), I didn’t insist on at least verifying with him what, if anything, he was going to order for me at the pharmacy with his one click of a button. I understood he was and I waited for the text from the pharmacy telling me it was ready. Nada, zilch.

I called them this morning; they’d received no clicks in my direction. I called the office. They verified my old prescriptions. But, but, but, I said. There was to be something else. For my bursitis of the foot. After he made me jump a foot off the exam table by pressing into the most painful area of my heel, I understood he was going to order a prescription-strength anti-inflammatory. True I couldn’t think straight or hear right after that, but I swear he said he would.

Well he did mean to and they are now, and I once again await the pharmacy text. I appreciate the digital era I live in, but I’m a writer. I have a love affair with paper. It’s hard to let go.