Hurry up Summer!

Current conditions at 7:00 am: Sunny and cool with expected
winds gusting to 80 KM, and a chance of rain or hail this afternoon
Expected High today: 13

It's chilly again this morning but at least the sun is shining for now. You know when something dawns on you and you think "What was I thinking?"I was putting the weather network information into my blog on a daily basis so readers can see the weather. But my reasoning for putting it in was to look back and see what the weather was. DUH - it's a live feed. Okay so I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer! So now I'll put in the weather info as well so I can look back next year and see what it was like in the past.

I saw Brenda out walking this morning on my way to work. I'm so looking forward to the day when I can do that. I suppose I could do it now if I was that organized but I'd have to be doing it at 5:30 in the morning. I'm not that committed. So I'm really looking forward to the day I can retire and spend my time doing things I want to do, not just what I have to do. But I can't really complain, it's just this 9 to 5 thing is really getting into the way of having fun!

The biggest news for me in the past few days is I finally have a doctor. It's a little bit convoluted how you get one here. You have to be on a registry waiting list. I was under the (mistaken) impression that when new spaces opened up, they contacted the next person on the list. Apparently that's not the case. I learned at a party a month or so ago, that there was a new doctor in town and you could go to his web site to sign on as a patient. I heard about this because the girl I was speaking to works in immigration and he came here from another country. So when I got home I went to the website and it indicated that he was not taking anymore.

On Friday, Brandi and I were chatting because I was calling around to find out hours for an after hours clinic as my knee was really bothering me again. We got talking about the doctor shortage and she mentioned that someone she knew had just go onto this new doctors website and signed up. The frustrating part is that he wasn't on the registry list, and that's one of the criteria. So he then went online and put his name on the registry list and now he could become a patient. So I went back into the Dr's site and sure enough, they were again taking new patients. So I quickly signed myself up. Anyone can sign up so long as they are on the registry list. That hardly seems fair to folks who don't hear about this. You would have thought they would take the patients directly from the registry or at least the registry would contact you to let you know this option was open. It doesn't seem right somehow and I feel badly that I might now have a doctor while some older person or someone experiencing health issues, may have been waiting longer than me. But that's the system and I am pleased to finally have one. It's yet another piece of the puzzle falling into place.

He has an interesting website. It appears that he will not limit the number of patients he takes (I think the initial stop was to get organized). As his patient numbers grow he is increasing staff. He has already moved into a larger location from where he started, although the first one may have been temporary anyway. He seems to make extensive use of nurses and also has several LPN's on staff. In the office is a sign with a list of the procedures that will be performed by staff other than himself and these include things like PAP tests, etc. That makes perfect sense to me, I don't think it's always necessary for a doctor to perform some tests that are just routine and are being sent out for analysis anyway. That frees up the doctor to look at people that really need a doctor. Good for him (and for the rest of us).

I went into the office yesterday to drop off my paperwork to have my medical records sent from Ontario and he has two signs up in his office. One says that he believes that every person on the island has the right to have a family doctor and if that means a little bit more waiting time for patients, then you should find another doctor if you aren't okay with that. He also will not put up with rude or obnoxious people. If you are going to be like that, then find another doctor. His signs put it more diplomatically but that's the bottom line.

I have an initial appointment (required to set up a file and do a history) on Monday so we'll see how it goes. One of the interesting things about his website is a live feed telling you the wait times for each clinician. This gives you the option of leaving your office a few minutes later if you go in and see that it's 20 minutes behind schedule. They also have WIFI in the waiting room so you can bring your laptop and be productive while you work.
A very progressive thinking doctor, I think. It will be interesting to see how this impacts other doctors practices. Take a look at his website. www.coull.net

Other than that, it's just a typical Tuesday. Last night we had our IAAP meeting at a restuarant in Montagure called Windows on the Water. It was quite nice. They had a special of Almond Crusted Sole and that's what everybody else had. I had the Seafood Linguine and it was perfect. It had big chunks of lobster and scallops and had steamed mussels arranged on the top. I know I can re-create this one and will likely do that when Patti and the gang are here.

Did I mention that there are possibly ten of them coming at one time??? I was panicking a little about it but I think I have it sorted out so we'll all be comfortable. I think it might be a fun time. I haven't spent that much time with Doug's side of the family for a very long time so I think it will be nice to make those connections again. Jean (Patti's aunt) has certainly had some health struggles this past year and she and I were quite close when Doug and I were married so I'm looking forward to maybe re-establishing that relationship.

I just hope the weather is nice for them as I don't think any of them have been to the island before.