Dr. Rebecca was awesome. A proper collaborator. Dr. Paul, the tired, overweight, stressed, middle-aged (pretty much perfect for me) doctor had retired. Dr. Candice, the new boss, got too popular (maybe due to her being interested in dietary approaches to health care despite most people calling her “Dr. Candy”.). The new receptionist at the country town medical centre said, “Dr. Rebecca ‘has gone away’.” It was like something that a parent might tell a child about a dead guineapig.
I have seen two other doctors since the bad news about Dr. Rebecca. And, as an aside, I have noticed that my long-term country practice has morphed into a women’s health clinic. Dr. Danielle has taken on the mind shape of the government food pyramid that pins her to the 1980s, and Dr. Jane is plant-based. They refuse test requests, and are unable to interpret test results in view of a low-carb dietary approach, which they do not agree with or have not time to learn about. It is hard to start explaining and negotiating with the new doctors, especially when each clock tick is recorded, timetabled, and billed. I noticed my blood pressure is higher when consulting primary-care docs with whom I am not aligned, and they latch on to that number and attempt to match a medicine. Latch and match. Totally missing any attempt to dive deeper into what I would like from the visit (monitoring tests like Fasting insulin).
I fear I am the cause of the missing doctors. Are low-carb keto educated patients causing physician burnout?
