When Doctors Attack

Feeling violated by a doctor is never good.

I recently visited my doctor for a yearly checkup to make sure everything is in the right place and working as it should, you know being an adult and all. My normal doctor was out on maternity leave so I settled for another doctor because I didn't want to put this off any longer. There are a few issues that I've needed to have addressed by a doctor so I went ahead and made the appointment.

The day of the appointment came and I was feeling pretty good and excited to see what the doctor would have to say.

I walked in and agreed to a few procedures that I had been avoiding, and walked into the exam room. The nurse told me the doctor would be in soon...she said that he would be right in. HE. I specifically asked for a female doctor. I turned towards her as she was about to walk out and stopped her by asking, "Wait...it's a guy?"  YES. This was the beginning of the quick downward fall of this horrible doctors visit.

After several extremely anxious minutes, he walked in and greeted me semi-coldly, as I sat in my gown completely vulnerable. He was pleasant enough, but he moved very quickly to rush me through the procedures and not listening to what I had to say about a single thing. While this upsets me now, at the time, I felt powerless and simply allowed it to happen. The exam was uncomfortable and awkward enough and I basically went inside myself to hide. I didn't have any thoughts or words come to mind that I could say to him about how horrible he was treating me. He was doing something very personal and yet he gave me no warning and insisted on talking about the weight loss options Kaiser offers compared to surgery as he is completing the exam. No. Don't do this. I'm fine with being touched because you are a doctor and there is a nurse in the room to oversee what you are doing. But I would appreciate you telling me what the hell you are doing instead of discussing the weight loss shakes or classes as you touch my chest and other areas.

I did tear up after it was over and he asked if I was alright. I told him I was embarrassed (which I regret saying) and he casually said what I never want to hear a doctor say to any patient ever again: "It's okay. I'm a doctor". This in NO WAY makes it alright for you to treat a patient so robotically and emotionless. Don't get me wrong, I've seen enough Grey's Anatomy episodes to know that doctors do need to guard their own hearts against all of the ugliness in their job (illness, death, etc.) but this was an exam that needed some sympathy and less mechanics.

I'm much better now than I was as I walked out of the exam room. I felt the need to share this completely personal post to anyone reading my blog because I want you to know what I didn't at the time. Stand up for yourself. Speak up and request what you are going to need in order to be comfortable and feel okay about the situation. What that doctor did wasn't professional and he made me feel violated. Don't let this happen to you. My mom gave me some advice that I'm going to offer you now: If you aren't comfortable... tell someone and change it. Make a different appointment, request a new doctor, speak up!

Our words have value and we are worth the extra time/staff that it takes to give us a proper visit with our health care providers.

TV, Fandom, Passion and Money

Being the pop culture lover that I am, I have some thoughts on the whole Veronica Mars kickstarter that I would love to share with you, my readers. Some of you share my love for all things pop culture and others do not. I hope I can get some feedback from both sides of the aisle.

The short of it is, fans of the TV show 'Veronica Mars' pledged $2 Million (and counting as of Thursday afternoon) to fund the making of the movie based on the TV show of the same name. Here is an article from the LA Times with just a few more details (no opinions given). The goal was 30-days to raise $2 Million and it was met in just 12 hours. That's passion!

Quickly after it was announced that the goal had been met so quickly, people took to social media to do one of two things: 1.) Rejoice at their accomplishment and express excitement for the green-lighting of a project they had (long) been waiting for, or 2.) Hate on those who donated money for the project and give their thoughts on what that money could have gone towards instead.

Note: I should point out that I am not a fan of the show, but that's only because I have yet to see an episode. After all this hype, I'm MUCH more inclined to at least see what the fuss is about! 

So, now it's my turn to say what I think. I am actually in both camps on this one. I see both points and there is some validity to each. Yes, the money could have gone to other causes or charities; To people who have real needs like food, clean water, and shelter. We should always be aware of the places we give money and the causes we support. One TV critic wrote on Twitter:

(But I mean, if you did take money out of your "FOR STARVING KIDS" jar to give to WB to make VMars, you are sorta messed up.)
— Carina MacKenzie (@cadlymack) March 14, 2013

My stance from this side of things is this: I'm much more fascinated than judgmental. Fascinated that there was so much interest in this movie getting made, fascinated at how quickly and readily people gave money, and fascinated to see what comes from reflection of what this means about our culture. I would want everyone (whether you donated or not) to think about what we readily give our money towards and what we hesitate or hold back on. Have any charities or non-profit groups been able to raise such high amounts of money for more charitable causes?


On the other side of things, I see that this project truly shows how powerful TV fans are. TV is a powerful medium. That power/passion can be felt more and more with the internet and other online fundraisers similar to this kickstarter. We've already seen small bands and singers get EPs recorded and distributed through their online fan communities donating, as well as indie filmmakers (and even film school students) having their short films produced this same exact way. Now we are seeing online fundraising effort moving towards producing huge media corporation projects (like WB in this case) and productions with already established stars, such as Kristen Bell.

While reading through the mess of articles on this matter, I found this article which I very much enjoyed, titled "Don't You Dare Feel Bad About Chipping In: http://tvline.com/2013/03/14/veronica-mars-movie-kickstarter/

I definitely appreciate the value of allowing fans to make the decision to make something they want to watch. Studio Execs don't always get it right, and this was a chance for the little guy (fans) to have the power to make something! That is very exciting! I'm curious to see how this affects the production of other fan-favorites that have yet to find executive backing. Creator of NBC's "Scrubs" posted this to twitter in response (might only get the joke if you watched Scrubs):

Okay:@zachbraff, @donald_faison and I are using Kickstarter to fund Dr. Acula. We need 24 bucks, 2 wigs, and cell phone to shoot it with.
— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) March 14, 2013

So there you go! Who knows WHAT can be done in a world when fundraising is online, wallets are (somewhat) open, and projects/charities/events are waiting to be funded.

I honestly would love to hear YOUR thoughts in the comments below. Do you agree with the funding? If not, what would you be willing to donate towards?