Admittedly, one of the reasons I chose my (old) primary care doctor is because she was just blocks away from my house. Also, she was so new to town that it was pretty easy to get a same-day appointment.

Her office is in a building with other doctor-types: a veterinarian, my dentist, etc. Since she was new to town, I basically looked the other way when it came to things like office decor. There were very basic chairs in the waiting room, very white walls, a piece of "art" that was too small for the wall. 

I dispised, though, that the nurse had to take my blood pressure with one of those horrible machines that does all the work. I asked her one day if we could just skip it because the machine seemed to not like me and would squeeze my arm a little too hard. In fact, one day the machine couldn't get my pressure so the nurse had to do it manually and she actually said that she hoped she remembered how to do it. Not sure if she was joking, but still that's not a good way to instil confidence in patients. She's also the person who looked at my pump one day and said, "Every time I see one of those I think it's a pager." I chuckled, but what I was thinking was, "Seriously? Who uses a freaking pager anymore?"

Dr. D was great for things like ear infections, allergies, sore throat, etc. She actively listened to my concerns and was willing to do what it took to get me well.

But as time went on I got increasingly disgruntled with our relationship. I began to wonder if she was getting kick backs for a type of ear drops that she prescribed to me twice, and that cost $50. No thanks. And after I fell down the stairs about a year ago and got a rug burn so bad that it got swollen and had a small infection, she wanted me to have an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot. I flat out told her no because the swelling was clearly from the infection and trauma to my foot.

I really got pissed when I tried to make an appointment one day and was told that they closed at noon on Fridays. I was flabbergasted: how can you provide adequate patient care if you close that early on a Friday... a day when a ton of people are likely to want to see a doctor before they have to wait two days or go to urgent care.

The last straw was on March 31 when I was in an emergency and needed to see a doctor immediately. I knew the pain in my leg was a blood clot, but needed a doctor to order the tests. I called her office a 8, figuring that was the earliest she'd be there. No answer. I called roughly every 30 minutes until 9:30 when I finally said "Fuck it. You're fired."

My mom had been trying to get me into her doctor for several years and I really wasn't that interested in being at the same practice as my parents, but I needed someone fast. I called the office and said, "I have a history of blood clots and am having pain in my leg. Can someone see me this morning." I was there within an hour.