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forms at the dr.'s office

It never fails. You go to the doctor. And to keep you from being too fidgety while you wait, they give you some forms to fill out. It doesn't matter that you filled out the exact same form the previous 20+ visits you've had in the last seven years, you still have to fill them out again.

I know. I know. Information can and does change.  But these forms always make me feel like I'm back in school taking an achievement test. You remember fighting the feelings and urges, don't you? You're taking the dumb math section and they ask a question like:
There's a cow tied to the fence. If the cow eats all the grass it can eat within the rope's reach, the portion eaten will be what shape?
A) triangle 
B) rectangle
C) semi-circle
D) square
Do you know what happens when you give such a question to a bunch of smart-aleck middle schoolers? Or how many stupid discussions we had at lunch on how we could make any one of those answers fit? Did you ever fight the urge to intentionally go through and mark EVERY single answer WRONG? On purpose?

That's sometimes how I feel at the dr's office. It's actually become a joke now, that neither Bobby nor his doctors will ever truly know what is wrong with him if I fill out his forms unsupervised. For example:

Please circle the correct answer to any of these symptoms you are currently experiencing or have experienced in the last 6 months:

Hearing Loss        Yes     No
Memory Loss       Yes     No
Confusion             Yes     No
Bouts of Insanity   Yes     No

Is it ever safe to ask a spouse those questions, covering a period of 6 months? :) I mean, he lives with me!

And I can't help but wonder, do they even LOOK at these forms? I don't think they do. I really think it's just something to fill up your time so you don't notice how long you're waiting. Sadly, like achievement tests, I will probably never intentionally fill out the wrong answers just to see what happens. But I'm afraid I will always be tempted.

Comments

Lydia said…
Hah! I hate those forms. I tried once to bring in a form (on Lauren) that I keep saved on the computer and that I update every time she has something change. I printed it off and brought it in which took WAAY less time than filling out the stupid dr form and was FAR more thorough and you know what the nurse said? She couldn't accept it because they only accepted THEIR forms!! I was so mad and huffy I refused to fill out their form and the dr didn't even notice and never asked for it. Yes, I know, I sometimes get a very bad attitude about the medical community.
Jennifer said…
you totally crack my up, Monica....but I do agree.

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