Healthcare as a retirement hobby

A few years ago a friend of mine who'd just turned 65 and signed up for Medicare bemoaned the fact that suddenly it seemed all he was doing was going to doctor appointments. Lately I'm seeing the same syndrome among way too many of my friends.

I'm here to tell all of you that seeing doctors is not supposed to be a retirement hobby!! Surely there are better things you could be doing with your time.

Unfortunately, despite my objections, it seems that with age comes a variety of aches, pains and other ailments. In today's healthcare environment that means test after test after test. In the olden days doctors frequently made a diagnosis from experience, not a boatload of tests mostly designed to cover themselves in case of lawsuits. A good diagnostician is worth his or her weight in gold. I was lucky enough to have one of those when I worked for Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. I frequently had two-minute consults in the hallways and he always got it right with a minimum of testing. Oh, how I miss that!

I've talked to four friends in recent days who've been spending their weeks running from one doctor appointment or test to another. I've even had my own doctor visits, including one thoroughly frustrating one to consult for a colonoscopy, which I scheduled, only to be told later in the day that it either had to be rescheduled sooner or I'd have to have another doctor visit preceding it. Because moving the test wasn't an option, I'm now going for a second office visit to prove I'm still standing before the colonoscopy. Crazy!

All of this makes me wonder if on some level I wasn't meant to live in a bygone era when people avoided doctors altogether, because the news was never good and always involved more tests. I know this is a risky practice, so I'm trying very hard not to let my stubbornness -- and nostalgia -- overrule logic.

In the meantime, I wish all of you good health. Take care of yourselves. Exercise. Eat right. Maybe you'll be among those lucky ones who can spend retirement traveling places far more interesting than your nearest medical center. I certainly intend to try.