Where the deep shadows are....

I guess you could say I've had an epiphany.

I hate the damn doctor's office. And that goes about quadruple for the pharmacy.

When I was a kid, my mom took me to the doctor for every little thing. It was mostly no big deal for me, because I was just along for the ride. Now that I'm the grown up, I tend to avoid going to the doctor as much as possible. Usually when I do show up, I have a list.

Recently I've had to go to the doctor way more often than I like – twice since September. The first time for a sinus infection and then yesterday for what appears to be a urinary tract infection. Yesterday I was prescribed the same damn horse pill antibiotics that gave me a yeast infection in September. For the record, yes, I did eat yogurt. Thank you.

Both experiences made me pretty miserable and irritated. I'm not sure what about being in the medical profession leads some people to think it's a good idea to be as abrasive and unhelpful as possible, but it really is not a good idea. As SweetPea can attest, if I'm voluntarily at the doctor's office, I already feel like crap and that means only one thing: I'm really fucking crabby.

So getting to the pharmacy almost two hours after you left your doctor's appointment to find out that the pharmacy "hasn't received" your prescription is not a picnic. Hanging around for 15 minutes while the pharmacist is on hold with your doctor's office is even worse. Having the pharmacist end the call while still on hold because the pharmacy tech "found" your prescription? Oh, yeah. Now we're talking.

I'm not exactly sure what they thought that prescription was sent over for. Maybe they think my doctor just does that for kicks?

Twenty minutes later when I'm finally picking up my horse pills, the pharmacy tech informs me that the pharmacist has given me a "welcome to Target pharmacy" gift bag. Then she insists I need a consultation. Note that I've just taken this damn medication and that the previous prescription was filled by the same damn pharmacy. The pharmacist chats with me for a minute and then informs me that she's included a "keep healthy" gift bag for me.

Personally, I think it was a "please don't tell our supervisor we screwed up" gift bag.

Then again, who am I to look a gift bag horse in the mouth?

Except, um, word to the wise… Do not try the immunity booster effervescent tabs. They taste nasty and they're just a multivitamin. Do you want to drink 4 ounces of nasty three times a day when you could just pop down a pill? Me, neither.

Anyway, I'm sitting here at work trying not to go the restroom again and you know what? I've decided I'm just not going to the doctor anymore.

Generally speaking, my immune system is like a freight train. With the exceptions of headaches and allergy issues, I rarely get actually sick. I plan on just doing what I need to boost that as much as possible. I'll be picking up some more vitamins this weekend – a special blend that has worked for me in the past (vitamin C, zinc, B12 and iron, if you must know). I'll be drinking your 6 to 8 glasses of water, Mister Doctor, sir, and you can take your UTI and shove it.