A happy Erastes

[erastes]

Is a sold Erastes.

Or rather, almost sold. Had an offer from CARINA yesterday for “Muffled Drum” *jumps around in joy* and my agent is now handling the negotiation.

In other news.

There is SUN!  First time for days. *clings to it*

And

 Lesbians writing about straights? HOW VERY DARE THEY!!!! (this, for the benefit of those who didn’t spot it, is a joke.)

Went to the doctor's Which was usual in its usual incompetence. First of all he sat me down and said “What can I do for you?”  I’d just about had enough of him, and said “I have NO idea, you are the one who phoned me and told me to come in today.” which sent him scurrying to the computer to find out why I was there. Why OH WHY can’t he just spend one minute before I come in finding this crap out—it would at least give the lie that he gives a fuck. Anyway, I prod him about the Echo results that I hadn’t had from over a month ago and he eventually finds them. Not great news I have a dilated ventricles or something which means I have to go onto Warfarin (scuse spelling). I pretended I hadn’t heard of this and he just said it was an anti-coagulant and that it was “tricky” to get the dosage right. Don’t bother to explain it was a rat poison then, will you, arsehole?

So he’s making noises to get rid of me and I say “what about the glucose tolerance test I had two weeks ago?”  He looks. No, he hasn’t had the results, and he starts writing up my script for aspirin and Lisinopril (i need to see the cardiologist before i can have the rat poison) – I say “well, that’s odd, because they said the results would be along in two days and it’s two weeks.  He looks again, and LO AND BEHOLD the results had magically appeared.

Seems I’m not (yet) diabetic. “impaired glucose tolerance” so that’s something.

He finished off the session with reminding me I had to lose weight, or I would be diabetic “in a couple of years” – well der. He hasn’t given me ANY help in this regard, despite me asking for it. No diet sheet, no referrals to a dietician, nothing. What annoys me is that I’ve never been a strain on the NHS, I go to the doctors about once every ten years in general, and the one time I NEED help, they won’t give it.  If I was a smoker, there would be a multitude of options to help me lose weight, free patches, free counselling, free sessions, free support groups, but because I’m fat – NOTHING.  Or at least, nothing he’s prepared to offer.  I’m going to write to the NHS direct and voice my concerns, because he’s quite the worst doctor I’ve ever encountered. And I can’t be the only one of his patients who feels like this.

n

Comments

[beckyblack]

Yay on the offer. Hope the agent gets you a honking big deal! :D

Ugh, sorry your doctor is so useless. Are there others at the practice you could ask to see instead? Or could you transfer to a different practice? I know, you might not have another one close enough, I'm spoilt living in the city where I can pick and choose - not that I've been to the doctor in years. I think last time was for a rash. (They didn't know what it was. They followed the "here's some cream to keep you busy while it goes away on its own" route.)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I don't think much is negotiable, but it saves me feeling like I'm being crushed by a big corporation! :D

No, there's only him there. I really must find another practice, I only go there because it's literally walking distance.

[storm-grant.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the sale at Carina. Did you ever say who your agent is? (Curious writer is curious)

Sorry about the doctor. Mine's the same, except when I finally go to her having done the research on the net and argue her into prescribing something, she later remembers that it was *her* idea. Doh!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you - and I did, didn't I? It's the Schiavione agency

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/profschia/

Doctors, pah.

[storm-grant.livejournal.com]

I must have missed it. (Memory loss is one of my medical issues... I think. ;-D)

Congrats. They look like an impressive agency.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty small, he works from home mostly, but he's been very responsive--hopefully one day he'll find a home for Junction X!

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

Doctors aren't all that much better in the US, sadly. I changed doctors a few years ago after I noticed on a referral sheet after an office visit a note that she'd council me about regular prostate exams.

Now, being female in body, last time I looked, I didn't have one to examine. It was probably a standard comment on the computer form and she hit the wrong check-box, but if she's not even looking at what she put in my record after the fact to be sure it was what she meant to put in, its time to look elsewhere.

Congrats on the sale.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Good lord. That takes the biscuit!

And thanks!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on Muffled Drum :) I wonder what your agent will make of Carina?

Your doctor does sound like a disaster area! Roll on the eye improvement to the point you can go and reach someone else. But it's good news on the diabetes front, and good to catch the other things before they get worse.

It's funny how people tell you to lose weight as if that was so simple they're surprised you haven't thought of it. I want to tell them that if it was that easy I'd have done it years ago.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

LOL yes, I wish I'd have thought of saying that. "Lose weight? Good lord, that's a new fangled idea - why is that then?"

I don't suppose he'll get much better terms, seems to me that the terms are pretty much fixed in stone ALL YOUR WORDS BELONG TO US - but it saves me the panic of "OMG I don't understand this stuff" as he can translate into Erastes speak. The worrying part is the moral rights clause which appears to be the same kind of deal as when you are a scientist and work for a corporation--any ideas you may expound while writing for them on their blog for example, they have the right to use, or something. And they translate without recourse to me, which I don't care about, to be honest--who's going to know if my russian version is anything like my english one!!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes it's so exciting to be in translation that it's not worth worrying about whether they've got the translation exactly as you would have done it. You have to assume that as a big press they have at least competent translators.

Thanks for the comment on the Samhain blog, btw! For some reason it's not showing up on the blog, though it got emailed to me. But until it shows up on the blog, I can't reply to it there! (The Samhain blog is the most complicated piece of blogging software I've ever encountered, so I have no idea what's going on.)

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

the moral rights clause which appears to be the same kind of deal as when you are a scientist and work for a corporation--any ideas you may expound while writing for them on their blog for example, they have the right to use

What?

Bugger that. I'd self-publish with a goddamned mimeo before I'd sign that. Ask your agent if that can be omitted. If you don't ask, remember?

[clarelondon.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the Carina contract!!! I'll look forward to more familiar faces there ^_~.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Not signed yet, but I'm sure it will be ok! :D

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Oy vey! Is this a single-doctor practice, or does he have other minions associates to do his bidding?

I now feel extremely lucky in that I have a doctor, whom I've had for over twenty-some years, who knows me, and who will work with me about the weight, the diabetes, the blood pressure, and all.

Do you have any options to make connections with a dietitian on your own? In my insurance plan, we are allowed to go to whatever doctor we like, but it covers the bills differently if they are in-network or out-of-network. So I went to a diabetic program and saw a dietitian without much comment.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No, it's a single person practice, it used to be a group, but I think he bought them all out, or buried them under the carpark or something.

I dare say I could pay to go to a dietician, and I am QUITE sure there are free clinics available under the NHS but he's not offering me anything, or even investigating as to WHY I overeat, that's what is pissing me off. I binge for a reason, its not like I eat because I'm just greedy.

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Some doctors don't CARE why you do it. That's Headology and totally beneath them. If it's not physical, then it's all in your head, and not their problem.

If it's not too nosy, do you know why you binge? And you binge? Oh dear. I myself just have problems following the dietary rules -- as in, "oooh, macaroons, hurrah! I shall eat a few!", followed by "and you brought cake, too? Yummers!" So if there are no temptations, I will eat perfectly sensibly, but if they are there, I never met a temptation I didn't like.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Whee! another sale. Congratulations. I've been looking forward to this one particularly because I'm such a sucker for archaic military stuff, especially if it involves ships or horses.

Doctors frequently suck. And I have no idea why because they often start out so well. Maybe they burn out as they get older? It makes their standard "Well you're not getting any younger" dismissal of just about everything a bit ironic.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I hope you like it! Lots of horses, because I can't bear any of my characters not to love their horses, and I consider that the Prussian cavalry in particular would be obsessive about them.

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the offer from Carina! *cheers enthusiastically*

Regarding rubbish NHS GPs - My mum has had exactly the same sort of problems dealing with something that may or may not be asthma. She seems to be getting by far the best care and advice from the practice nurse. Are there any nurses there you can ask to see?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you dear!

The nurse is very nice, but entirely hopeless. She handed me a tatty photocopied diet sheet--which was basically an insult "you are how old and don't know how to lose weight?" and that's it. She can't get any blood from me, fucked up my ECG. As I say, nice but dim. :D

I'll have to discuss it with some kind of medical ombudsman or something and see what kind of help I CAN get.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the offer, dear ♥

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Hope it all goes well!

[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your sale!!!!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[asphodeline.livejournal.com]

SOLD is good!!

Also, can you request a different doctor? You need someone a bit more enthusiastic about the doctoring process methinks.

Not had time to blog much - work is hell and home means sleep - BUT finished Frost Fair and LOVE!! Have two suspect things that might be "it" but will check my historical data first in case I look bloody stupid - not good for someone who studied European modern history to degree level ;)

It was a real joy to be hooked by something again and despite the problems that OCD gives me reading, I finished it in record quick time for me and a book these days - win all round :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you dear! I will have to change surgeries, but I WILL complain very loudly to the NHS because he's an absolute arse.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, the THING is more galling as it relates to the river, which I researched so thoroughly I could kick myself.

By they way, your honey is so gorgeous I can't describe it. So subtle and sweet.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the offer, honey!

I have many things to say about the doctor (RAGING idiot), the warfarin (which I've said before), and the weight situation, but I will spare you all of it.

My experience is that it's imperative that we be our own advocate, and get busy learning as much as we can on our own. I'm fortunate to have some really excellent doctors, but I can't tell you how many times I've thanked myself for having taken the time to be self-informed.

You're smart. You can get a handle on this.

((((hugs))))

[erastes.livejournal.com]

True - and thank you dear - I gave him a chance, you see. I look up this stuff myself and know more about it than I let on, and he had every opportunity to explain to me about it, but he just didn't bother. He even printed out the cardiologists letter and just handed it to me. I doubt everyone would have understood the medical jargon. What annoys me that he's doing this (he must be) to other people and they are just sitting there and thinking he knows best because he's "an authoriteh" - when he's a git. I said to him, "so they think the heart problems caused the eyesight problems" and he said "yes" - and NOWHERE in the letter did it say that. And I shall confront the eye clinic with this next week and see what they say.

Grrr. However, my weight is going down, thanks to the lovely low cholesterol diet, which is a good thing.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

You go girl!

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the sale, and commiserations on the continued uselessness of your GP.

[aunty_marion]

Congratulations on the sale! I've been reading 'Transgressions' in the bath...

Your doctor sounds as useless as one of my friend's - *anything* she went to him for, she was told that it was because she was fat. Headache? You're fat. Knee problems? You're fat. Depression? You're fat. No orgasms? You're fat...

She changed doctors two weeks ago and is much happier!

[m-barnette.livejournal.com]

I wish you lived over near me, I really do. I have a great doctor who listens and gives great advice when you ask for it.

Very cool on the offer from Carina. Let me know how it goes as I'm curious.

On the dieting front, the way I keep from getting 'author butt' is by making sure one meal a day is a bowl of soup. Not the kind with any milk in it, but a basic soup like chicken and rice, chicken vegetable or something on that order. I make it myself and save a lot of money too. I making the basic stock in big batches and freezing part of it to use later.

Several of my author friends have tried it with pretty good results.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Do complain. I wonder if there are any online patient advocacy sites where you could compare notes with other folks who are getting no help whatsoever from Dr. Asshat.