Hi Catherine, unfortunately my GP is getting older and has had some major health issues himself. He also had a severely disabled daughter who he and his wife (also a GP) looked after themselves with help from a daytime carer. Liz passed away very unexpectedly and my GP was the one to find her dead when he went to wake her up in the morning. He hasn't really been the same since then. It's as if part of him is missing now.
Alex has reduced his hours and days that he works, he also has started taking a lot of leave. He has also started refusing to take new patients so I'm thinking he is winding down towards retirement. I will miss him very much when he retires but I can't feel anything but hope for him and his wife to have a really good retirement. They deserve it.
In the meantime it's not always easy to get an appointment with him, and sometimes he seems a bit distracted. I dread finding another GP.
You are definitely right, my main docs are the neuro and haem. The neuro hardly communicates with me let alone my GP or haem. He hasn't sent my GP a letter about my hospital stay yet and I'd be surprised if he did, even though they did their internship together.
My haem, on the other hand, sends update letters to my GP regularly. The Prof sends nothing to anyone. The rehab doc has no more input unless I need to be admitted again.
Illness is never convenient is it? It's not like when you're a child and you get chicken pox and you get pampered and coddled with the bonus of missing school for a while.
Regards