Charting the course

It's actually an interesting job. I know a number of the other physicians there. A few are my age, but most are elderly. It is a very relaxed atmosphere. Sort of like the elephant's graveyard. I was walking back to my alcove carrying a chart the other day when I ran into a fellow who had been a much feared "attending" when I was a resident in the late 1970's. He stopped me and pointed out that I was walking "way too fast." Basically, my job is to plow through all of the medical evidence that has been collected and scanned onto the internet by the disability examiners across the country and then to decide whether the claimant has a serious heart issue (since I'm a cardiologist) according to Social Security's definitions for what constitutes severe impairment. It's like trying to put all of the pieces of a puzzle together. My mentor is a very sweet doc of 79 who has been there forever. He is a terrific resource for my questions, but he's been around so long and has such extensive experience that I have to leave 20 minutes open for each of his answers. The time goes quickly, though.
Almost had some surgery today. I had been having some discomfort in my left knee and had an MRI performed. I have a torn medial meniscus. My insurance status was unclear since I just switched from my previous group to my wife's policy from work so I have opted to wait a few weeks until I get the official word that I am covered. In the meantime I really can't ride my bike or walk any distance. Very limiting and no fun.

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