Remembering the days when doctors made house calls and medicine was much simpler

During a recent overnight hospital stay, following a surgical procedure, my mind was wandering back to my youth (the Mesozoic era) when doctors made house calls and things were oh, so much simpler. Not to say that things today aren't much better in terms of diagnostics and treatment, but I can remember the days when mostly everything a doctor needed was in a neat little black leather bag that he carted from house to house as required (and yes, I say he, as it was a male dominated profession back then). That was before the days when HMOs, Health Maintenance Organizations, essentially preventive maintenance plans, were gaining in popularity. Of course, most doctors still scheduled office visits.

I can remember visiting our family doctor, whose office was on East Pearl Street, well within walking distance from our tree street apartment. It was a two-person operation, consisting of a receptionist, who was also sometimes a nurse, and the doctor. His bill was a whopping twelve dollars. Upset stomach? Take Coke syrup, which was available at Lussier's Pharmacy. Sprained ankle? Ice it, wrap it, elevate it, take aspirin, and come back in two weeks. Occasionally, an X-ray would be ordered.

It seems like as HMOs became the norm, healthcare as we know it changed forever. Doctors began to practice in "groups" specific to their specialties and health insurance became a necessity, particularly if you were unfortunate enough to experience a serious illness. Gone were house calls as we know them, as doctors' days became packed with office visits. But medical associations formed by those doctor groups now made trips to the hospital less necessary, as they included the equipment needed for diagnostic imaging and labs.

While trying to block out the beeps, buzzing and calamity outside of my hospital room and harkening back to days of medical care of the past, I was reminded that we are in a vastly different world now when it comes to healthcare. Not necessarily bad, but different.

Today we can opt for telemedicine, doing everything via a Zoom call, speaking directly to our health care provider. Who would have ever thought that possible back in those days of the black leather bag?

Healthcare today is an extremely demanding profession, not only in light of the Covid pandemic and its seemingly endless variants, but the overall reduction in numbers of those people choosing to enter the profession, creating a critical shortage.

Even though I already had a tremendous respect for those in the medical profession, especially those in the nursing field, my recent hospital stay solidified that respect. Nurses see and experience pretty much everything any one of us could imagine over the course of one day. They are medical professionals, care givers, sounding boards, intermediaries, and sometimes even sanitary technicians.

The word hero is a word that seems to be used all too often today. We typically count among our heroes people in law enforcement, fire professionals, EMT's and those in the military, and they most certainly deserve to be in that category. However, we should also include nursing professionals in that group.

Like those in the military, particularly those in battle, they start each day not knowing what they will face. Typically, those in a military battle, at least know who their enemy is.

A nurse, especially during the Covid pandemic, faced the ultimate unknown enemy in a long and bitter battle. Perhaps it was a killer, perhaps not. Perhaps it was the beginning of a long-term illness, perhaps not. At minimum, they watched and sometimes could not help, those who were fighting a completely unknown enemy and often losing that battle. It was both physically and mentally exhausting. And who knew what future pandemic could be lying in wait?

So, the next time you encounter a nurse, or any medical professional for that matter, remember to treat them with the utmost respect. You might even thank them for choosing the profession they have chosen. I have done so and even let them know they are heroes in my book. And I found all of them to be quite humble and thankful.

Don Canney is a freelance writer and professional voice artist. He was born and raised in downtown Nashua with great interest in Nashua history circa 1950-1970. He now resides in Litchfield.