I realize I’ve not been posting with my usual frequency. I know that some people use their blog for venting. I promise not to abuse this, but I will take my privilege this one time.
There are a few reasons for by absence lately. Most notably, we’ve had more new patients this month than ever before. Yes, I do view that as mostly a GOOD thing. However, lately, it seem that more than half of our new patients come after having failed at other programs, and as such, are more challenging to care for properly. Part of my job is to hunt down their old records and review them in detail to see what new ideas I have for doing things differently, so that they might finally get a baby. One patient in particular has already failed six IVF cycles and three FETs elsewhere, but based on a few things I’ve noted (all of her cycles was done exactly the same cookbook way at the exact same center, without any innovative adjustments learned from each failure), I’m still optimistic there is hope for her. Three patients are coming to see me from Europe and two from Asia, and as such, require extra work to coordinate logistically. I’ve so far been able to maintain the level of attention that keeps my current patients happy, but if I get any busier, then something has got to give a little. So either I’ll have to cut back 5% on the time I give personally to each patient, cut back on the number of new patients I accept, cut back on my blogging, cut back on my social time, my workout time, my reading or my sleep. I chose to sacrifice blogging time.
Last week, our city had a power failure, so the morning was lost and we had to move our patients to the afternoon. Not only was my productivity shot, but I lost some files on my computer related to this blog. I’ve since recovered them all, but it took a lot of time to do so. I’ve also had to spend time dealing with getting ready to file taxes. I am just beginning to get an idea of how much of our country’s productivity is eaten up by having to prepare a tax return. I now truly feel it would benefit our country to go to a simple flat tax system, but I have friends who are tax attorneys and CPAs who would be out of a job, so I guess I won’t wish too hard for that.
We are finally going to get new carpeting in our office after ten years, so we have to pack and move some furniture temporarily. I have a new academic position at a second medical school, so I have to allot some more time to schedule more lectures in addition to the lectures that I still give at the other school. Today, the Food and Drug Administration paid us a surprise visit. We have been expecting this for a year now, as most of my colleagues have been visited already. These inspections fall under the tissue banking provisions, because our handling of donor sperm and donor eggs constitutes a form of tissue and organ donation. Fair enough. We’ve done this type of dance before with the Department of Health every year, and we’ve passed each time, but it is certainly one of the most time-consuming processes. However, if the wisdom of our politicians has judged it is in the public’s best interest to send a team of non-medical personnel to sift through our charts every year to see if any regulation has been violated, then I warmly embrace this opportunity to spend our tax dollars towards making the world a safer place for all. 
. I’m also happy that this provides an all-important employment opportunity for another government inspector. I was amused to learn that according to the FDA, it is my responsibility to periodically audit all the labs that we send our blood tests to, in order to make sure that THEY are in FDA compliance. I showed them my collected copies of certificates that those labs provided me certifying that THEY passed their FDA inspections. Although some might think it sounds like a silly circular game, I personally take it very seriously, because I respect the power they have over me and my patients. With one stroke of the pen, they can shut us down and THAT makes me pay attention and smile politely. I have the same respect for the DMV employees who with one wave of their hand can judge my paperwork to be noncompliant with the law and banish me to the end of the line, where I will be doomed to consume another 30 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.
So that’s the latest. I hope that things will settle down in a few weeks after the inspectors are finished. So for now, if I don’t reply to your emails, please don’t think that I don’t appreciate them. I still do. God bless you.
