An important new person has entered my life this year, her name is Amy Eldridge and she’s a Nurse Practitioner who has agreed to take me on as a patient.

As an older man diabetes 2 and heart disease, a primary care physician matters to me. It matters to my health and to my peace of mind. I need a doctor I can listen to and will listen to.

My life has depended on it. Karen Bruce, the nurse who guided my through my diabetes and heart surgery, has left the practice and our local health center is struggling with all of the problems of rural health care.

I don’t want to generalize, but I’ve struggled to find male doctors who want to talk to me or get to know me, talk to me, and help me manage the health care system and my bag of prescriptions

As I’ve written, I’ve been on a long and arduous search for a safe and helpful place in the Byzantine and troubled health care system.

I’ve abandoned most of my male doctors because they simply don’t know how to talk to me, which could certainly be my fault.

It’s my responsibility to find the right place for me and to not whine and bitch about the system.

I’ve tried different clinics in different places. I’ve found the doctors I want and need in the Saratoga Hospital Medical Group.

I’ve mostly focused on finding Nurse-Practitioners because they are female and because family practice doctors in rural areas are so rare and overwhelmed it is almost impossible to see them, let along have time to talk with them.

We all know our health care system is a catastrophe, but we can still work hard to find a good and meaningful place in it. I can’t just blame it on the system.

My hard work and patience has paid off. Today I met my new primary care health care person, her name is Amy Eldridge, and it was a reaffirming and comforting pleasure to meet her.

Actually, I’m understating it. It was a wonderful experience. I can’t tell you how good I feel about it.

In my position, it is crucial to find a health care worker I can speak with, as diabetes and heart disease and their attendant medications raise all kinds of peripheral and sometimes complicated issues that I sometimes need and want to talk about.

Every medicine has a side effect, and sometimes, I worry more about the side effects than the diseases themselves.

The medications I am taking often cause side effects from digestive disorders to constipation to hives to drowsiness, I am constantly changing and adjusting them, something it’s hard to do by yourself.

Plus I really need to understand what is happening to my body, and how best to deal with it.

So I’ve been switching health centers and exchanging doctors. I think I’ve found my place in Schuylerville,  and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., I have a new cardiologist, a new diabetes doctor, and now, a new primary care person.

I’m not looking for a new best friend, I don’t complain much and rarely if every visit outside of my regularly scheduled appointments. I almost never call. I don’t want health care to be the dominant part of my life, but I paid the penalty of hiding from doctors, it nearly cost me my life.

Amy Eldridge has a wonderful manner.  She is honest, open and empathetic.

Within minutes, we were talking about constipation and sex, from penis care to understanding the heart and the way in which the body processes food. I was more honest, open and comfortable with her than with just about any medical person I have ever dealt with. That is a huge relief for me.

I said I wanted to have sex until I was 90 and beyond if that turns out to be possible. I wanted to know what it was I needed to do to be healthy, now that I  have good reasons to be alive for awhile.

I gave it up for a long time, I won’t give it up again.

I know I will have to work at it.

Amy listened to me. She taught me how to pay attention to my heart in a different way so I could sense when there was trouble, rather than be surprised, as I was the last time.

I felt something I have rarely felt in health care – that I was known.

I told her I managed my own feet and didn’t need to take my socks off so a doctor could check me out for diabetic feet issues. She relented and made a note of it (it’s only my few red lines.)  She took my blood pressure and heart, both are quite good.

We talked about communication, gender traits, nutrition. I felt welcome, heard and helped. Her constipation talk was masterful,  even funny. I learned even more about an appropriate diet for myself, and I’ve studied nutrition a lot.

We found two medications I can drop. Yes!

I don’t know what’s wrong with her practice, but everyone was courteous, thoughtful and made me feel comfortable. On the blog, I like to share the important people in my life.

Amy Eldridge is  now one of them.