The Day DPC & Independent Pharmacy Saved My Sanity

On December 9, 2025, around 11 pm, I was trying to fall asleep when my phone rang. It’s my 19-year-old college sophomore calling. I answered quickly. The first sentence out of his mouth was, “uuuuuh, Mom, does our Sedera membership pay for ER visits?” I replied, “Well, (and then thinking to myself, this is probably not the best time to explain what an initial unshareable amount is and how that relates to what a “need” is), maybe, just tell me what you did.”

He’d apparently been studying for final exams for too long, and it was time for a game of mini-hoop in his apartment with his roommates.  He describes in detail the move he put on his mini-hoop opponents – “I went left, then right, then faked back to the left, did a 360 and dunked…Then I landed weird on my ankle.”  

My first move was to text him the image of the Quizzify app, which houses the ER Sticker Shock Prevent Consent, just in case an ER visit was imminent.

This keeps the hospital from charging you whatever they want.  If you’ve only consented to 200% of Medicare, then that’s what they must accept.  Everyone needs this tool, but don’t get too excited; this only works in the ER.

I eventually talked him out of going to the ER, but I still didn’t sleep well the rest of the night.  Oh, and did I mention he had a final exam at 8 am the next day?  Yeah, nothing like bad timing, right?

I was staying with my parents to help because my Mom had had surgery the week prior.  So, I got up early, shot off a text to our DPC doctor, and hopped in the shower.  While I was in the shower, my Mom fell and gave herself a significant knot on the head. 

Thank goodness, she had a prior scheduled visit with a DPC doctor I found for them last summer in Bluffton, SC.  Meet Dr. Elliott Calvert, who, during this appointment, noticed things weren’t quite right and recommended we take my Mom to the ER and that he’d call ahead of us to let them know his concerns.  Turns out, she’d had a stroke.

On the way through the door of this appointment, my own DPC doctor calls to help me decide what to do about my oldest son.  He recommended a boot and some crutches.  I guess we could’ve shopped around to find the best deal, but in the interest of time, I reached out to the local, independent, community pharmacy near my son’s college campus.  

They only had the boot he needed, but took care of him expeditiously at a very fair price.  Because he was going home later that day, I also called our local pharmacy in our hometown for the crutches.  Doing some research later online to see if I’d overspent, I found similar boots and crutches within about $5 of the price I paid at the local, independent pharmacies.  It’s worth every penny to have the items you need the same day rather than use Amazon and wait days for delivery.  Patients need local relationships with their DPC doctors and their local, independent pharmacies.  Don’t try to convince me otherwise.  It’s the perfect pairing for quick response medicine from a local care team that knows you by name.  When you can achieve that combo (DPC + local pharmacy) you’ll never regret it.

Thank you to Dr. Matthew Kramer of Main Street Family Medicine in Forest City, NC and Dr. Elliott Calvert of Knobel MD in Bluffton, SC.  Boone Drug in Boone, NC and Table Rock Pharmacy in Morganton, NC.  You all helped save my sanity on December 10, 2025.