Ups Downs; Ins Outs

Wow.. the past two days have been quite the roller coaster ride. Monday brought lab results saying everything is normal but for my cholesterol is a tad elevated. Whew! Then off to see the Nurse Practitioner for the new doc since he isn't available for a couple of months. Did all my paperwork and left with lots of time to spare only to discover that the place was unfindable and I'd forgotten my cell phone. SHIT! Finally found it inside the hospital, but nowhere on their business cards does it say they are in there, nor is the street number posted anywhere, NOR is the name of the medical group anywhere on the building. I was NOT impressed and not on time. They were NOT impressed and rescheduled me for later that day. The place was a zoo and the staff was all wooden. They didn't provide me with a copy of my HIPPA rights but asked me to sign for one. When I asked for a copy they gave me one of the paper I signed instead. Gah!!! Should have gotten a clue right then.

Later that day I got caught in a really nasty/scary domestic violence intake and couldn't get free for my appointment. It was a near thing with calling 911 and resulted in a gathering of the clinical committee to discuss what the hell to do about the increasing risk level of our clientele. I called the medical place right when I should have been there and let them know I was stuck in a crisis beyond my control. They rescheduled me for this morning and said that since I'd done my paperwork there was no need to come early.

Got there on the dot and found the only receptionist on the phone. She motioned me to sit down. A few minutes later she got off the phone and gestured for me to come back up to the desk, asking who I was there to see. She then shouted into the back for someone to come check patients in please (there were two others waiting with me, both with the same appointment times as mine) The woman who came out scowled at me and said "you're late again, I don't know if she'll take you" and walked away. Another few minutes went by and she returned to inform me that because I had been late three times in a row they wouldn't see me at all, now or ever. No, there was nobody else in the group who could and no, she would not give me a referral. She insisted that I walked in right as she walked out and was NOT on time and sitting there all along. She also insisted that I had been told to be there 10 minutes early. It was infuriating, embarrassing and humiliating all at once.

The moment I was in my car I called my GYN's office and they said no problem, she has no openings today but if you come by this afternoon she'll squeeze you in somehow. She did, and was absolutely wonderful. Signed everything, gave me generic scripts for MRI testing so I can shop around (discovered the place originally ordered is quite pricey compared to others) and told me to call her immediately if anyone gave me any trouble at all. All that and she didn't charge me a dime. She did chastise me gently for not calling her in the first place. She said, "I AM your primary care physician!" rather huffily. LOL!

So a huge thank you to Battle Weary for the heads up. A huge smack upside my own head for not realizing I could do that. A foul gesture at the clinic that made my life so fucking hard and all feed lot style 'move em through' clinics in the world. Despite all the misery, I'm actually quite glad I dodged that bullet. I suspect I'd have been very unhappy with that style of care. Later, as I was thinking about the differences between mental health ethics and medical ethics it occurred to me that if I had their perspective, that my client was confused, disoriented and unable to follow simple directions, I might consider whether that was part of the presenting problem! Yet when I pleaded with the woman at the desk that I had a lump on the back of my neck and numbness in my hand and foot it had no impact on her whatsoever. I can't decide if it was because maybe she was supposed to be at the desk and now three people were going to be late coming in because of her, or if it was that she truly thought I was a deadbeat.

Now if only I could get my head back into school. Everything has been pushed out a week because the campus was closed due to the fire so that's a drag, but it also means they won't try to load us down with extra work in a shorter time frame. I made good progress on my dissertation over the weekend... relatively speaking... but am beginning to panic about how far I have to go.

I feel like I'm pulling back into the fast lane of a crowded highway again after having had a massive wreck. I suppose there may be more bumps to come as the testing is scheduled and so forth, but at least I feel really good about my doctor.