Healthcare Farce
23/3/11 18:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eredienSo, today I wanted to go to the RMV, and the pet store, and run an errand, and do several hours' worth of work, and after dinner work on the dress I am making for B.
However, I instead spent the entire day at the doctor's office, so after dinner I will be going to CVS to pick up my 60 mg ibuprofen tablets and then do several hours' worth of work, since there was no internet in the doctor's office.
I got there around 11:15/11:30, and said, "yeah, I know I should have called, but I don't have a phone that makes outgoing calls right now [skype works with my bluetooth headset, but has poor reception; gchat doesn't seem to work at all, which I found out after I switched to gchat and bought a bluetooth headset]. Do you think you can have a nurse or somebody see me today, since I was already going to run errands over here later?"
They said, "sure; sit down and the nurse will call you."
Several hours went by. I read a paper on internet security models, picked out some courses I might take from the Boston Architecture Institute Catalog, made notes to myself, planted 30 berries in Pokemon Diamond, attempted to get wireless with my computer until the sishkebab place across the street blocked my IP, went to the water fountain a few times, read a magazine, and learned the rules of mah-jong and spider solitaire from playing the games rather than reading the help manual. I wasn't expecting to get waited on quickly since I hadn't had an appointment; I figured that when I walked back and forth to the bathroom the receptionists would have called me over if there was something wrong.
At 3:30, the receptionist called me. "Have you been sitting here all this time?" She was kind of embarrassed for me, I think.
"Well, yes. I mean, you said you'd told the nurse I was here, and so both you and the nurse both knew I was here. So..."
"You should never wait that long! Come up and tell us you're still waiting!"
I blinked. I was frustrated that it was apparently sort of my fault for not letting them know that I was still there, when in fact the whole point of telling them I was there in the first place was so that they would know I was there and I wouldn't have to tell them again--honestly, doctor's offices are really busy places, and I figured I'd just be annoying the receptionist if I popped up every half hour to remind her of something I'd already told her and she'd already passed on to the appropriate party.
The receptionist looked in the paperwork and found out that while she'd told the nurse I was there, for some reason the nurse had forgotten to actually see me. (I've had the same problem happen with the nurse forgetting to call me back, but I figured it would be less likely to happen if I was actually physically present in the office...silly me).
Fifteen minutes later, the nurse called me, apologized for forgetting about me (which was silly, since nurses were popping their heads into the waiting room every fifteen minutes, and I'd deliberately positioned myself to be clearly visible), took my temperature, and did a quick throat culture, telling me it was probably strep and it was going around a lot.
Fifteen minutes later, the quick culture came back negative for strep, but then my doctor wanted to see me.
The doctor came in, apologized again for the delay, decided it wasn't thrush, said that maybe it was "cryptic tonsils," listened to my lungs and felt the swelling/heat in my throat and around my ear, asked me, "but you usually don't have many ear problems, right?" and looked confused when I said that I *always* have ear problems when I have a cold, said they were sending the culture off for another test and that sometimes the quick test wasn't right, told me to drink a lot of water, asked me if either of my partners had been sick, got my email, and gave me a prescription for a horse pills' worth of ibuprofen 3x a day.
I really like my doctor, and she's centrally located, but a lot of the time her staff/practice seems overworked, and she can't seem to remember the current status of my ear/throat problems or my partnerships at any given time. If I didn't actually like her, or have an actual 5-year history at this point with her, I might try to switch practices.
...so, I might not have strep, but I will know for sure in a few days. Thrush is not likely. A fun six hours for...60 mg of ibuprofen and a strep culture. Thrills a minute.
One thrill. Per minute.
However, I instead spent the entire day at the doctor's office, so after dinner I will be going to CVS to pick up my 60 mg ibuprofen tablets and then do several hours' worth of work, since there was no internet in the doctor's office.
I got there around 11:15/11:30, and said, "yeah, I know I should have called, but I don't have a phone that makes outgoing calls right now [skype works with my bluetooth headset, but has poor reception; gchat doesn't seem to work at all, which I found out after I switched to gchat and bought a bluetooth headset]. Do you think you can have a nurse or somebody see me today, since I was already going to run errands over here later?"
They said, "sure; sit down and the nurse will call you."
Several hours went by. I read a paper on internet security models, picked out some courses I might take from the Boston Architecture Institute Catalog, made notes to myself, planted 30 berries in Pokemon Diamond, attempted to get wireless with my computer until the sishkebab place across the street blocked my IP, went to the water fountain a few times, read a magazine, and learned the rules of mah-jong and spider solitaire from playing the games rather than reading the help manual. I wasn't expecting to get waited on quickly since I hadn't had an appointment; I figured that when I walked back and forth to the bathroom the receptionists would have called me over if there was something wrong.
At 3:30, the receptionist called me. "Have you been sitting here all this time?" She was kind of embarrassed for me, I think.
"Well, yes. I mean, you said you'd told the nurse I was here, and so both you and the nurse both knew I was here. So..."
"You should never wait that long! Come up and tell us you're still waiting!"
I blinked. I was frustrated that it was apparently sort of my fault for not letting them know that I was still there, when in fact the whole point of telling them I was there in the first place was so that they would know I was there and I wouldn't have to tell them again--honestly, doctor's offices are really busy places, and I figured I'd just be annoying the receptionist if I popped up every half hour to remind her of something I'd already told her and she'd already passed on to the appropriate party.
The receptionist looked in the paperwork and found out that while she'd told the nurse I was there, for some reason the nurse had forgotten to actually see me. (I've had the same problem happen with the nurse forgetting to call me back, but I figured it would be less likely to happen if I was actually physically present in the office...silly me).
Fifteen minutes later, the nurse called me, apologized for forgetting about me (which was silly, since nurses were popping their heads into the waiting room every fifteen minutes, and I'd deliberately positioned myself to be clearly visible), took my temperature, and did a quick throat culture, telling me it was probably strep and it was going around a lot.
Fifteen minutes later, the quick culture came back negative for strep, but then my doctor wanted to see me.
The doctor came in, apologized again for the delay, decided it wasn't thrush, said that maybe it was "cryptic tonsils," listened to my lungs and felt the swelling/heat in my throat and around my ear, asked me, "but you usually don't have many ear problems, right?" and looked confused when I said that I *always* have ear problems when I have a cold, said they were sending the culture off for another test and that sometimes the quick test wasn't right, told me to drink a lot of water, asked me if either of my partners had been sick, got my email, and gave me a prescription for a horse pills' worth of ibuprofen 3x a day.
I really like my doctor, and she's centrally located, but a lot of the time her staff/practice seems overworked, and she can't seem to remember the current status of my ear/throat problems or my partnerships at any given time. If I didn't actually like her, or have an actual 5-year history at this point with her, I might try to switch practices.
...so, I might not have strep, but I will know for sure in a few days. Thrush is not likely. A fun six hours for...60 mg of ibuprofen and a strep culture. Thrills a minute.
One thrill. Per minute.
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