Excuse me while I rant a little. It’s Incessantly Ranty Katdish‘s fault. She’s already gotten to kind, diplomatic Billy Coffey. He ranted in his guest post for her on Monday.
Of course, I’ll ignore the fact that THEY write about deep things like how society treats the homeless and what it takes to be a “real man.”
Me, I rant/whine about going to the doctor.
And today is a doctor day. An unplanned doctor day. Why? Here’s Hannah at 7:30 a.m., as we were preparing to leave for school:
“Mom, my eye is REALLY red this morning. And bright light makes it hurt.”
Annnnnnnd everyone who’s spent any time around kids knows what happened next: Hannah stayed home.
And I made an appointment for her with the pediatrician later this morning… for suspected PINKEYE.
Because clearly my lingering upper respiratory infection doesn’t provide enough drama for THIS family.
Oh! But while we’re on the subject of MY illness? Let me just inform you that I AM STILL SICK.
After a week on antibiotics. So today I’ll be on the phone to my brand-new primary care doctor’s office to ask for stronger drugs.
Which brings up a study in contrasts between the two offices: kids’ doc and mine:
For Hannah’s appointment I called before 8 a.m. and talked to a live person, even though they don’t officially open until 8:30.
For MY request today for a new prescription, I will start calling at 9, along with everyone else who sees that doctor. Since they don’t even have voicemail. Hopefully I’ll get past the busy signal after only 20 minutes. If I set the phone on speaker and auto-redial.
(Calling my doc is like trying to vote on American Idol.)
Pediatrician: They got us in for our preferred doctor’s next available appointment at 10 today.
My doctor: They will take my message and MIGHT deliver it to him later today, at which point he will approve my request and ask them to call it in.
Which they will not do until I call again to remind them.
OR if I’m lucky, they WILL call it in without a reminder.
But they will not call to let me know.
Pediatrician: We will arrive at 10 and sit in the waiting room for no more than 30 minutes. (If there’s a rush.) In the examining room, we might wait again, but probably for around 15 minutes.
My doctor: I went for my first-ever appointment last Wednesday. So of course I had a raft of forms to fill out. But I was done with them long before I finally left the waiting room. After an HOUR.
Ten minutes of vitals and another round of questions that I’d already answered on the forms later, I entered an examining room. Where I waited another HOUR.
Then got examined by a student doctor. Who asked me the same questions again. Then after 20 minutes, the doctor entered. Guess what questions he asked.
Pause in rant: the DOCTOR was wonderful. He had me diagnosed and out the door in no time. Charlie’s been encouraging me to try him for years because even though the office staff is incompetent, Charlie likes the doc a lot. Charlie had also warned me about the wait – which he goes through EVERY time he’s there – and told me to bring along some work to do.
So now I’m all conflicted.
- Is a nice and skilled doctor worth half a day spent in his office?
- Isn’t there a better way for a one-doctor office to work than to schedule 4-5 appointments for the EXACT SAME TIME, just so they can take turns being seen?
Since I haven’t had a good primary care doc in years, and I really need to quit putting off getting a physical, I’ll probably stick with him a little longer.
I’ll just take my computer and work. And beg them to install wi-fi.
Don’t forget to visit tomorrow!
Barring blindness from pinkeye, I will still be holding a giveaway for some amazing photographic prints!
13 responses so far ↓
1 Nick the Geek // Oct 13, 2009 at 9:02 am
I feel for you, we had the baby at the ER 3 times this weekend for chemical eye. It looks a lot like pink eye but you can tell the difference because shortly after the screaming a 3 year old runs past with a bottle of cleaner and the baby smells surprisingly clean. We went to 2 different ERs because, while the first was proficient and closer and less of a wait, they don’t ever do more than the bare minimum. They flushed his eyes with 1.5 liters of neutral saline each and sent him home with antibiotic ointment. All night he was miserable and in the morning he wouldn’t open his eyes. I was terrified he was blind or something. Seriously we didn’t know if he was awake or asleep unless he was playing with something trying to figure out what it was. He didn’t want to eat or anything.
Thus the visit to the other ER which is twice as far and usually a very long wait, but apparently early Saturday morning most people are emergency free unlike a Friday night would have been. Anyways, they did a checkup and said the other ER did a good job flushing his eyes but went one extra step. They gave him prescription pain meds. That made all the difference in how the baby was coping. He started eating and drinking when he was miserable with pain.
Moral of the story … if you have never had a good experience with a particular place as far as diagnosis then the one that involves the longer wait but more than barely proficient doctors is probably a better choice.
2 Helen // Oct 13, 2009 at 9:02 am
A visit to my doctor takes just as long. He will not prescribe over the phone, so calling him is useless… He is a great doctor, though. I usually bring a book or a couple of newspapers to read. If I remember to do that, I am fine during the wait, but if I have to read the outdated stuff he has out there, I am at risk for getting hospitalized for my blood pressure..
I hope you and Hannah feel better.
3 jasonS // Oct 13, 2009 at 10:47 am
Want me to throw the pastor card and tell you to give thanks in all things and patiently endure?
No? Then how about, “dang, that sucks. I hate waiting in the Dr’s office.”
4 joyce // Oct 13, 2009 at 10:55 am
I say yes the wait is worth it. Since you know you will always have to wait you can plan…my new doc is the same. I read almost an entire book the first time I saw him. But, I think good care wins out over a long wait. Oh, and I do try to sit far away from everyone else who is also waiting….not anti-social, just don’t want to leave with something worse than what I came in with in the first place.
Hope you’re 100% soon!
5 Jo@Mylestones // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Starbucks and wi-fi in the waiting rooms across America. I think that would effectively solve the health care crisis. Just my 2 cents.
Actually, my real 2 cents is that what you’re experiencing is proof that there is a serious primary care shortage. Docs in primary care are reportedly the most overworked and lowest paid, and the gov’t just keeps making it tougher and offering more disincentives to go the primary care route, which of course will make the shortage worse. If you can find a good doc–no matter how long the wait–stick with it. It’s still infinitely better than a long wait for a crappy doc!
6 katdish // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Whoa…there is no spoon…
And I have the same doctor’s office here that you do there.
Freaky-deaky…
7 katdish // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Oh, and thanks for the shout out. Y’all come over to my blog tomorrow – I have a very special guest blogger. AHEM.
8 Candy // Oct 13, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I still think we should bill them by the hour for the time spent waiting. But a good dr is worth the wait. They are seemingly few and far between anymore.
9 Bridget Chumbley // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:24 pm
What an ordeal! If you decide to start over then so does all that paperwork…Just Sayin.
I hope you start to feel better, it’s time!
10 Melissa from the Blue House // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I’m learning the value of the in-and-out, doc-in-a-box, urgent care thing. Who needs a relationship….
11 Billy Coffey // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Dang, that does not sound good. And you’re still sick, too?
I have two words for you, Steph: blueberry moonshine. If it doesn’t cure you, you won’t care.
12 Guest post AND a giveaway? Does this mean I’m a real blogger? | The Red Clay Diaries // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:03 am
[...] RSS ← This wouldn’t even be an issue if they had a Starbucks in the waiting room [...]
13 Helen // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:22 am
Billy- Amen to moonshine of ANY variety. I never had blueberry…mmm…sounds goods…
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