Monday
Jun072010
Big fat waste of time
Monday, June 7, 2010 at 12:02PM
As I mentioned, after hearing "that's not normal, you should see a doctor" about a billion times over the course of three weeks with my fat feet and ankles, I finally gave in. That was Sunday, May 30. Today is Monday, June 7 and I JUST got the results.
I called my doctor's office on Tuesday, May 1 and was told no results came in, and that I needed to call the Urgent Care office to have them fax everything over. I called Urgent Care and was told they had already done that. I asked them to try again, we double checked the number, and I had her call me back when it was all done. I called the doctor's office on Wednesday, May 2 and was told they STILL didn't have anything. Called Urgent Care, and they insisted it was sent, but agreed to try again.
On Friday, May 4 I did the whole song and dance again. This time the nurse at my doctor's office was down right annoyed. She was clearly too busy to deal with this stuff, and when I asked her "What do I need to do to get the results to you?" she just huffed and said to call Urgent Care again. Great, because that's been real effective in the past. I did it anyway, and the lady at Urgent Care was also annoyed. "We've sent this several times without an error message, so it should be there."
I don't know whose fault all this was, but it certainly wasn't mine, and I was sick of calling 18 people a day to track down MY results. Urgent Care tried one more time, and I called my doctor's office back to follow up and had to leave a message. And they never called me back.
Today, Monday, June 7, I still hadn't heard anything by noon, so I called the doctor again, and again left a message. They finally called back at 3, and guess what, they still didn't have the results. This time I begged. Can I have them mail the stuff to you? Email? Carrier pigeon? Can I go over there and pick it up myself? Can you call them? PLEASE! She put me on hold and searched again, and ta da! There they were, received on June 3 and never filed in my folder.
And can I just say, what a holy waste of fucking time. The nurse said the doctor had reviewed the labs and simply said to "file them." I asked if there was any diagnosis. Nope, just inflammation. Was there anything about treatment? Nope. I ran out of questions. I didn't know what else to ask. I was stunned into silence. No diagnosis and no treatment? No information at all.
I absolutely don't have time to make a followup appointment with my doctor this week, and next week is the honeymoon. So I'm stuck. I just wasted all that money on x-rays and bloodwork, and all that time chasing down my "results" for nothing. Fortunately the swelling has been going down, and I'm on day 2 of getting around without the aid of ibuprofen, so maybe they're just healing on their own. Still... such a fucking ridiculous mess, and such a fucking waste.
I called my doctor's office on Tuesday, May 1 and was told no results came in, and that I needed to call the Urgent Care office to have them fax everything over. I called Urgent Care and was told they had already done that. I asked them to try again, we double checked the number, and I had her call me back when it was all done. I called the doctor's office on Wednesday, May 2 and was told they STILL didn't have anything. Called Urgent Care, and they insisted it was sent, but agreed to try again.
On Friday, May 4 I did the whole song and dance again. This time the nurse at my doctor's office was down right annoyed. She was clearly too busy to deal with this stuff, and when I asked her "What do I need to do to get the results to you?" she just huffed and said to call Urgent Care again. Great, because that's been real effective in the past. I did it anyway, and the lady at Urgent Care was also annoyed. "We've sent this several times without an error message, so it should be there."
I don't know whose fault all this was, but it certainly wasn't mine, and I was sick of calling 18 people a day to track down MY results. Urgent Care tried one more time, and I called my doctor's office back to follow up and had to leave a message. And they never called me back.
Today, Monday, June 7, I still hadn't heard anything by noon, so I called the doctor again, and again left a message. They finally called back at 3, and guess what, they still didn't have the results. This time I begged. Can I have them mail the stuff to you? Email? Carrier pigeon? Can I go over there and pick it up myself? Can you call them? PLEASE! She put me on hold and searched again, and ta da! There they were, received on June 3 and never filed in my folder.
And can I just say, what a holy waste of fucking time. The nurse said the doctor had reviewed the labs and simply said to "file them." I asked if there was any diagnosis. Nope, just inflammation. Was there anything about treatment? Nope. I ran out of questions. I didn't know what else to ask. I was stunned into silence. No diagnosis and no treatment? No information at all.
I absolutely don't have time to make a followup appointment with my doctor this week, and next week is the honeymoon. So I'm stuck. I just wasted all that money on x-rays and bloodwork, and all that time chasing down my "results" for nothing. Fortunately the swelling has been going down, and I'm on day 2 of getting around without the aid of ibuprofen, so maybe they're just healing on their own. Still... such a fucking ridiculous mess, and such a fucking waste.
Reader Comments (8)
boo urns. how frustrating is that??? annoying. i'm annoyed for you. f-ers.
You know, if you'd gone to a restaurant and received that kind of service, you could demand to speak to a manager and refuse to pay your bill. Too bad you can't do the same with health care.
How freaking frustrating! God, I hate the medical system in this country. I cannot tell you how many times I've gone through something similar.
I'm glad the inflammation has gone down some.
This is super frustrating, and why so many people turn to alternative therapies. On the plus side, now you know that nothing is seriously wrong, and you could seek alternative treatments without worrying about seriously hurting yourself. I am so very sorry that you had to deal with this, though. I know that you are under a lot of stress.
I *hate* that there is so little communication between the different offices - they should be more willing to communicate!
Mine do that everytime I try to run. They look about as bad as yours do. And I have to limp for about three or four weeks. We've investigated it several times, and though the doctor has a guess at what the issue is, there has been no confirmation. His treatment, "No running or jumping." I have found a medication that helps with the everyday ache and pain, but if I try to run I still have them swell up. Good luck finding a solution.
also to follow up on monsterrawr, you should call and complain. i have done that before, and i got my copay back. my sister is a nurse and says that's the only way to get crappy docs and nurses out of the offices. use your rights as a patient! :)
You're getting married today! Congratulations to you both!