RAGE AGAINST APPLETREE!!!!!!!!
Guess where I am supposed to be right now? That's right. At my physical appointment. Some of you may remember my previous rant about the state of the health care system in our nation's capital. Well, let's just say that I have become even less impressed than I was before, if you can even believe it.
Ok. First of all, a few weeks ago, this whole medical problem for which I was given a placebo deteriorated. I tried calling more doctor's on the oh so very handy list. One place I called was on the list by accident. They only do hair transplants. Oh yes. I can see how hair transplants can be easily confused with family medicine. I will be sure to call them next time all my hair falls out. At the other place I called, the secretary yelled at me and told me they were not accepting new patients. Nice.
As a result, I resigned myself to going back to Appletree. I checked the web site to find out the wait times. It was 4:15 when I went online to check the times for the Slater Street clinic, which is open till 8:00 p.m. It was full. They were not taking any more patients for the rest of the night.
This meant driving half way across town to the clinic on Carling. When I checked the wait time seconds before I left the house, it was 5 minutes. In the 20 minutes it took me to get there, the wait time had increased to over an hour. Anyway, there are some good things about this story, however minor they may be.
They are as follows: The doctor I saw at the Carling clinic didn't just spend 5 seconds with me and push me out the door with a placebo. He asked very probing questions like if I had ever had a brain injury or if I had ever had surgery and other things I never would have even thought of. Then he gave me a requisition for some serious blood letting and told me I should come back and see him in two weeks. Indeed, he actually even apologized for the long way. (Please insert three cheers for Dr. Tyson here.)
Sadly, that is where the good part ends. When I went for the blood letting , they failed to mention that I had to fast for 12 hours first. So, I was sent home to return again some other time. Aside from the inconvenience of having to go back a second time, my next visit went relatively smoothly. Seven tubes of blood later....I could barely stand, but felt slightly relieved that at least now something was being done.
Now, I know what you are thinking. This post does not seem very filled with rage. That is because you have only just finished reading the preamble. Now the real rage begins.
So, the appointment for a physical that was supposed to be held on July 3 was rescheduled for today. That was the absolute soonest she could fit me in. So, I make arrangements to leave work early. Knowing how sketchy Appletree is, I checked my voice mail at home before leaving work. No messages.
Off I go. Drive home to drop off my car. I have a few minutes to spare, before I have to walk to the clinic, so I go upstairs to my apartment to drop off some stuff. The phone is flashing. This is ominous, but I try to think positive. Perhaps it is my sister leaving a message, or my mom returned from the west. BUT NO! It is just as I expected. It is stupid freaking Appletree cancelling my freaking appointment. The doctor is sick...by the way, this is the same lame excuse they used the last time. Said they wanted to reschedule for Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. Call us back if this is a problem. They gave about 1 hour's notice. That's it.
Well, let's just say I called them back. And I was not very nice. First, I asked nicely if I could keep my appointment today and just see another doctor. Oh no. She is the only doctor who is in today. So I said "so you're closing the clinic early since she is sick?" Oh no. She is still going to be there. So basically she is just refusing to see me. And then I am supposed to be happy about the fact that they rescheduled me for a time I can't go on Wednesday instead of making me wait another month. Well, forgive me for not falling at your feet in appreciation. I feel a bit bad now, because technically it is not the receptionist's fault, but I was practically yelling at her.
I am freaking sick and I want to see a freaking doctor and I made an appointment a month ago. I don't think it is too much to ask to actually see the doctor, who is going to be in her office at the time I was supposed to have an appointment, just seeing patients other than me. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! I can't believe it. Then I said, shouldn't I have some sort of priority here since I have been booked for an appointment for a month. Nope. Sorry. If I walk in off the street, I have more priority than a patient who has made an appointment. I ask again why this woman forced me to sign a form saying that she was my doctor?!!! And if you don't want to see people with appointments then don't make them. But don't make the appointment and then cancel every freaking time with an HOUR' S NOTICE.
Basically the conversation ended with me telling the receptionist what I thought of Dr. Pandian's professionalism and to stick her appointment (I said the stick it part in a slightly more polite fashion) and demanded that she take me off the list of Dr. Pandian's patients. Since I demanded this on the phone, I couldn't really see if she really did it or not. When I go back to see Dr. Tyson on Thursday, I am going to double check and if I am not off that list, I am going down to the Slater Street clinic, asking to see my file and shredding the form right then and there. If I had to do it all again, I would go down there at the time of my appointment and cause a fuss right there so it would actually be the doctor who had to come and deal with me instead of the innocent receptionist victim. Words cannot begin to describe how angry I am at the moment. If I were speaking out loud, I would be using a scary combination of screaming and my sea witch voice. Those who have heard it know what I am talking about.
RAGE AGAINST APPLETREE
posted by Dish @ 4:11 PM
1 Comments:
..And when you shred your file, the receptionist will calmly sit there while pressing a silent alarm button. Then the paddywagon will stop outside the clinic and they'll take you away to either the Vomitorium or the Crazyhouse.
I think our tax dollars should entitle us to a family doctor.
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