A Bad Friday at the Doctor\'s Office

Sunday, November 16, 2008 – 8:35 P.M. I went to see my primary care physician on Friday.  Just as I suspected, I turned out to have another UTI.  He prescribed an antibiotic and told me to give him a call Monday morning just to let him know how I was feeling.  I am happy to report that I am feeling much better as of today.   My doctor's visit turned out to be an extremely long one.  I was there on time, at two o'clock.  My doctor was running an hour late, and had not seen me by three, so I asked the receptionist to call the transportation agency, Access-A-Ride (AAR) and advise them of that so that they could delay sending a driver to pick me up at 3:15 PM.  No sooner had she gotten off the phone with them than one of their drivers showed up to get me.  Talk about incompetent people!  The driver told the receptionist to call them when I was finished seeing the doctor.   In addition to talking with my doctor about my UTI, I told him that I was having increasing pain in my back.  He asked how many pills I was taking a day for pain, and I said, usually one or two.  He told me that the prescription had said I was permitted to take up to eight pills a day, but he had known that because I had a fear of becoming addicted to the medication, I was taking less than that.  He also told me that he had not wanted to push me into taking more because of the way I felt, but he had thought that I should be taking more than that.  His message came through loud and clear, and should my back pain increase, as it did last week, I will start taking more of the pain medication.   I was finished seeing my doctor by four o'clock.  His receptionist then called AAR to say that I was ready to be picked up. She was told that someone would get me within one hour. Five o'clock came and I was still waiting on my ride.   By then, the doctor's office was closing, but I was able to get one more staff member before she left for the day.  She placed another call for me, and AAR said that the driver should have been there an hour ago.  The person also said that he was trying to reach the driver by phone, but was having trouble getting through.   The doctor's office closed at five-thirty.  I went out and sat by the front doors, which opened and closed automatically.  While I was waiting there, a security guard came along to lock some of the doors.  I explained my situation to him, and he showed me how I could leave by pushing certain buttons near the doors.   Six o'clock came and went with no one there to pick me up.  To say that I was upset by then would be an understatement.  Shortly before seven o'clock, I learned that there was a security station, which is where I then went.   I finally asked the security guard to call AAR for me.  He made the call, only to be placed on hold for quite a while.  It was so long, in fact, that he finally gave me the phone and said that he had to go make his rounds.   The woman from AAR got on the phone saying that she was trying to hold of the driver, who was originally supposed to get me.  I told her who I was and that I was waiting at the security office in the clinic.  The security guard had not told her that.  She asked me to wait a minute, then got back on the line and promised that there would be a driver to pick me up within ten minutes.   Just as I was hanging up the phone, the security guard returned.  I told him what the woman had said, and he decided to go to the front doors with me and wait there until the driver arrived.  I finally managed to leave the building at seven o'clock -- five hours after I had arrived there, and three hours after I had finished seeing my doctor.  What a way to run a transportation service!   I had left home at one o'clock in the afternoon, and I got home at 7:20 on an evening when the temperature was around the 16° mark.  I had missed dinner entirely.  I somehow managed to make a meal out of crackers and cookies.  Yummy!   Tomorrow morning, I am going to see my social worker, along with my brother, and my psychologist.  I am hopeful that this week will start out better than the last one ended.