kind of ashamed of myself
I had a yearly PHYSICAL exam at the Doctor's this morning.
The time scheduled for it was 945am. They also said to get there early - so
I arrived at a little before 930am.
The nurse did her routine measurements and then I sat in the room with the stupid
gown on until 1115am. An hour and a half after the scheduled time of the appointment
and still no doctor. For some reason those closed examination rooms - when I have to wait
in them alone with nothing but my phone - it really gets to me. And this is why I am ashamed
- because after that amount of time - I decided to do something -
even though I poked my head out the door a couple/few times
to ask the nurse if he was running late - and she would say "he's coming.." But an hour and a half
was a lot longer than usual...and I was not in the best shape mentally. So I decided just to ring
the front desk of the clinic to ask Fifi (the receptionist) if he was running late or something...I didn't get
Fifi but I got someone else - and I don't know what I was hoping to achieve - but I was frustrated by that point..
Well after the receptionist said I will see...five minutes later the Dr. comes in a does his job.
I felt embarassed that I didn't keep a cool head. I mean I wasn't yelling or anything -but that I didn't just
wait and everyone in the office new about the call because they all have this connected headset on.
This too shall pass.
Replies
You kept a far cooler head than I would have. I suspect that if you asked, and they were unmasked enough to be honest, the staff probably would tell you you were one of the cooler heads in those cramped little waiting rooms. I would probably have just disappeared on them with as much warning as they gave me about the wait.
Those endless waits in those inhospitable claustrophobia chambers are pretty high on the list of reasons I've been medical distancing since 1995.
Thanks Arfie
Mark you are Amazing in my eyes...please take away that horrid word, exit for Life Out Of Your Vocabulary!
Depending on my state of mind, in your circumstance, I'd 'try calmly" to reschedule my apt, stating that I'd been waiting for x amount of time and I had another ????
Doctors can bill and most offices have a notice posted, "cancel within 24hrs or you will be billed". Common curtisy, has not come from office staff...the typical response you got....What gives the dr the right to keep us waiting vs. us being billed if we are 15 minutes late for an apt and have to reschedule?
Now, any time over 30 minutes, I just reschedule to avoid becoming angry unless it's a real emergency.
Thanks mlr!
I agree with everyone here. I would have been furious and I probably would have waited, but I would never go back. I would find another Dr. who respects my time as much as he/she expects me to respect his/hers. I had my physical the other day also, but only had to wait about 20 minutes and I can live with that. I'm sorry your Dr. treated you like that.
thanks becky.