I don't do really well when I have to wait. And, to make matters worse, when I try to follow doctor's orders, or in this case, pick up a prescription, I hate bureaucracy. Let's just say patience is not my strong point. After my doctors appointments on November 17th, I went to pick up my prescriptions that the GI doctor ordered. I get help paying for my prescriptions from Medicare and Medi-cal, so I rarely if ever have to pay over $1.10 for my prescriptions. I was shocked, therefore, when I went up to pick up my prescription and they wanted $89 for the abdominal medication. That is expensive when you can't even afford to put gas in your car to make it up and down the hill between Pollock Pines and Sacramento. So, I asked them to either ask for a different medication of apply for a TAR through Medi-cal to pay for the medication and I would come back for it later.
I waited through the weekend, a total of 5 days actually, before returning to see if the pharmacy had made any progress. Of course when I arrived at the pharmacy, I didn't get to talk to the same person that helped me previously, so the clerk had no clue what I was talking about. When I asked if the pharmacy had applied for a TAR for the medication, she point blank asked me, "Why would we go through all that extra paperwork when we can just ask the doctor to prescribe a different medication?!?" I tried explaining that it had been five days since the prescription had been sent in, but she told me to sit down and wait. She would call me up in a few minutes, once she had figured out what was going on. In the end, she did call me back up and say that I would have to wait for the doctor to call back to change the prescription.
At this point, I went to the Health Education department to try to get a hold of my doctor via phone or e-mail. I didn't have any luck with the phone...for some reason I could not understand it was not going to work for me on that day. So in tears, upset, I get on the Kaiser computer and type in the information to e-mail my doctor and find out that she would be out of the office for the rest of the week. I am aggravated and feel like giving up, but I know I need to see about getting this medication that the doctor has prescribed, so I go back to the pharmacy and stand in line to talk to the person that I had talked to during the previous week to see what could be done. Fortunately, my primary care physician had stepped up to the plate and prescribed a different, yet similar, medication that I could afford in the mean time, so I had my prescription waiting to be filled when I arrived at the front of the line. I only had to wait another 20-30 minutes. Thus ending that potential disaster.
Needless to say, I think we all feel badly when we aren't listened to, like there is somehow something wrong with us even though we have valid information we are trying to present simply because the other person does such an effective job of shutting us down. Unfortunately, this is a frequent event in the American healthcare system. It would appear that the doctors, pharmacy technicians, x-ray techs, and the like listen long enough to hear what they think is important (the key words being what they think) before shutting the patient down to feel slightly abused or at least unheard because all of the patient's symptoms haven't been stated. I have some suggestions for making sure this doesn't happen to anyone in the future, but it only works as well as the healthcare system is willing to listen. First, I would recommend taking someone you trust with you to the doctor, who knows your symptoms, who is also willing to speak up when the doctor has shut off the conversation. This is important because it not only gives the doctor another perspective of what is going on, but also gets them to pay more attention when there are two people telling him the same symptoms versus only one. Also, write down all of your symptoms to remind you of what they are, so that if you get stressed during the appointment, you don't forget anything. I know this sounds kind of funny, but this has happened to me more than once, so that is why I am recommending it. Another recommendation, is to e-mail your doctor your symptoms, if you have that option, so s/he has it all in writing beforehand. This way, if you have forgotten anything in the e-mail, you can tell the doctor any remaining symptoms at the appointment. Finally, I would recommend interrupting the doctor if s/he hasn't heard all that you need to tell her/him about what is going on. It is your body and you have every right to have all of your symptoms heard to lead to the best treatment possible.
In case you can't tell from my previous postings, I do not do well with waiting. Anticipation in waiting is not my friend. The case in point, waiting for the biopsy that I have to have done today has made me an emotional wreck. Fear has had me crying for hours on end, wondering if I have cancer, wondering what is going on with my stomach and abdomen. Crying in pain from my abdomen, when the medicine isn't working as quickly as it needs to. Fortunately, I have other tools beside medication to manage pain, I just have to remember to use the hypnosis before I get all stressed out. It is so amazing how the mind-body connection works. Of course, now, I have to remember to use the hypnosis today, when they are poking me with needles, so I can turn down the volume of any discomfort I am feeling and not react to any pain. I realize I can face whatever comes my way, but it is the fear of not knowing, that is eating me up. But today is the day, and I have to face it. I would like to say I am ready for it, and on some level I am. I want this over with, but I am afraid of what they will find. Soon the anticipation will be over with at least. All I can say is "wish me luck!"
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