They finally caught up to me.
It feels like months ago that I learned that the ADHD doc who was supposed to see me in July died. At least a month ago. I wondered back when I heard the news whether I would show up on the scheduled date, only to be met at the door by a clerk, dabbing her tearful eyes as she informed me the doctor was OUT and would, barring a miraculous resurrection, never quite be back in.
It was with some surprise that I picked up the ringing phone today to hear the subdued voice of that same clerk, who was finally getting around to letting me know the good doctor had joined the howling chorus of angels. That he had shuffled off his uncaring mortal coil, and that he had slithered into eternity with his bright aviator sunglasses on. That he had pondered his last thought, and had instead pushed his soul past the clamouring ants and worms, on his way to the Ultimate Zenith.
“He’s dead”
“I know.”
“Oh”
*silence*
“Well, we have another doctor who might be able to see you. Would it be OK if we got back to you before the end of the month with an appointment?”
Such a weird question. Would it be all right?
All right….. what? All right that they would get back to me?
Or all right that I had to wait until the end of the month?
How the FUCK does any office run that way? Where they have to consult with each other to figure out an appointment time? Or figure out if they really want to see you at all?
What office do you know takes the time to call up prospective clients or patients, to ask them if it’s OK that they get back to you later on this century with an appointment time? They took the time to call you this time – why not save on time and make the appointment right now?
I don’t get it.
Maybe it’s an elaborate screening process. Maybe you gotta REALLY want an appointment. Maybe only the whiners will get to see the good doctor. Maybe the nice ones will get left out, deemed “not really in need” by virtue of their kind niceness.
You know what?
I made a mistake.
I said “sure”.
I should have said “FUCK NO! It’s not all right! I’ve been waiting for months to see someone, and now you’re taking the time to give me a fucking phone call asking me if it’s fucking ok for me to get a call from you later? What the FUCK is this? Romper Room? Do you see me through your magic tennis racket?”
Yeah. I know.
I didn’t want to be “that guy”. You know the one – makes everyone uncomfortable with his anger and his disgustingly bad language.
*sighs*
Well…..this time I was nice.
I’ll give them two weeks and when I call back……
I won’t even remember what “nice” feels like. And neither will they.
Fuckers.
View from a Wolf 
*nods – feels your pain*
I waited a year to get in to see an allergist here and was called last week (three days before my much anticipated visit) and was informed that the Doctor would be out of the office the day of my appointment and would it be ok if they went ahead and rescheduled for another day weeks from now…
No – it wasn’t ok.
I was not impressed.
M.L.
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It’s got to be a doctor’s market. That’s the only thing that makes sense. They knew they were the only game in town (your doc and mine) and so they get away with treating patients with such disrespect.
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I’m pretty sure that patient disrespect is standard in Ontario – it goes along with all the taxes they shove up our – uh – make us pay right before reducing (or eliminating) the essential services they claim they needed the extra tax money to maintain.
*grumbles in polite and passive canadian fashion*
M.L.
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Oh well. I’ll live with this, since it’s ADD we’re talking about in my case. My brain has already moved on – I’m totally jazzed by the fact that AJ Cook has accepted my twitter follow request.
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If it makes you feel any better, though it likely will not (you’re more likely to get angry on my behalf, and I don’t blame you) I’ve been trying to find a GP for about 2 and a half years now. :P My old doctor was fantastic beyond belief but he has retired. The man who took on all of his patients is someone I saw once and never again. He got frisky when examining my chest when I had severe bronchitis. Nobody in Edmonton is taking patients it seems. Not happy, not happy at all.
At the same time, I gotta say I feel bad for the woman. Her boss just died. Chances are they are trying to
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Looks like your post cut off before you were finished.
I suppose I would have felt bad for her had she called within a week or two. But this is at least 2 months later.
I’m surprised that in a city the size of Edmonton you can’t find a GP. I’m used to hearing stories about that from small communities, but never big cities. Weird. Doctors should be flocking to the big towns.
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Yeah, weird. I don’t know where the rest of the post went. I didn’t realize he’d died a while ago. I was under the impression that this was a recent thing, like he died just a couple of weeks before the appointment. I am working in a place that is pulling itself out of crisis mode and it’s taken a couple of months. All the same, something like this would still have been considered unacceptable, even at the worst of it.
I have no idea why there is such a problem with finding doctors either. I know I am not doing myself any favours with my unwillingness to have a male doctor. But after what happened last time you can’t really blame me. :/
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would you believe i’m in the same position right now? my doc’s office lost the doc too and aren’t doing much of a job either. guess i’m going to have to find a new one. i’ve been calling for 2 weeks before they broke the news to me. my allergies or whatever-the-hell-is-wrong is about to freakin’ kill me. i feel your pain. yeah, i was nice too… but damn. they keep promising me they’ll call me with a replacement or whatever. i really liked the doc too… oh well :(
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That’s too bad – such a bummer when you can’t see a good doc anymore, for whatever reason.
I get allergic attacks fairly bad each season too. My doc has me on a regimen of Nasonex and all-day antihistamines throughout the season. It really helps. I’ve been thinking about getting allergy shots though, because eventually you can phase them out. Don’t like taking the meds so much.
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Hmm…perhaps they are having to transition to another doctor’s whole team. There could be a whole layer of office politics and confusing procedure behind that phone call…it may be the best this receptionist can do. Just spitballing here.
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Oh, no doubt it was the best she could do. But that office had problems before he passed away. It took me a whole month for them to set me up with an appointment in the first place – after I handed them my regular doc’s referral note. I kept calling them every week for an update.
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Well, that takes the Stupidity Of The Month plaque. Bonus points (from my mother) for Nice and carry on.
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Well, please tell your mother thanks. :)
Me? I’m a little ambivalent about “nice” though. Sometimes it helps, but often it’s a hindrance. The art is in knowing the difference.
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Hahahahaha! I can only laugh. You’re too funny, and yes, too nice!
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Hey!! You’re back!! Cool! :)
Yes, too nice is the case here. Part of the curse of being an introvert, I suppose – where you have to process everything before you react. Ah well. I’m working on it.
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You a introvert?
Nah. Not the way you write!
You got extravert written all over you . . .
Nice guy, but no introvert.
michael j
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I’m not shy or laid back, that’s for sure. But….I get my energy from “cave time”. Too much input from crowds leaves me drained. So in the classic sense, I’m an introvert. I process before responding, too – fairly endemic to the introvert mindset, I’m told.
But shy? No, never. Life of the party. :)
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