I hate today.
Jun. 25th, 2004 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ghoulsisI had my first OB appointment this morning. What a clusterfuck. All my family doctor told me was the address & name of the practice, and to be there today at 9:00, that I would be having bloodwork and wouldn't see the doctor, just the nurse. Ok, fine. I got there at 8:45, and there are two offices -- one for OB, one for GYN. I wasn't sure which I was supposed to be at, so I went into the GYN office since they actually had someone at the window.
I gave her my name and appt. time, and explained that this was my first visit, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be, but that my FP told me I'd be having bloodwork done and would be seeing a nurse. She asked me if I was here for OB services or GYN, and I told her OB (since I'm pregnant, right?), and she told me I needed to go into the other office. Ok, fine.
I go over to the other office and sign in, and sit and wait... now, mind you, I figured they'd need a urine sample, so my bladder is full. About 20 minutes passed, and a lady finally showed up behind the window and asked me why I was there. (Don't you think they would know, since my doc made an appointment with them for me??) So I went through the whole thing again. She looked puzzled and said, "Hmm, we don't usually do those appointments on Fridays." Then she said they were shortstaffed that morning, and she'd call a few other patients back and then try to find out what was going on.
In the end, she sent me BACK to the GYN office, where I talked to the SAME person AGAIN and told her I'd been sent back by the OB people, and finally she managed to find my lab order (which was sitting within arm's reach of her -- literally, it was on the table beside her). By now it's been better than a half hour, and my bladder is about to burst. She gives me the lab order and sends me around the corner to the lab.
I get to the lab, and the nurse asks me why I'm there. I almost started crying. I told her I didn't know why I was here, except that my doctor told me to come, and I foolishly thought that THEY would know what was supposed to happen from this point on. "Please just take my blood so I can go home," I asked her. "I'm so tired of getting the runaround. I have a migraine and feel like I'm going to throw up. I just want to go home and lay down."
She apologized, and wanted to know who up at the front desk had been giving me problems, and stressed that this was not how they liked to treat their patients, and that apparently there were changes coming up at the front desk (evidently I was not the first person to have such an experience). She gave me a cup so I could go pee (thank goodness, as it was now 45 minutes since I got into the office). She took my blood and added an order to have my thyroid checked at my request. (You would think this was something they would have automatically checked for given my medical history. But no, I have to think of everything.)
This is one of those strange offices where, after you check out, you end up leaving through a different door than the one you came in. So when I got down to the ground floor, nothing looked familiar, and I couldn't figure out which door I'd come in. I picked one and went out, and of course was on exactly the wrong side of the building from where my car was parked. Conveniently, at this moment it began to rain, and me with no umbrella. So, exhausted and sick to my stomach and frustrated and getting wet, I trudged halfway around the building to my car. I sat down in the car and bawled.
I know a lot of this is hormones. But dammit, would it have been so hard for that lady at the window to say, hey, I'm not sure where you're supposed to be either, but give me a few minutes and let me find out? Would it have been so hard to smile and say she was sorry for the confusion? Could ONE person have said congratulations on the pregnancy? I've had some bad experiences in medical offices before, but I have never before been so tempted to give someone my phone number and tell them to call me back once they've got their shit together. The worst part is, this practice came highly recommended, both from my FP and friends of mine here who are pregnant.
So now, I'm at home eating lunch, and I have to head back to school in a little while. Not looking forward to that. I'm SO tired. And, I have to work tonight. I can't decide whether I want to scream, cry, or sleep.
I'll be fine in a little while. The nice thing about these pregnancy mood swings is, they seem to move on as quickly as they come on. Not a particularly auspicious start to the pregnancy, no?
I gave her my name and appt. time, and explained that this was my first visit, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be, but that my FP told me I'd be having bloodwork done and would be seeing a nurse. She asked me if I was here for OB services or GYN, and I told her OB (since I'm pregnant, right?), and she told me I needed to go into the other office. Ok, fine.
I go over to the other office and sign in, and sit and wait... now, mind you, I figured they'd need a urine sample, so my bladder is full. About 20 minutes passed, and a lady finally showed up behind the window and asked me why I was there. (Don't you think they would know, since my doc made an appointment with them for me??) So I went through the whole thing again. She looked puzzled and said, "Hmm, we don't usually do those appointments on Fridays." Then she said they were shortstaffed that morning, and she'd call a few other patients back and then try to find out what was going on.
In the end, she sent me BACK to the GYN office, where I talked to the SAME person AGAIN and told her I'd been sent back by the OB people, and finally she managed to find my lab order (which was sitting within arm's reach of her -- literally, it was on the table beside her). By now it's been better than a half hour, and my bladder is about to burst. She gives me the lab order and sends me around the corner to the lab.
I get to the lab, and the nurse asks me why I'm there. I almost started crying. I told her I didn't know why I was here, except that my doctor told me to come, and I foolishly thought that THEY would know what was supposed to happen from this point on. "Please just take my blood so I can go home," I asked her. "I'm so tired of getting the runaround. I have a migraine and feel like I'm going to throw up. I just want to go home and lay down."
She apologized, and wanted to know who up at the front desk had been giving me problems, and stressed that this was not how they liked to treat their patients, and that apparently there were changes coming up at the front desk (evidently I was not the first person to have such an experience). She gave me a cup so I could go pee (thank goodness, as it was now 45 minutes since I got into the office). She took my blood and added an order to have my thyroid checked at my request. (You would think this was something they would have automatically checked for given my medical history. But no, I have to think of everything.)
This is one of those strange offices where, after you check out, you end up leaving through a different door than the one you came in. So when I got down to the ground floor, nothing looked familiar, and I couldn't figure out which door I'd come in. I picked one and went out, and of course was on exactly the wrong side of the building from where my car was parked. Conveniently, at this moment it began to rain, and me with no umbrella. So, exhausted and sick to my stomach and frustrated and getting wet, I trudged halfway around the building to my car. I sat down in the car and bawled.
I know a lot of this is hormones. But dammit, would it have been so hard for that lady at the window to say, hey, I'm not sure where you're supposed to be either, but give me a few minutes and let me find out? Would it have been so hard to smile and say she was sorry for the confusion? Could ONE person have said congratulations on the pregnancy? I've had some bad experiences in medical offices before, but I have never before been so tempted to give someone my phone number and tell them to call me back once they've got their shit together. The worst part is, this practice came highly recommended, both from my FP and friends of mine here who are pregnant.
So now, I'm at home eating lunch, and I have to head back to school in a little while. Not looking forward to that. I'm SO tired. And, I have to work tonight. I can't decide whether I want to scream, cry, or sleep.
I'll be fine in a little while. The nice thing about these pregnancy mood swings is, they seem to move on as quickly as they come on. Not a particularly auspicious start to the pregnancy, no?
