Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Anger can be a good thing

Well, I still do not have an appointment at the hospital. Twelve calls later and nothing. I probably should have driven the 3 hours up there and just demanded to be seen. It would have been a lot easier and less of a headache.

It's been two weeks of mix-ups and screw-ups. I was on the phone reading the riot act to my doctor's office because none of their faxes with the latest test results made it to the hospital. They said it probably got lost in cyber space but every single time! I think more likely someone just plain did not send it! On the hospital end of it, they finally got the fax I sent of the test results but initially they said they did not. It was only after I asked them to go through everything they did get from my doctor's office, the insurance company that they found it.

So now 3 days later, nothing! They sent it to the Nurse Practitioner but she hasn't responded. I called yesterday and today and they said the NP has not responded to her email. So I asked, "Can't you go back and ask her if she got it! The answer was No, because we are not in the same building.

Everybody up there is divided into different buildings and nobody sees anybody. They all communicate by email or by some electronic means. They probably have never seen the person on the other end of their emails. Maybe this is the way to cut costs and make things more efficient but for the patient, it totally sucks! The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing up there and they can't find out either. It just makes my blood boil!

I called my doctor's office again and demanded the doctor get on the hospital. I am tired of dealing with all this crap and I am not going to be nice about it anymore.

Healthcare has become strictly a business. I was just talking to a friend who has worked in the hospital labs and she was saying the patient is now the client and she has been seeing this coming for the last 10 years. So true. Just in the past few months I have noticed that it's like my son and I are numbers and not people. It doesn't matter if you have a life threatening condition and need to be seen by the doctor. If their office is full up, you just have to wait until the next day or two to get in. They don't care about your problem, they just want to run things efficiently and make money. It is very scary!

Thanks goodness for bette jo of bettejo bead creations , tonia from the family jewels and ibs group.org. They have given me invaluable information and support that has helped my son and so far he is doing much better. He has dropped some more weight but it has slowed considerably since he is able to eat and his D is still under control . Anyway the saga continues...

4 comments:

The Family Jewels said...

Fight in sister! You are the only advocate for your son right now and you are doing an excellent job! I have an appt. with a specialist, but it is not until the END of Sept. It was set up at the beginning of this month. Come on! I will be praying that you will finally get through to somebody. Maybe your son will want to become a doctor in this field and be nicer to his patients. Let me know if there is anything more I can do for you guys. Stay strong!

Hugs, Tonia

BetteJo said...

Oh I am SO sorry this is happening to you. I know I mentioned that I work in a lab, and you are SO right. We who have always wanted to put the client first - have been put in a position where we have to jump through 17 administrative hoops before we can do anything.
They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. For those of us in the healthcare industry who want to give better service - this is exactly the reason why. It's heartbreaking.
But again, unfortunately, worker bees like me have no power, we too are numbers in the bottom line.

The only thing you CAN do is keep fighting. It's horrible that you have to - but your son needs you to keep doing it for him. You have been fabulously strong!

Keep going - you know you can do it for him!

BetteJo

palette48 said...

I will, Tonia. I will fight to the ends of the earth if that is what it takes. I'm sorry to see that you have a long wait to get in to see your doctor. If I can't get in right away, I will take my son to a naturopath in the meantime and see if I can get some results there. Thanks for the support!

palette48 said...

Thanks too Bette Jo,

A great majority of doctors practices in my area have been bought out by one big organization so they have a monopoly on everything right now.They are the ones that are dictating how things should be run.Since they have taken over, everything is for profit and the word patient doesn't even exist in their vocabulary anymore. I absolutely hate it but for now there is not much I can do but try to get the best care for my son that I can. I appreciate you doing what you can for others like myself. I know your hands are tied.
Anyway, thanks again your support has been great!