So Tuesday I had a doctors appointment. I got a whole separate post about the waiting room but for this post we will just focus on the actual visit. It was scheduled 5 months ago. It was my ladyday appointment. Okay, Okay, pap smear. As always they provided me with great blog material so here ya go.
When I was called back I was greeted by a "med student" that would be assisting in my care today. Great I thought. We did the preliminary stuff, weight, height etc. She then took me into the room to do the temp and blood pressure. She had no clue how to take my blood pressuue. She plugged in the machine and the nurse unplugged it. The student got up and plugged it back in and the nurse informed her that it need not be plugged in. She then fumbled with the arm cuff while she tried to figure out how to operate the thing. I was tempted to show her but refrained. I inquired about my urology referral and she looked through my file and said there is no referral in here. Once the actual nurse came back I inquired with her. She said the same. I told her that 3 months ago I had came here and the doc wrote me a referral for urology and I was supposed to get a call when it was scheduled. I reminded her that I had been there about 12 times over the course of a year for UTI's and the like. (and in case you missed those fun visits you can read about them here and here) She said just ask the doc.
The doc entered. One I had never seen before. She seemed nice enough. She too was pregnant. This is the third pregnant doc I had seen here. I wondered is this where they send docs to count down to their maternity leave? I asked her about the referral. She turned right to it and said "oh it's not scheduled yet." "Okay" I said "but its been 3 months. How long does it take?" "Dunno" she replied seeming completely uninterested and moved on. She asked me the basic questions periods, kids, birth control, etc. when she inquired about my general heath I went briefly over my history with the health department and told her I was having the same issues. She said "well your urine is fine." "Okay" I replied feeling defeated, "Well I also have a congestion that I fear may have turned into pneumonia or something can you check that out for me?" "Nope" she said "you are here for a pap." Shocked at her response while simultaneously deciding that I did not like her I explained to her again "I know I am here for that but I am sick and wondered if you could just take a listen to my lungs and tell me if I have an issue here." "No, that would be considered a sick visit and you are here for a pap." She says matter-of-factly. "I am aware of the reason I am here however I did not schedule an additional visit for the sick thing because I already had an appointment today and do not want to have to double pay or miss double work." She said "sorry, but you can schedule a sick visit when you check out today and then when you return we will listen to your lungs, and address any issues at that time." ????WTF???? Now I'm pissed. She asks me to get undressed. I do and then she says "do you want a breast exam?" "Shouldn't I have one?" I ask. "That's up to you" she responds. Rolling my eyes I say "yeah hook me up." She does and then proceeds with the pap.
Once she gets in there she immediately asks "have you ever had an abnormal pap?"
"Yes" I respond still mad about the sick thing
"When?" she asks
"When I was 18' I say
"And the results of that?"
"Everything was fine" I say
"How about more recently?" she asks
"Nope. nothing" I say trying to communicate with her as minimally as possible since I now have determined she is a bitch. She then asks for another swab from the nurse.
"Have you had an abnormal one recently?" she inquires
"Nope" I say.
"Not in the past ten years?" she asks.
"Nope" I respond thinking if this is her attempt at small talk, she sucks.
She then asks the nurse for another swab. This makes 3. "Hmm" she says as she's swabbing around in there. "
Never had an abnormal pap huh? Hand me another swab." This makes 4! Any woman knows the procedure is 2 swabs per pap. Between all the extra swabbing and abnormality questions I am getting concerned. "When was your last pap?" she asks. I wanted to say "damn bitch read my file will you" But I decide its not a good idea to talk ish when someone is in your vagina. "last year" I tell her.
"Okay you're done"
She then says "you can get dressed and we will notify you when the results come back abnormally, I mean if they come back abnormally."
"And the urologist?" I ask. "How long will I have to wait?"
"Give us a call in 3 weeks if you've not heard anything." She then hands me 3 sample pills from her pocket. Her demeanor is a bit nicer now after the pap? She tells me "you can have these samples they should help with the congestion until you can get back in for another visit."
She leaves the room and then another nurse enters and asks me if I want blood work done. "Aren't you supposed to get blood work done at your psychical?" I ask her I mean hell you are the people who keep stressing this is a psychical. "If you want it, if not then you don't have to?" the nurse tells me.
"I might as well get my moneys worth, hook me up" I tell her
I leave there worried about what the hell she saw during the pap that would cause the barrage of questions and the two extra swabs. The next day I get 3 calls from them. Please keep in mind that this office usually won't even return a call when you are on your death bed. So getting a call from them scared me. The nurse informs me that my cholesterol is too high. This info was provided by the optional blood testing. Good thing I said yes. I breathe a sigh of relief. I thought they were calling to say something much worse. She tells me diet and exercise and hangs up. An hour later I get a "follow up call" from another nurse?
Then that afternoon I get yet another call from the receptionist just calling to reassure me she is working on my referral but it may be May before they make any progress. Sure I say. Okay so now I'm totally freaked. It seems as though they saw something and are now realizing that maybe I was not just complaining for fun for the past couple years and they are now covering their tracks. What do you think? Am I being paranoid or are my concerns legit?
First I went in a few months ago, they said I had a UTI. (urinary tract infection) Not sure what that is? Well click here for a lovely description.They gave me meds and it never really got better. Being uninsured and a paycheck to paycheck kinda gal I had to save up enough funds to return. On my return visit they said I was good, even though I still had the symptoms and the OTC tests said I had an infection. I rolled with in until it became unbearable. Then I went back where I had a lovely encounter with a stellar doctor you can read about here. They called me not 48 hours later but 5 days later to say I had nothing. A week later I was in misery. So I called them and they said "well there is nothing wrong with you, we suggest changing your diet?" WTH? So I suffered a few more days while contacting other facilities for a price quote which by the way was triple or more what the health department was charging so I called back demanding they see me. They reluctantly gave me an appointment for the next day.
When I showed up on that day there was different staff. They called me back and weighed me..I had gained another pound. I brought the nurse my urine specimen and she went out to check it. She came in and said to me "how long have you let this go? Your urine is a mess, full of infection!" I was furious "I told them last week I was messed up but they did not believe me?!" So then I broke down, oh I cried like a big fat baby. Truthfully, I am not sure if I was crying more over frustration or that pound I gained. I informed her how long this had been going on, and how many times I had been here and paid for nothing, and now this was not only killing me psychically but financially, and I could not take it anymore, it was December 23rd and if I didn't get some relief my kids Christmas would be ruined, blah, blah, wine, wine. So she said "don't worry psycho lady we will help you." The doc came in, it was a different one that I'd never seen. She said I had a kidney infection and my blood pressure was sky high. I had no previous history of blood pressure problems so she accredited that to the pain and stress I was under. She gave me two prescripts, an antibiotic and pain meds. I asked her to make it something affordable, she said she had. So I was off to the pharmacy glad to have some help. My prescripts were over $100! WTF! So I got all the antibiotics and 1/3 of the pain meds. A week later the meds were gone and I still had to pee every 6 minutes. So I began to call again thinking I needed another dose of something. On that day I began my badgering at 9am, I kept calling all day and being put on hold for 20 minutes each time before I hung up. Finally at 4pm I got a live person. She asked for my name, I told her and she said "HOLD" she came back and said they were closed, but she would put me through to leave a message for the nurse who would call me tomorrow. I did. Tomorrow came and went and no call from the nurse. So I called back I was informed by the receptionist that they were short staffed and would get to me maybe tomorrow. UUGGHHH! Later that day the nurse called and asked me info that I had left on her voicemail already. She said she would consult the doc and call me back.
The next day another nurse called and heres our convo:
"Can I speak with Raquel?"
"Hi, This is me"
"This is the nurse returning your call.So you're still having issues?"
"Yes"
"Did you complete your meds?"
"Yes"
"Well your tests all came back negative."
"What tests?"
"The ones you took when you were here last."
"Uh, no the doctor that day said I had a kidney infection."
"Nope, all your test are normal."
"Really? Then why did they prescribe me two medications and tell me I had a kidney infection?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When I was there on the 23rd."
"They did?"
"Yes"
"Well the computers are down and I do not have that info in front of me" she said very defensively.
"Well is it not in my paper file?"
"I'm just reading the notes I have in front of me, I'll call you back." She hangs up.
Hour later she calls back.
"I spoke with the doctor and she said you should just take the OTC stuff for relief and cut your caffeine intake."
"Seriously I drink one cup of coffee daily. That's my caffeine intake, that should not have me pissing all night long and I have been taking the OTC med for two months now although the box says take it two days max." I said frustration now becoming apparent in my voice.
"Well, change your diet." she said snappily. How about you change your attitude! I wanted to yell.
"Are you serious? I will not accept this! Something is wrong and I need to know what it is. Maybe you should do a full battery of tests. No one pees every 5 minutes! Do you know how hard life is when you have to pee every five minutes? Would you like to have that issue and be brushed off? I have spent way too much time in your facility to not feel better and I ......
"Maaa-aaam! If you'd let me finish I was gonna suggest that we do a diabetes check!" She yells at me.
"When after I had hung up?" I asked now super pissed. (pissed being an appropriate word to describe how I was feeling)
Clearly ticked at me she said "we'll see you next Thursday at 12!" and slammed the phone down.
The people I encounter on a daily basis are so rude and ridiculous. I sometimes think you guys must be thinking "oh she is making this up" but I swear to you these people really do exist and I must be magnet for a-holes and psychos. So here's yet another. Enjoy!
I, like many have no insurance. My employer doesn't offer it and my kids are covered through their dads great plan but me, I got nothing. Often when I have an ailment I resort to home remedies, prayer, denial, begging my insured friends for the last 3 amoxicillians that they never took, and if all else fails a witch doctor. So as of late I have found myself with a lovely little UTI (urinary tract infection). Mostly women get these and I know some/most of you have had it before. Just for the guys I'll explain what this is all about. Basically you piss every 6 minutes or so regardless of your fluid intake. When you pee you receive about 2 minutes of relief then the overwhelming urge to pee returns. You always feel like you have to pee. The urge never goes away. Guys, imagine drinking 5 cases of beer and then driving in car down a bumpy road and having to hold your piss. That's pretty much what it feels like. Some people have burning and pain, thankfully I never do I just have to PEEEEEEEEE! Okay now that I have educated those that were in the dark on this I'll get on with it.
So, they sell an over the counter pill that basically helps with the urges and discomfort but doesn't cure it. You need antibiotics for that. One little side effect of this pill it stains your urine red or orange. Oh yes boys, my pee is Christmas red. I copped a few amoxicillians from a friend and it bought me some time. But then that bad boy came back with a vengeance. Having no insurance I have no doctor so I get my health care at the lovely health department where I am charged based on my income. In desperation I made an appointment yesterday, I told the lady on the phone that I was already taking the OTC stuff.
I arrived at the upper class (sarcasm) facility and waited for my turn. When the nurse took me back I informed her too that I was on the OTC stuff and she said "oh we are all ladies here we understand you have to alleviate the discomfort". Cool. I Peed in the cup and returned my Christmas pee to the nurse who took it without question. Then I awaited the doc's arrival.
The doc shows up pregnant and sick. Sneezing, coughing, etc. Great. I thought I came with a UTI and will probably leave with the flu. She sits down asks me how do I know I have a UTI. I tell her well only because its my 900th one in my life and I have to pee every 5-6 minutes. She says "well first off you should not have taken the OTC stuff before coming here." "Sorry, I was miserable." I tell her. "Well if it stains your urine what did you think it would do to the test strip?" I stare at her stupidly. She was actually waiting for a response. "Well it stains the test strip therefore we cannot get a clear reading which means we have to send your urine out to a lab and it could be 48 hours before we get the results in." She says clearly annoyed with me. "Will that lab bill me also?" I ask. "I do not know. I do not work there." she rudely says. "Well you work with them don't you?" I ask, now quite annoyed myself. "I am unaware of their billing and financial policies I suggest you contact them" she says.
Bitch.
"So in the meantime what do I do?" I ask her. "Do what you been doing" she says. Bitch.
"Well I'm quite miserable" I say. "Yup, these things are not fun. she says almost smiling. BITCH.
I then tell her that I think I have a sinus infection. I explain the pain that has been pounding in my head for 5 days with no relief from Tylenol, I tell her that I am a one Tylenol person and have been taking up to 5 at a time just to be able to function but that the pain doesn't go away. I had also had a dizzy spell and blurred vision the day before that was quite scary. I tell her I have tried sinus meds and rattle off a few, even prescription strength Ibuprofen but nothing works. She seems uninterested. She checks my eyes, ears, heartbeat, etc then says "okay well that is it."
"Um,, hello can I get some meds?" I ask "No you do not have a sinus infection" she again, looks at me like I'm an idiot. Well what do I have?" I ask. "Tension" she says. Well I'm sure this attitude you got isn't helping. Okay I'll buy that. "Are you gonna give me something to help?" I ask hopeful. "Take Tylenol." she says. "I did 5 at a time remember?" I say irritated. "Well then try Excedrin." She says closing my file, signaling that she is done with me.BITCH.
As I sit there in shock dodging her coughs and sneezes I am so annoyed that I just paid $70 for absolutely nothing. Correction. For Tylenol. Ugggh. I ask her "when my UTI comes back positive will you just call in something for me?" "That's usually how it goes" she replies. Bitch!
"Okay well I have no insurance" I say "and am very low on funds so could you keep that in mind when you prescribe my antibiotics? I would prefer a generic yet effective low cost one." "You can afford $4 can't you? you broke bitch she asks. BITCH!
So I left with no answers, no meds, still in pain, and still peeing constantly I even peed on my way out Twice. Oh and $70 more broke. BBBIIIITTTCCHHH.
