I was supposed to see the orthopod today...
for a "follow-up" visit...
this...was my dislocated finger the day it was dislocated...
[12/28/08]
here's the same finger today...[01/21/09]
it is crooked...
very sore, especially after I accidentally bumped it today...
[I saw flashing colors, stars and fireworks...
then the throbbing started...]
now, it aches & throbs beyond my available pain medication...
it will NOT bend beyond this point without help...
the top joint doesn't bend at all...
oh...and it was like this... when I saw him, the first time...
three weeks ago...
my own doctor was great...
gave me a referral to the best orthopod group in Mudville...
but the one who saw me, really couldn't have cared less...
so today, when I showed up after a frantic hour...
of transporting cats home from the vet's...
for my appointment, my car running on fumes...
I didn't want to be told...
"since your insurance provider has changed...
we need a referral from the new company...
or you are responsible for the cost of the visit..."
at that point...I'd had way more than "enough"...
so after confirming with the smirking med assistant...
that I could be seen today, but it'd probably cost me, big time...
I basically said, "thanks, but NO thanks"...
and let her know that I hadn't been too happy with the care before...
and that I wasn't going to pay for the "privilege"...
of being ignored & talked down to, again...
so I came home...wet from the rain...
and mad enough to bite the head off a nail...
I called my doctor's office...and got a very nice human being...
[make no mistake, this is a large health care foundation...
with lots of drs, labs & services...& can be totally impersonal...]
this person let me vent...
sympathised with me about the stupid "need" for another referral...
wrote a note for my doctor advising him of my concerns...
especially about the lack of improvement for my finger...
advised me that he wasn't "in" today...
but she would leave him a message...
and was, in general...a "human being"...
when I hung-up...I wasn't mad anymore...
my finger is still swollen, very sore and won't move much...
but my kitties are home...Molly comes home tomorrow...
and the bathroom floor is almost done...
[with a bit of hex tile left over...]
2 comments:
So sorry to hear about your continued hand troubles. A good specialist who is also a good person is hard to find. Oh, I could tell stories. The rheumatology practices here (all two of them) are hopeless (one has on average 50 people in the waiting room at all times, you can get in to see the other but he's a terrible doctor). I have an orthopedist who's an actual human being, the partner of the one who treated my husband when he broke his femur completely in two - who was also one of the only things that kept me sane during that trial. My dermatologist (I have psoriasis and have to see him every two months) has a chronic health condition and may retire, and I'm frantic worried about that because the only other one has another cattle-call office, crazy crowded, and seriously needs a personality transplant. I went through four GPs until I found one that I didn't want to shoot. Doctors who are decent, caring people are rare - I always maintained they beat the humanity out of them in medical school. I hope you can find an ortho who is not an a--. In the meantime, I'd take some muffins or something to that office person who was so nice! Can't be too careful. Keep 'em firmly on your side! 8-)
thanks for all the sympathy...you've had a few trials too...
unfortunately, the person on the phone was an "unknown phone bank drone"...which makes her niceness all the more amazing... :o
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