I originally started writing a very different post for this week but have decided to rant instead. Don't get me wrong, overall I had a pretty good week and continue to feel energetic and stronger. However, sometimes the little annoyances just add up enough to change a mood and, therefore, a blog post.
The title of this blog is a reference to a hilarious and poignant blog written by my friend, Dr. Strangejob. It has nothing to do with CIDP or healthcare, but check it out for a laugh - http://www.drstrangejob.com/
So my rant... Do you ever feel like the world is conspiring against your positive attitude and good mood? I try really hard to stay positive and to let the little things roll off of me. Possibly a little too hard. I find it much easier to go with the flow and let go of anger and annoyance as soon as possible. In my experience, anger just leads to stress and the ruination of my day rather than the target's. However, even my zen-like patience (ha!) has limits.
I have written before about our struggles and frustrations with the healthcare system. It seems like nothing ever goes smoothly or as expected. To the point where I expect a problem or issue with pretty much every encounter I have. I haven't written about everything here, nor will I. Some dealings are best left without a written record and I don't want anything to come back and bite me later on.
I will continue to rant about some things though. Today's target - the pharmacy. Now, I have not studied pharmacology, nor have I any idea of the full scope of the profession or day to day job duties. However, I do know that counting pills and figuring out proper dosages based on prescriptions is a pretty important part of it. I also know that Calculus is required for admission into Pharmacy programs, so figuring out a simple equation to determine the number of pills should not be a problem. That said, my Prednisone prescription is proving to challenge the minds of our best and brightest pill counters. I'm on a weaning dose, which means that every week my dose reduces by half a pill. I also need A LOT of pills because they only come in 50mg pills or 5mg ones. The pharmacy messed up the count from the beginning and is still sorting it out. Instead of giving me enough for 2 weeks to start they gave me a little more than a week. When we returned to refill they said they gave us enough for a month, but really only provided 17 days worth. I tried to use the automatic service to renew last night and could not as it said I was too early. I held for a pharmacist and spent half an hour on the phone while she, apparently, sorted it all out once and for all. Great - we were told to pick them up anytime today. Scott went to the pharmacy in a good mood and planned on a quick and painless errand. Nay nay! He arrived to find that they had not yet counted the pills, so it was not ready. They then came to explain that the dose problem was still wrong and that they would have to figure it all out again! Forty-five minutes later, Scott was finally ready to leave with what is hopefully a month's worth of pills. They waived the dispensing fee, but really this does not make up for anything.
This is not the first issue we've had with them. There was the time they changed my brand of another pill and did not tell us. We were concerned as the pills looked different and were worried they gave the wrong thing. In that instance they also neglected to tell us that they did not have enough pills in stock to fill the prescription (though they charged us for it), which led to more confusion when we got home and an extra trip to town to pick up the rest a few days later. I know we can change pharmacies, and we probably will. It will be a pain to move everything though and just another dumb hassle. It is really annoying as these are simple things and should not happen. I am a pretty forgiving person and am fine to let a mistake happen now and again. But it gets to be too much. I start wondering if I am crazy and overreacting because, like the Dyson guy says, "I just want things to work properly". I'm learning that this is an unrealistic assumption, especially in the world of healthcare where incompetency seems to keep creeping in.
As I mentioned, this is not the only instance like this that we ran into this week, but I think it gives an idea of the little frustrations we seem destined to run into on a regular basis. I will say that despite all of this, I have also had many good encounters and experiences. This rant by no means applies to everyone, as I would be in WAY worse shape without the fantastic care and support I receive. I do feel better for writing this out and am ready to pour myself a nice cold glass of white wine and sit on the ramp with my book.
Happy Canada Day to all!
No comments :
Post a Comment