Same Old

I had some unsettling symptoms over the weekend (to be polite) that seemed to be stemming from my C-section. I called my doctor’s office, the same office that didn’t have me come in until I had been in pre-term labor for 5 hours, and waited for some one to call me back. After I waited an hour, I called the office again. I was determined to be firm, to learn from my past mistake and demand to be taken seriously. The receptionist explained to me in a bored voice that she couldn’t find the nurse and would have her call me. I looked at the clock; the doctor’s office would close in 5 minutes. I asked that the receptionist put my on hold and go find the nurse. She said she couldn’t have me hold and would have to wait. I said “I’m sorry to be rude but the last time I waited I was in pre-term labor and my baby died!”. She said agian that there was nothing she could do. So, I um, er, yelled: “Thanks for nothing!!”

 

Then I hung up.

 

My phone rang again. It was the same receptionist, who said mockingly that we must have gotten disconnected and she hadn’t been able to get my number for the nurse to call me back. I was too shell shocked to point out that SHE HAD JUST CALLED ME. Obviously she had my number.

 

By the time my nurse called me back I felt like I had huffed paint. My brain was malfunctioning. I ranted to her about the asshole receptionist, and she expressed sympathy. But I was already done. She told me that my doctor told me to wait and monitor how I felt and get back to them. Yes, the same doctor’s office, almost 8 weeks to the day later, told me again to wait and see. My head swam. I murmured and babbled a little, then I hung up.

 

My doctor didn’t even have the decency to have me come into her office. What Tom and I went through wasn’t enough to warrant her personally returning my call. How could this professional have the balls AGAIN to tell me that everything was probably fine?

 

I really can barely process what happened today. Tomorrow I have to do something. I think I have to call her, even though I know I’ll cry, and demand and explanation. I’ve already decided to go see my general practitioner- I will never go back to that office again. In the meantime I think I’m probably fine. But my already fragile self-confidence is crushed. I can’t help thinking I must actually be a paranoid yuppie- because several people in one doctor’s office keep treating me that way.

 

In the end it’s just further confirmation that I have to change doctors. I thought that I liked my doctor and that things would have been different if she had been on call that day. But they wouldn’t. The practices stinks, and she knows it and doesn’t care. I hope I have the guts to call and demand to speak with her tomorrow, and I hope I don’t back down when she gives me bullshit excuses. I owe it to myself and my husband and my baby.

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Comments

  1. Leslie Ann says:

    You go, girl!!! It does sound like you need a new doctor’s office. They are too busy/too understaffed to provide good care. I am outraged for you. I suggest you call the insurance office, or send them a scathing letter about the poor customer service and medical treatment at that facility/with that doctor. (Huffing? LOL, funny but not funny…).

  2. Leslie Ann says:

    (I meant contact your health insurance company who contracts with that doc.)

  3. maureen butler says:

    i feel ya heather. my doctor was so mean to me. the medical world is pathological.. so personal yet so cold. i ended up going to a midwife after my first & last bad experience with a cold hearted, it’s all about her & her business procedures OB. i was so grateful to find my midwife… a loving, caring professional that understood what a woman/family goes through. in the end we felt like we went into the eye of the storm of how the medical profession turns birth into a very cold procedure. it’s sad, they understand tests& measurements blah, blah, blah, but they don’t understand when it’s time to be authentic & get as human as possible… to listen with an open heart & allow compassion to begin the healing. love & healing light to you & your family, blessings for your son, & much gratitude to you for continuing to be so brave, open hearted & real. stay fierce sister.

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