Flashback to Thursday AM. Usual antics around the house. We finally get out the door and then there is no gas in the van... again for the second day this week (maybe I should spend 2.5 minutes at the gas station instead of only .5 minute but then the E will be late for school... so it is pretty much a massive conundrum) Hindsight baby, hindsight!
E gets to 2 yr old class in good spirits and then R and I load back into the van and head to my most favorite place in RMT... the pediatrician for her 6 month appt. (yeah I know she is nearly 8 months old but getting appointments at my place is no easy task)
So we roll into the parking lot and my favorite parking spot that is seriously the size of 1.5 spots and is right next to the sidewalk! Ah it is a glorious spot... gone! We park, unpack, make sure we have all necessary books/toys/bags/credit cards etc. We get into the office BEFORE our appt time! Oh my goodness no the world is not ending, call it luck or good planning or straight up giving myself enough time to reasonably get somewhere.
I had a cheery conversation with the receptionist who sometimes all it is - Name... Okay please sit down. R does well in the waiting room so I am thrilled we get called back within 5-10 min of arriving. Sweet! We are on a roll to have a good appt. They repainted the office and the horrible wallpaper is gone! R weighs in and gets the normal measurements taken and is still in good spirits. Then the nurse asks a bunch of random developmental questions and says the doctor will be in shortly.
R LOVES playing with the paper on the table and the table that the paper is cover is not the cleanest - so I wipe it - clean freak? I get her books out, we sing songs and then it happens - I am a prisoner on the room. R is bored and tired and the doctor needs to hurry the heck up and get in here. It is 30 minutes after the appt time and no sign of the doc. Sweet. Fussy baby is a 10 x 10 box. Screams. Whimpers. Singing. Bouncing. WHERE THE HECK IS THAT UGLY FISH WALLPAPER THAT I COULD DISTRACT MY BABY WITH?????
45 min post appt time.. I have made my mind up. I go to the nurses station and say that I have been waiting for 45 min and I cannot wait any longer and I will be leaving in 5 min if I am not seen. The doctor was late getting back from the hospital and you are next.... I go back to the whimpers of my tired baby who is tired of being stripped down to her diaper. In my head I could not believe I actually made that kind of threat. Go me. Now... I figured that some results might be seen. Not. 50 min post appt time no sign of the doctor. My nerves have been sufficiently grated - like grating cheese for taco night - I cannot take it any longer and I will make good of my threat. I swiftly dress R, grab my stack of papers, books, toys, everything and get to the nurses station and the doctor is out but does not see me. I don't even care. Yes it would have been to my benefit to not waste another day and just wait to see the doctor but NO. I HAVE RIGHTS. I AM A PAYING CUSTOMER HERE PEOPLE AND SERVICES ARE NOT BEING RENDERED IN A WAY THAT I THINK IS FAIR AND WORTHY OF PAYING FOR.
The nurse look up at me. I don't give her the chance to say anything. I say I'm just going to have to reschedule. Then storm out. Vicious as I was, secretly glad that I followed through and did not get pressured back into the room.
I call back an hour later to reschedule. Oh you cannot get in until 2013 so I'll have to have the nurse call you. Fine have the nurse call me I say but I WILL be seen before 2013. The nurse and I play phone tag for the afternoon and get an appt in a month.
I consult other parents to determine if my frustration is justified. Survey says... house divided and a spectrum of responses. So I get over it and more on with life and decide to stick with my pediatrician because he has stayed at the office until 5:45 - when seriously everyone else was gone to see E. My beef is not with him but with the way I was treated - I will not be stepped on. I pay for my health insurance and I will be treated as such.
So I get a call from Lee today - who NEVER/ hardly ever calls me - who says you sure rocked the boat at the doctor's office yesterday. Why? He says I will be getting a phone call to discuss my appt yesterday. Right...
Well low an behold the doctor calls me tonight - well after business hours - and says he is very sorry for my experience yesterday and etc etc. Say WHAT? Now I have even more respect for him. He says I should have been told of the delay and the option to reschedule and the option to take R on a walk and not have my nerves grated like cheddar cheese.
I know that my actions have not fallen on deaf ears - they have been heard - so take that and stand up for yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Side note... found out my most favorite nurse is gone. Seriously that lady made my day and now what?
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