Weird Day

Had two highlights to my day, coupled with a very weird and disconcerting incident at my doctor's office. I said yesterday that if I didn't get the answers I was looking for today I would unleash my fury, so stick around through the next paragraph for a good story.

First, the good. Had a great swim this am with my boy Dave. Nothing like swimming outside in the California sun while sharing a lane with your main boy. Today's set, in the event anyone could care less, was: 400 warmup, followed by 6 X 75 (kick/drill/swim) followed by 14 X 50's (most at race pace) followed by 2(4X100). Rocking workout. Second update: Yankees beat the Red Sox. It's always a good day when the Yanks beat the Sox, even though the Yankees season is on the precipe of being a complete and utter disaster. I plan a dedicated posting on this subject soon.

Ok, on to the incident with my doc. And by the way, Dave is my witness that all of the following is true. I was pretty heated up about this earlier, but will try to strip out the emotion and just give the facts.

So ... I still hadn't heard back from my doctor at around 10:30 am, so I called up again and said that I would like to pick up my PET scan report for my surgeon. I also asked if I could meet with my doc while I was there for two minutes so that he could explain the results. I thought this was a reasonable request. The receptionist responded that he wasn't in and that he left yesterday for a conference.

I told her that I could not believe he hadn't called back and that it was proving to be so difficult to get a simple answer to an important question. I added that I thoguht they were being cavalier about this and that as a patient with cancer, I deserved an answer to my question.

Unbelieveably, she told me, and I slightly paraphrase here, but not by a lot, "You call with a lot of questions Howard and we generally get back to you fairly quickly. But this time we didn't. I am sorry. But you are not our only patient."

It took every ounce of composure to not explode.

For the record, I have certainly called in the past with questions, all of which were legit. I happen to have cancer and there are several nuances to the treatment so I called for clarification. Pretty much what any patient would do. But I have notbeen a pain in the ass nor have I overwhelmed them with questions. And for the record, in certain instances they have in fact responded quickly and in others, they have not; April is my witness to this. And I have never, ever behaved like a prima donna, as she implied by telling me that I'm not their only patient. What bullshit. For the record, I am in the services business. If a client called me with an issue -- even if it was one of my smaller clients -- never in a zillion years would I EVER respond with a "sorry, you are not my only client."

Well, when I got to the office ten minutes later to pick up the report, the doctor's assistant was waiting for me with her hands crossed and her face red. She was pissed (an understatement) about the cavalier line. I told her I was sorry, but I'm incredibly frustrated by my inability to get a simple answer to an important question. I reminded her that I had cancer, not a cold. Incredibly, she then changed tact and told me that she agrees, she would be angry if she were in my shoes, but (I paraphrase) "I told the doctor that you wanted to speak and he didn't call you back. After I leave him a message to do something what else can I do?"

I could go on but you probably get the point. Beyond frustrating; at times it feels like being stuck in a Kafka novel. So -- I get no answers to Monday, presuming of crouse that he calls back.

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you our wonderful health care system.