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Not-so-fun Trip to the Lady Doctor (Ranty but not at all gross, I promise!)

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  • Not-so-fun Trip to the Lady Doctor (Ranty but not at all gross, I promise!)

    *Disclaimer - I don't want to get any flack for being impatient or not understanding. I am ranting, please view this as such.*

    Went to the lady doctor today, had my annual exam and needed to get a new prescription for my pills. Usually, this visit takes about 15-30 minutes, max, and I was excited to have my appointment at 11:15am so that afterwards I could still get lunch at *insert yummy pizza place* then go to the grocery store and run home to put groceries away before heading in to work at 3pm.

    Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I wanted them to.

    First off, I work second shift, so I normally don't get home til 1am-ish, and don't fall asleep til after 3am. Couple that with noisy yard work by the grounds crew this morning and having to wake up at 9:30am for the doctor, and I'm grumpy. Thanks to being tired and slow, I also don't have time for breakfast, but assume it will be ok, as appointment should be short. Rush off to doctor, encountering on my travels people who cannot drive and/or enjoy tailgating me when I obviously cannot go any faster due to giant slow-ass vehicle in front of me.

    When I arrive at the doctor, it's about 11:10am. I sign in, and notice that the sign-in sheet shows an entry for 11am and that she still appears to be in the waiting room. Oh well, they must be running a bit late, no biggie.

    Sit down, pick up a crappy magazine, and begin waiting. Notice that there are two kids (girl of about 10yo and boy of about 6yo) unattended in the waiting room. Girl is reading, boy1 is being a bit noisy, but no big. After a bit, dad comes out, bringing boy2 (about 3-4yo) with him. He drops boy2 into waiting room, and heads back inside. The boys begin banging on chairs, yelling, singing, etc. When girl tries to calm them down, boy2 begins shrieking and crying. This all goes on over a period of a half hour or so, while I'm trying to read and be patient.

    Kids continue to make noise unchecked. Nurse comes out, tries to coax boy2 into coming in to see mom, but boy2 just wants to sit on the floor and shriek at his sister, so after an approximately 42 second attempt, nurse gives up and goes back in. Eventually, girl takes boy2 out into the lobby the office shares with another office, where boy2 bangs on the glass and yells at boy1, who is still in the waiting room, until neighboring office workers ask them to knock it off, and eventually, all the kids wander off outside, unchecked. I am still unsure why mom was in, and tried to give benefit of the doubt that mom was in labor or somesuch, so I could understand mom and dad being distracted.

    After waiting over 45 minutes in the waiting room, I finally am ushered into an exam room a little after 12pm. Go through the basics, answer questions, get BP checked, etc. I find out at this point that apparently doc delivered a baby unexpectedly this morning, and had some other emergency, hence they are running late.

    Nurse gives me the lovely paper gown and leaves. I put on my paper outfit, and sit down on the table. And wait. And wait some more. And after a good 10 minutes (which seems much longer while bored and mostly nekkid, mind), the doc finally comes in. Exam is quick, friendly but efficient, and I'm reminded that I really do like doc quite well and that he is worth waiting for. All in all, once doc came into the room, it only took another 15 minutes or so to get out of there.

    Unfortunately the ordeal itself took nearly an hour and a half - most of which was spent either listening to unchecked screaming children (who, by the by, were in their parent's minivan, honking the horn repeatedly when I left, joy ) or sitting on an exam table in a paper gown with nothing but a dated pregnancy magazine to read. Not fun. I think if they'd warned me when I got in that they were running late and why, I would've been less annoyed, and more inclined to duck outside for a bit and enjoy the sunshine, instead of being trapped in the waiting room.

    And by the by, the whole deal meant that I didn't get yummy pizza for lunch, and instead had to hit the grocery store on an empty stomach, resulting in a large grocery bill for me, with my complete lack of willpower in the face of hunger and tasty goodies. Thankfully, I did have time to unload and make myself a sammich at home before I had to come in to work.
    "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

    “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

  • #2
    Been there. Done that, but no yummy pizza place to go to afterwards.

    My last one was so fast I think that if I had blinked I would have missed it. My dr then, it turns out, was my dr when I was a BABY and he's still doing a great job at the local (my hometown in NC kinda local) health department. So I now request him every time I'm in town for my exam.

    Now, I noticed that he seemed to like me pretty well. Yay! My first dr ever? My gawd, was she a bitch. She was convinced I was pregnant (no way in burning hell unless it was immaculate!) because I had eaten a really big meal before hand. Granted it also took 3 hours (not including the 2 hour wait for my 10am mid week appointment).
    Ridiculous 2009 Predictions: Evil Queen will beat Martha Stewart to death with a muffin pan. All hail Evil Queen! (Some things don't need elaboration.....) -- Jester

    Ridiculous 2010 Predictions: Evil Queen, after escaping prison for last years prediction, goes out and waffle irons Rachel Ray to death. -- SG15Z

    Ridiculous 2011 Prediction: Evil Queen will beat Gordon Ramsay over the head with a cast-iron skillet. -- FireHeart

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    • #3
      OK, how about flack for no willpower while shopping on an empty stomache?
      "Always stand near the door." -- Doctor Who

      Kuya's Kitchen -- Cooking, Cooking Gadgets, and Food Related Blather from a Transplanted Foodie

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      • #4
        I hate interminable waits while you're nearly-naked in the paper gown. I've only had it happen once (so far). I was left sitting on the exam table long enough for the motion sensor in the room to turn off the light, and I had to stand up and hop around a bit to get it to turn back on. That visit was also the one with no magazines in the room, and where I'd forgotten to bring something of my own to read. I've learned since to always bring a book or a notebook or something.

        Luckily the practice has nine OB/GYNs/CNMs to see, so delays aren't frequent. It also means if I don't like one (Dr. Won'tInduce, I'm looking at you!), I can just request to see a different one the next time.
        "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
        - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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        • #5
          *stretches out arms as far as they can go* That's how much I love my girlie-bits doctor. My fellow patients? Not so much. Thank you, squalling children in the waiting room, for reminding me why I go to the clinic in the first place.
          I always get burned when I shop on an empty stomach.
          "I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me."
          "Free at last from my vegetable prison!"
          X-Strike Studios: Video game movies done RIGHT!

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          • #6
            Quoth unclejampuff View Post
            That's how much I love my girlie-bits doctor.
            hmmm. "GBD" has a much better ring to it than "OB-Gyn" (And a Hell of a lot better than one of my exes terms - just plain "gyno"

            Oh - and I HEARTILY recommend the take your own book - for ANY doctor/professional appointment.

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            • #7
              Quoth sms001 View Post
              Oh - and I HEARTILY recommend the take your own book - for ANY doctor/professional appointment.
              Until that point, it wasn't so bad. There were plenty of pregnancy magazines in the other exam rooms, as well as the waiting...er...hallway (not exactly a waiting room, since the health center doesn't have the space for it), and since I was pregnant during the course of these visits, it gave me some interesting stuff to read up on. However, as mentioned, I've learned to always bring my own backup, just in case.

              I do like at least three of the GBDs () at this health center, though. They're very nice. One other was brusque with me, and then there's Dr. Won'tInduce who I have a bit of a mini-vendetta against. He's nice enough, but very opinionated, and those opinions often clash with mine. As for the other four, I haven't met them yet.
              "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
              - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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              • #8
                The wait sounds worse than my dermatologist yesterday. I had a 3:30 appointment got there about 10 minutes early and didn't get taken into the room until 4:07. I started work at 5:00 and it was a good 20 minute drive to get home. I gave him until 4:17 to come into the room. Right as I was about to hop off the table he walked in. We talked for roughly 3 minutes about the scar that's forming from my biopsy and then he gave me a prescription for a cream I'm not going to get. Lucky for me all the children were behaving in the waiting room.
                Honey and Thorns ~ Handmade Knit and Jewelry

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                • #9
                  Quoth marasbaras View Post
                  OK, how about flack for no willpower while shopping on an empty stomache?
                  I'll take a bit of that, as I deserve it.

                  Quoth unclejampuff View Post
                  *stretches out arms as far as they can go* That's how much I love my girlie-bits doctor.
                  Quoth sms001 View Post
                  hmmm. "GBD" has a much better ring to it than "OB-Gyn"
                  Agreed. I will use that from now on, when I remember to. And I <3 my GBD muchly as well, which is the only reason I put up with stuff like that. He takes very good care of me.

                  Quoth sms001 View Post
                  Oh - and I HEARTILY recommend the take your own book - for ANY doctor/professional appointment.
                  I used to always be really good about that, I was just spacy yesterday, between trying to get their early and going on not enough sleep + an empty stomach. I usually bring a book or my little portable Sudoku game with me everywhere, in case I get bored.
                  "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

                  “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

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                  • #10
                    My youngest aunt used to see a doctor that would charge you extra for being over a certain amount late for your appointment, but was always backed up. It's believed that the doctor had the nurses overschedule him.

                    So, one day, when she signed in, she told the receptionist that since the doctor would charge if she was late to see him, she would start charging them if they were the ones running late. She said that the previously-reported 40 minute wait ended up being a 10 minute one.

                    ^-.-^
                    Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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