"May I please speak to Pandora?"
"This is she."
"Pandora, this is Dr. X, I got your test results back and you tested positive for EBV. I'm referring you back to Dr. Y. Thanks."
"But...."
Tuesday - Message Left on Phone
"Pandora, this is Dr. Y, sorry I didn't catch up with you. I heard back from Dr. X. She didn't feel that even though you've had this mass on your collarbone for 9 weeks now that we need to biopsy it because you tested positive for EBV. So, I will schedule a follow-up for you in 2-3 months and we'll go from there. If you have questions, please call."
Tuesday - 15 minutes later
"Hi this is Pandora, Dr. Y just called and left a message, I have some questions for her about my diagnosis and where we go from here."
"Dr. Y is unavailable at the moment here is her voicemail."
"Hey Dr. Y, I have some questions about all this - how do we treat EBV, what about the mass on the ovary, my joints are killing me, please call me back."
Wednesday -
"Hi, this is Pandora, Dr. Y never called me back yesterday and I still have questions about my diagnosis and where we go from here."
"Oh, okay, let me transfer you to her voicemail."
"Hey Dr. Y, Pandora again, still need some info on the diagnosis and where we go from here."
Thursday - Morning
"Hi Pandora, this is Ms. Z, did Dr. Y ever call you back?"
"NO! I've left two messages now and really want to know what all this means. I've been given 30 seconds by Dr. X but no idea what to do about this and I have other questions about the mass she found and what we do about that."
"Let me transfer you to Ms. A, she is Dr. Y's physician assistant"
"NO! I want to talk to Dr. Y."
"Please hold"
"Pandora, Dr. Y is in with patients, she can't speak to you right now but will call you back later between 2-4. Thanks"
Thursday - Around 5:30
"Hi Pandora, this is Dr. Y, Dr X called and you tested positive for EBV. I want to see you back in 6-8 weeks for follow-up. Thanks..."
"Wait, I have questions about this. I got a while 30 seconds from Dr. X. What does EBV mean for me? I've seen it is related to all the other things we've been trying to rule out - so what's up? What can I do for this? What about the referral to the GYN doctor for the mass?? I still feel like crap and this has been going on for almost 12 weeks now. I've read this virus lasts 4-6 weeks so what about all the other time?"
"Well, there's nothing we do for this virus other than bedrest and fluids. Try to take it easy as much as you can. Oh yeah, the ovary mass, I'd forgotten about that
"So there's nothing I can do?"
"No, you need to just ride this out - your body is really run down. It just needs to run its course."
Monday
"Pandora, this is Ms Z from Dr. Y's office, I have your appointment with Dr. GYN - she can't work you in until November 13th - a whole 4 weeks from now and Dr. Y wants to see you too so can we do that November 20th?"
"Sure - good thing I'm not dying or something - oh wait - we still don't know that yet now do we."
Patience is a virtue.....I guess that's why the words patient and patience are so closely related since it takes all the patience a patient has waiting on healthcare these days.
More bitching about healthcare to come....
xoxo
Pandora
No comments:
Post a Comment