Here’s to my health, and all that.
I’ve had much rest this past holiday season. The joy has been tremendous and the stress very minimal. However, even a beautiful post-holiday beach vacation to bring in the New Year isn’t enough to keep the blood pressure level in check for ole’ Bon. Apparently the second med that was added a couple of weeks ago was an Epic Fail. In lieu of waiting for that one month follow-up visit, I called Doc up yesterday morning. After another failed attempt on acquiring correct triage information between 4-5 phone conversations throughout the day, the last of the conversations went something like this.
Medical Assistant: Dr. Yadada has faxed in a new prescription that’s waiting for you at Your-Pharmacy, USA – you are to immediately quit your current bp meds and replace with this new ‘combination’ prescription.
Bon: What, a combination? So he said to cease taking the blah-blah? Wait – does this new ‘combination’ rx contain a beta-blocker, like the blah-blah I’ve been on for thirteen years?
Medical Assistant: I’m not sure.
Bon: I don’t think Dr. Yadada would just pull me off a beta-blocker which I’ve been on for thirteen years that’s pertinent to my survival. Just the last visit, he told me I’ll be on this one for the rest of my life. Think you could double-check with him?
Medical Assistant: Hmm… from what he said I’m thinking he meant come off of all your prior bp meds and immediately replace with this new one that’s a combo.
Bon: *Shock* Well, what’s the name of it, I’ll see if I can look it up.
Medical Assistant: I don’t really (really??) have access to that, as I don’t work in clinical.
(NOTE: ‘I don’t work in clinical’ most likely translates to ‘I don’t know what the f**k I’m talking about medically’. The title Medical Assistant assigned to her by yours truly is more than likely a very generous title.)
Bon: Look lady. One day off the beta-blocker could literally mean a stroke or worse for me. This is my LIFE we’re talking about here. I don’t want to hear what ‘you’re thinking’. I want to know what HE’S thinking.
Medical Assistant: Okay Ms. (cough-cough) Bitch, I’ll see if I can reach him again and verify if not all, which rx you are to replace with the new one.
You can probably guess the outcome. I was to remain on my beta-blocker and the new ‘combination’ one was once again an addition. It took the remainder of the day for me to calm down from this little ditty. With competent souls like this getting paid to look after your healthfare, will someone please tell me who the heck needs enemies?
OOOoooo reading about this shot my BP up a couple of sympathy points!
January 4, 2011 at 9:38 am
I know right? I’m still working on getting mine back down.
January 4, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Oh, Bonnie. I found out a few years ago when my husband was very sick that we must be assertive to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Mistakes happen. Even doctors themselves make mistakes. You quickly revealed the medical assistant’s confusion with your questions. Don’t be intimidated. We can be as nice as possible, but we must persist.
I hope your new meds will control your bp for you. Blessings to you…
January 4, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Thanks, Carol Ann. I for sure won’t be intimidated, but it behooves me that they would allow the messengers to make ‘educated guesses’. Guess that’s something they need to monitor a little more closely, they likely aren’t even aware of it. Blessings to you, my dear friend…
January 4, 2011 at 8:54 pm
My father suffered from a heart attack about 3 years back and a few days after he was stable and moved to the CCU, he found out one of his lab reports had a bizarre result that if true, he would’ve been dead a day ago!! And he only figured it out since he is a Doctor himself…!
I hope your bp gets under control and the new/old/combination works out for you.
January 10, 2011 at 4:31 am
Thanks so much, Sweet Dreamer… Ah, the marvels of modern medicine never cease to amaze me! I know there will be times when things are missed or mistaken (like what your Dad found) – but unfortunately I just don’t have much tolerance for mistakes of that nature. Guess I need to work on that. 🙂
January 10, 2011 at 8:08 am