Late to Rheumy Appointment

August 27, 2005

A few weeks ago, I had an appointment scheduled with my rheumy. I

left the house with no time to spare, and then got lost trying to

find his office (it's located in a congested part of our capital city

and I had only been there once before). I tried to call from my cell

phone, but was not able to speak to a real person. There was no

option for contacting the reception desk, so I left a message for the

doctor's assistant. When I got to the ramp, I had to circle and

circle and circle to find a parking place. I dashed into the

building, rushed into the office, and stood panting at the reception

desk. When I told them who I was, I got looks of disdain. I was 20

minutes late, and no one had received my call. They said they would

ask the doctor if it would still be possible to see me. I crumpled

into a chair, ready to cry! I was feeling weak from having taken my

MTX the night before. The thought of going through that tremendous

strain for nothing was too much to bear. A stern nurse came out and

talked to me. It was possible that the doctor could squeeze me in in

about two hours, she said. I could take that chance or reschedule.

Because of the fatigue caused by the MTX, I really had no choice but

to reschedule. To add insult to injury, I had to pay two and a half

bucks to leave the parking ramp! :-(

I wasn't mad at the rheumy office--I WAS late, they were booked with

other patients, and I had to take the consequences. But now, because

of my job change, there will be disruption in my care. I had gone to

the trouble of getting X-rays sent to the rheumy so he could take new

ones and compare. Now I could either see him at great expense (out-of-

pocket or COBRA) at the Sept. appointment or reschedule for Oct. when

my new insurance becomes active. I don't believe he is in network

with my new insurance carrier, and I wasn't too impressed with him

anyway, so I will switch back to my previous rheumy. (She has an

easily accessible location--convenient, with free parking in a big

open-air lot. And a real person answers the phone when you call!)

But who knows how long it will take to get in to see her? I'll call

on Monday. If it's too long a wait, I'll just see the rheumy with the

X-rays in Sept. I am doing pretty well, and chances are high that no

changes would be made in my treatment.

I just wish I hadn't missed that last appointment!!! Especially

because of the efforts that went into getting the X-rays...

It helped me to get this out of my head--thanks for reading!

Sierra

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