Appointment Trials

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I think I may have sagged with relief when I came in the house after getting the injection in my eye. One week ago, at 7:12 a.m., the doctor’s office called to cancel all appointments that day and said someone would call after noon to reschedule. Around 10 I was weeding in the garden and fished for the phone in my pocket. I agreed to a new time a week later. As soon as I went in the house, I let Vaughn and Marylynn know that they wouldn’t have to take me to Sylva, a town in the next county. They had kindly agreed to take me when they found out the bus will not take anyone to an out-of-county appointment after 2 p.m. I had no idea they quit so early. The new appointment time was 12:35, and I booked the bus right away.

It’s a bit nerve-wracking to sit near the window watching for the bus. I have to be ready for pickup 1.5 hours before the appointment, and the bus is often in my driveway at that time. On occasion the bus has arrived only half an hour before the deadline, and I argue with myself whether to call and check on it. Then there was the time it came two hours early! Someone had made a mistake. I was basically ready, anyway, and I knew I’d have to sit in the waiting room a long time. Mostly the system works well, but I have to be ready for anything.

I told myself to relax as the bus began to move. The drive to Sylva is a beautiful one through mountains. This day there were two cloudbursts that erased the view almost entirely. Following directions from a tablet, the bus driver turned left instead of right. He didn’t think that was correct, and neither did I. After a short tour in a poor area of the town, we turned around and easily found the office. I was stunned that the waiting room had only a few people in it, since there is often standing room only. The receptionist looked for my name on her computer, and I knew something wasn’t quite right when she wanted my birth date.

She said, “That appointment was canceled.”

I was stunned. How would I know it was canceled? She replied, “You should have gotten a phone call and a computer message.”

I may have told her that I had neither and that I had to call the bus three days ahead to get there. She had pity on me and said she’d check in the back. It seemed to take forever, while my mind was spinning, wondering what was happening. Coming back, she said they were looking to see if they had the right medication in stock. They did! Gratefully, I sat down to wait.

Within five minutes another patient stood at the counter and was told her appointment had been canceled. Aha! I wasn’t the only one left in the dark! The medication she needed was also in stock. Surely that was all that would go wrong. In the treatment room, the assistant made my next appointment for a June date. I agreed to it, then asked her to repeat it because I didn’t have pencil and paper. She reassured me that I would get a notice of it. That reassurance erased the information in my head. I must remember to call and ask for the time and date, because I have no faith at all in their system.

The ride home was uneventful except that sometimes my right eye worked, and sometimes the vision was totally blurred. That was not unusual. At least this time I didn’t have a cobalt blue bubble bobbing around. I never plan anything else on eye injection day, because anything could happen. I had held myself together all day and just had to get inside the house without stumbling. Luckily Kacey didn’t knock me down as I opened the door. I think we were equally glad to see each other.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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31 thoughts on “Appointment Trials”

    1. Lately getting to this doctor’s office has been uphill. The next appointment is much closer, in the next town. If the bus doesn’t work out, I should be able to find a neighbor to take me.

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      1. you are truly blessed that way..I’m looking at a simular situation..I thought I was dealing with sciatic but after EMR xray is more..MZRi yesterday says I am being referred to spinal clinic in Jackson 60 some odd miles away..very limited choices but God will provide. Please pray they won’t recomend surgery at my age.79

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        1. It’s good you are pursuing a solution. Yes, I am praying there will be a fix without surgery. Will you be able to drive yourself to Jackson?

          It has been ten years since I had surgery. Thankfully, the cancer has not returned.

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          1. No..I could but haven’t had a car in a little over a year..it just quit going and I was tired of putting money in it. My options are slim right now..my go to son works off shore and he is out right now..Bless his second half …mother of 8 and one on the way..I really try not to add to her responsibilities..she would but will see how it goes..other local son is in a big truck and gone most of the time…life gets complicated doesn’t it but it usually works out..I depend on God to direct this situation.

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  2. That happens here too with the medical bus. Lots of waiting. Just today I had my PC doc’s office call to reschedule an August appointment I didn’t have on my calendar. I had it as the following week. The woman said it may have been an office error. That office calls with a reminder a week before so it would have been caught but I could have totally missed it. I have a new apt and I wonder if it will still be there in August. 🙂 This makes for long days!

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  5. I hate when appointments get messed up like that. My dentist went to all electronic scheduling after relying on both an appointment book AND electronic scheduling, then the program crashed. They have these postcards with a frog on the front you get a week before your appointment. It says “don’t forget to hop on in for your appointment on ___________.” I was getting them monthly and why no one bothered to check them before mailing them out, I’ll never know. He asked patients to follow him on Facebook a long time ago, so he had us call in with our appointment time until they could put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

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      1. Thanks,Anne You glad this Day almost over!

        Mess is express your surprise or shock when you see something very dirty, untidy, or full of difficulties or problems. For example, when you find a house very dirty or untidy,

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      2. Yes, it took months to get it back in order. When they opened up the office again after being shut down for COVID, interestingly, they had their patients make their own appointments by going to a master calendar … I thought that was odd.

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  6. I have similar difficuties here too Anne. The hospital bus runs 3 yimes a day, at twenty past 9 , past 10 and past 11. I have an appt today at 2.30 which means a bus into town and then quite a long walk on my crutches to the hospital. Since my daughter made the appt by phone I have not received confirmation nor reminder, which happens when I book on the computer. So, I could find it has been cancelled when I arrive. These things are sent to try us, but I will not be discouraged.

    Sending Huge Hugs from Wales.

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    1. My reply disappeared here.

      You are probably in the hospital as I’m writing this. Hope it all went well for you. Your attitude is admirable. Wish I had a more positive view.

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  8. Glad it worked out this time. I think I’d be calling the office the day before or even the morning of from now on to make sure the appointment is still there. Not sure if I’d have any faith in their system either after all that. Hope your eye is adjusting.

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  10. Reading the whole bus/transportation factor that you go through was indeed stressful. Both the bus and the scheduling system at that office are inconsistent!😣

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    1. Kacey is exuberant, but I have a new routine. I lean against the door so that when she pushes against me, I won’t topple over. It has worked well for the last few days

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      1. That’s good! We are still diligently working with Reggie and he is improving. It is hard apparently for a dog who was allowed to jump up on people to stop doing it. Reggie also does the push against our legs which can unbalance you.

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  12. I’m sorry to read about this. What a situation. I am so with you: That reassurance erased the information in my head. I must remember to call and ask for the time and date, because I have no faith at all in their system. I’ve had the same thing happen, not for an eye injection, but to show up at the doctor’s office at a scheduled time only to be told my appointment didn’t exist. I now ask for them to write down the appointment on a card or piece of paper so that I have proof when their computer says otherwise.

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