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I've Been Unfaithful
At least that's how I felt as Mr. Doctor walked into the exam room while reading my chart and exclaiming, "Well we haven't seen you in a good long while." As if he caught me with my pants down in another doctor's exam room wearing one of those cute paper gowns. About the best thing I could croak out was, "I don't get sick often and the last time I did I saw Mrs. Doctor. It's nice to finally meet you."
He asked, "So what brings you here today?"
Ok, maybe it's because I'm not feeling well or it could be the conversation Honey was having with the receptionist the day before. I'm irritated. Honey's employee handbook states that you must have a doctor's excuse for three consecutive days off. My employee handbook states that you get an excuse after two days. Honey calls the doctor's office. Since I'm an established patient they can see me Wednesday, tomorrow. Since Honey isn't an established patient they can see him next Tuesday. He complains to the receptionist that they have all his medical and insurance information from his taking "the man" to THIS doctor. It doesn't matter. I'm in, he's out.
So what brings me here today? And why am I being made to feel like a bad patient because I don't "visit" my doctor more than once a year? What kind of a scam are doctors and insurance companies running where you are penalized for being healthy?
I'm not sure what Honey has to pay for his medical insurance but I pay over $100 a month for hospitalization, office visits, and prescription coverage. It cost me $30 for co-payment before they would take me back to the exam room. Now Mr. and Mrs. Doctor seem like down to earth fun people that anyone would be happy to hang around with, but the people I go to visit or catch up with don't charge me $30. I go to the doctor when I'm really sick. That's why I'm there.
During our little "visit" we shoot the breeze about my job; how I'm going to need a doctor's excuse; how I might not have a job much longer; who is better? the orange store or the blue store; why hasn't Mr. Doctor run into me while shopping . . . . . You know, all the things "good friends" talk about when they get together.
I leave the office with a note that says I was at the doctor's office on that date, 1-23-08. I have a prescription for some antibiotic that I've never heard of, and a scrap of paper with the word Clarinex written on it. According to Mr. Doctor you can purchase Clarinex without a prescription now. I head to the evil Walmart.
I hand in my prescription and what I think is my latest Prescription Insurance Card, then go down the isle to find Clarinex. It's not there. I go back to the pharmacy where they tell me Clarinex can only be purchased with a prescription. Hell! Maybe any old decongestant will work. Twenty minutes later, I pick up my prescription. "That will be $130.65," the clerk says as she rings it up. "What? That's with the insurance," I question. "Oh, no, that card you gave us was expired," she tells me. I dig around in my purse for another card and tell her to try again. "Ok, that will be $100.25," she says. I ask her if they can call the doctor's office and see if he'll prescribe something cheaper. I'm really not feeling well. I've been upright for over an hour. I'm cold and frustrated and in really bad need of a nap. I leave my soup and cookies on the counter. I go home.
What was my "good friend" Mr. Doctor thinking? Did he just want the best for me? Really. I'm making less than $20,000. I've told him I might not have my job much longer and he thinks I can drop over $100 on drugs? I take my nap then call Walmart. They tell me I can pick up my new prescription. It's $1.25.
I haven't eaten in two days. I force myself to eat a few spoons of soup and a couple bites of meatloaf so I can take the pills. I'm up most of the night coughing with Honey keeping me up the rest of the night with his coughing. I would like to call off work again but my doctor's note just excuses me for 1-23-08. I force myself to eat some cereal so I can take the next round of pills.
It's so much fun having everyone you work with telling you how bad you look. Just as we gather to have our morning meeting I experience those fun antibiotic side effects. You know, some people may experience abdominal cramping, nausea, the "BIG D." There has to be some cosmic formula that explains why the "Big D" hits when you are at the farthest point from the bathroom surrounded by all the people you work with. I discretely retreat to the outer fringes of the crowd, then walk quickly with cheeks firmly pressed together back to the bathroom. Well that's it. You can't conduct business from a toilet seat. I am going home. I was upright for three hours. It's nap time. What are they going to do? Fire me? I actually started to worry for a couple seconds that my not being there the last couple of days might make them think I was the expendable one. Duh. That's my goal. Remember?
I can spend that extra time writing my resume and being unfaithful to my doctor. I think I'll tell him the next time we're playing pool, having a beer, hanging out, catching up.
The medical industry is a rip off. I'm glad you were able to get the
prescription for $1.25. The $128 you saved can be better used. When a
number of so-called negative events happen at the same time, it's often the
Spirit moving you into another direction.
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. I've been writting about the cold
and hard facts of the medical field for a long while. I thought once I
retired that I would distance myself a bit. I find now that I get angered
evn more then before, with all my spouse had gone through in the past year.
They say ignorance is bliss, I would say that on top of being costly
it's also quite deadly. Employers have no sympathy either. It's all about
the all might dolllar. Hoping you and hubby feel better soon.
That chest cold has been through our house four times in as many months!!
Sorry it's hit you guys and I hope you didn't pick it up when you were
here. Your brothers have it too. Your daughter went to a dr in Dec. with
a four day old ear ache. The bill came in at $130!! To look in her ear
and prescribe some drops!! Her ear ache stopped after another three days
and after she stopped putting in the ear drops!! She's mad at me because I
insisted she go to the dr. As you know, she didn't have insurance in Dec.
I have decent insurance but no dental. Went to the dentist last week
(after a two year hiatus) for four xrays and a cleaning. He said my teeth
were in adequate condition but to be careful not to bite and pull anything
with my front teeth which could be pulled out as two seem to have vertical
cracks. He said my options ranged from to do nothing and hope for the best
or to spend about 7K to cap them. I told him that at my age (almost 70)
and on a fixed income, I'd take my chances. He hurriedly scurried out of
the room and I was presented with a bill for $168 which included a 10% cash
discount. Insurance has ruined the medical field. They're so used to
getting the bucks from the insurance companies that they can't be
realistic. I realize they have to now pay the salary of a person to handle
all the various and numerous medical claim forms, and pay huge mallpractice
insurance fees, but the patient fees have become outrageous. Hang in
there! Love, Mom
I'm seeing in the medical press that most "cold" remedies don't work
and in some cases actually make things worse with the side effects.
Hey Catty! I hope by the time you read this, you are feeling a bit better.
I'm sorry to hear you are so sick AND had to put up with so much
bureaucratic crap!
Thanks for all the well wishes. Today, Sunday, I'm actually starting to
feel a bit better. That amazes me simply because I spent 4 hours this
morning making copies of insurance payoffs and going over the itemized
bill from the dentist before I could write them the nasty letter about
their sloppy book keeping. According to the insurance papers and my own
addition the dentist was trying to overcharge me by $31.00. It's not a
large amount but since I've already paid them $347, I'm just unwilling to
part with another cent given my current situation. If I have to I'm going
to turn it all over to the attorney general. I'm really tired of feeling
like I'm getting screwed.