For those of you that are inquiring as to what my post will be for today, I will come right out and tell you it's a rant. A big, huge, freaking RANT!! If you don't feel in the mood to read a rant, then please, by all means, navigate away from this page. However if you would like to take part in my little outburst, then read on my friends, read on.....

Ok, so many of you know that Tom (my husband) has been quite ill for a long time. About 3 years to be exact, and the more tests we've done have proven futile in assisting us in finding the cause of said illness. We have been frustrated and hopeful, and let down many times over, and am pretty much at the end of our ropes, until Tuesday we really had no hope of figuring out what the root of this was, and then we heard the voice of a sweet, kind, yet somewhat urgent woman on the phone who advised us to come into the office right away because they had found something in Tom's blood work. Little did we know what was to be awaiting us as we walked into the foreboading maze of an office the next day....(da da da dum!)
First I must explain that the 24 hours between the nurse's call and the actual appointment was less then pleasant. I was somewhat relieved that they had finally found something to go on and we could begin to deal with it, however, if you know my husband at all, you know that he will automatically jump to the worse possible scenario and multiply it by 10 and figure that has to be the enevitable outcome. So by the time he told me about the phone call, he was absolutely certain that he had cancer and we were going to have to take out a second mortgage on the house, and the he would pretty much be dead with in the next year. I, at this point, was determined not to follow him down THAT road, and stated we should just wait for the appointment and all would be revealed in due time.

HA!! HA!! Boy was I wrong! Let me set the scene for you....Tom and I walk into the doctor's office and after checking in, we sit down and wait with baited breath for our turn behind the protection of the closed door with the all-knowing medical yoda who would reveal our fate. I look around and noticed others waiting with us. One man looked particularily nervous and gittery, my conclusion....prostate exam....no man can wait patiently and calmly when faced with that.
Anyway, we wait......and wait.....and wait. 45 minutes later, a doctor, not Tom's doctor, calls "Thomas Hossie" and we practically jump out of our seats and take 3 deep breaths to calm our nerves due to the unknown circumstances that await us. I give a sympathetic smile to prostate exam man (poor guy), and continue on my way. My husband and I are led behind private closed door and are asked to sit. THe doctor turns to us and asks "So what are you here for today?" In my head, I'm thinking "Is he kidding? Should I laugh? Was that a joke? Surely he wouldn't jest in a time like this....Maybe he wasn't filled in?" So I let him know that we were told to come in due to some findings in my husband's blood work. He then says "Ah, uh huh..." and takes a look in the mystery file containing my husband's records, records of what we aren't sure, but records nonetheless. The man in the white coat then turns to us and says "Well it looks like his last blood test showed that his hemaglobin levels had dropped somewhat." I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for him to finish the sentence, then it finally dawned on me...that WAS the end of the sentence! That's it? Really? Seriously? I then informed the doctor that this was actually quite normal for Tom's blood work, so there must be something else, and asked if he could possibly check again. The doctor then proceeded to ignore me and take Tom's blood pressure. Excuse me!!! DO NOT just ignore me, I did speak, right? I mean, I vocalized what was in my head (with some necessary censoring of course)...did no one hear me? Then as the machine was taking Tom's blood pressure, the doctor left! Go to happy place Tennille, go to happy place. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5....AH! Is this a joke? Am I on camera somewhere? Are we being punked?
When the doctor returned he asked if it was finished and we nodded our heads stunned that this guy is actually for real. So once he comes back in the office, he sits down and asks Tom if he has any health conditions or problems....At this point I was ready to blow up. Picture me glaring so hard that I'm imagining the doctor's head exploding. Any health problems??????? "No doctor, I've just been feeling a little under the weather....for the last 3 YEARS!
Anyway, the the doctor looks at the mystery file again, and states "Oh, actually since the last blood test your hemaglobin levels have actually gone up." Oh that's it. I'm done. Ok Doc, well thanxs for, well, nothing really, but have a good day anyway, and hope you help someone else today to make up for this round. Ciao! Of course this was all in my head, and we just stood up, stunned, and walked out of the office without anything else. THen I proceeded to go on a rant for about half an hour on how pathetic and useless that was. Needless to say, we are now shopping for a different doctor, and competency is a high priority at this point!

Yes, if want to avoid a rant, don't ask me about this particular experience, ok? SERIOUSLY!!!

Song of the Day: History is Made By Stupid People - By Arrogant Worms

posted by Tennille @ 2:17 PM

7 Comments:

At 6:39 PM, Anonymous said…

Wow.
Tennille, I feel your pain. What a bummer.

I have a family member that was given similar treatment and given the run around, and put the wait list (because she was losing her balance AFTER AN ACCIDENT). Nothing too serious - it just knocked her unsciencious for a while. So they go down to Arizona, and the doctor examiners her for one whole minute and tells her she has a brain aneurism and it was about to burst. She was immediately rushed to the operating table.
At 7:45 PM, onedayatatime said…

How frustrating!!! I totally know how you guys feel! Six years of cancer, and three hemotologists later......I finally have a dr. who I trust with my health. Just keep going for 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th opinions. It will be seriously worth it. Keeping you and Tom in my prayers :) ~Barb Schellenberg
At 9:11 PM, D said…

Oh Tennille, that is so awful. I will definitely be praying for you both. Hopefully the next doctor you find is the right one and hopefully they can figure out what is wrong and what needs to be done. You can rant anytime. It's a good way of blowing off steam.

Nice song of the day by the way.
At 8:45 AM, Anonymous said…

First, may I just say that I love your rant. You rant better than anyone I know. :)

I can't believe the stupidity of your doctor. You definitely need to find a new one who actually knows a thing or two about medicine. You can bet I'll be praying for you guys!
At 5:20 PM, Anonymous said…

Did you know that you can rate your Doctor ONLINE

Check it out.
At 10:46 PM, Tennille said…

ha ha, rating him online might be a sweet revenge, but isn't revenge the Lord's? I don't know, although we will never be seeing him again anyway, we're done with that one, on to the next.
At 2:35 PM, Annie said…

wow... that REALLY sucks. it sounds like the office staff and doctor(s) are not on the same page at ALL. it shouldn't be like that in any healthcare system... i mean, it's people's HEALTH we're talking about... you can't get much more serious than that.

i hope you get some answers soon.