I am pretty sure G-d is trying to help me learn patience and to slow down a little this year. This has become clear in many experiences I have had recently and yesterday was no exception.
I made the decision yesterday, when I was home taking care of my daughter who is ill, to run to urgent care to get 'checked' out. I had a little bit of ear pain and a little sore throat. No need to go through the hassle of heading to my primary care physician.
Now, for those who know me, you know I am sincerely serious about healthcare and doctors. I take my kids often and only to the best providers.
Mind you, I have a brilliant physician who I can see anytime at the Mayo Clinic. Yep, I was too lazy to go through the hassle of driving for great care. Here's the play-by-play:
Call new local hospital run urgent care that I could literally walk to in order to determine the wait time.
Man at urgent care assures me that after paperwork it is a 10 minute wait - tops!
Excited, I rush out the door and within moments pull into the center.
I introduce myself as the "lady who just called" and I am given the obligatory clip board. I hand over my license and health card while I complete the paperwork. Impressed that they have asked for my pharmacy, I return the clipboard and begin to wait.
Waiting - no one is in the waiting room.
Waiting - yeah, not 10 minutes.
Waiting - someone leaves - I imagine I will be called...
"Are you ready?" girl in black at door asks.
Wait, shouldn't you say, "Raquel" or "Miss" or "Ma'am?"
I procede to the room where she asks if I have a sore throat. Just a little, I reply. She is determined to do a strep test. She hands me tissues with the words, "Just in case."
Just in case, what? I think. She has a difficult time opening the swab and procedes to swipe my throat. OUCH! Yes, I now have a sore throat!
Girl in black leaves. 30 minutes pass. I read all news updates on my phone. I text my dear husband to let him know I should have gone to Mayo. Huge banging comes from the room next door. Sounds like a jack hammer.
New woman in black who has a loud East coast accent enters. "Yeah," she says, "We're switching, cause she went on break."
Great! She now very loudly proceeds to take my history and inquire why the girl in black did the strep culture. She likes to do those, she mentions casually. This takes a good 15 minutes during which time she complains about the slow computer she is using. She also needs me to spell the names of the drugs I take regularly. Really??
I am beginning to consider in my head that if the doctor enters and is at all creepy, I will just leave and get a refund some other time. I am brought out of my thoughts by the loud banging which has returned. I inquire if there is construction.
"Nope, " says the medical assistant. "That's just Dominoe's pizza next door. You should be here when they are cooking pizzas. It stinks!"
She leaves. Dr. C. comes in. Badda bing, badda bang, he determines it is a sinus infection. Poor guy, you can just tell he'd rather be somewhere else. He tells me he will email in my script to my pharmacy and it will be ready in the hour.
Yeah, that would be true if the intake guy had actually recorded my full hyphenated name (which is on my paperwork, insurance card and ID) and not just entered me with my husband's last name. Six hours later, and many phone calls to clarify things, I received my meds.
Lesson Learned: Patience really is a virtue. When you are patient, good things come to you, like quality care. When you want 10 minutes, it not only takes longer, but it is LOUD and full of BANGING!
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