Losing Patience and Patients

I've been trying to get Mark an appointment with a gastroenterologist since May or June. Of course he couldn't go to the one he went to a few years ago because that one is NOT in his network. As luck would have it, the one gastroenterology practice that is in network has four doctors. But it turns out if you've ever seen one of them, you can't change to a different doctor. Of course, he saw the lead doctor in the practice eight years ago when he was probably the only doctor. Now he's probably the busiest. (But it's against their policy to allow a patient to change doctors - even if they don't like the doctor.)

Because he is busy, he has some assistants. But Mark's insurance prohibited him from seeing an assistant and insisted that he see only the doctor. That requirement was very limiting. We had an appointment in July that had to be rescheduled because Mark had a conflict. Rescheduled for October but that had to be rescheduled because the doctor had a conflict.

We thought we had an appointment last Wednesday at 11:15. All I needed to do was confirm which location he was supposed to be at. I phoned at 9:00 am and was told that his appointment was at 9:15. Wow. It doesn't matter which location it's supposed to be at, we can't get out of the driveway in 15 minutes, much less get to McKinney or Frisco. The next appointment available would be in mid January. Had they sent a reminder text or called the day before like most doctor's offices do, we might have got it right. Even my hairdresser sends me a text confirmation of my appointment time.

I've only been trying to get him in there since May or June. Is January really the best they can do? And I don't really understand why there has to be a consultation before they can do the colonoscopy anyway. They told me it was so the doctor could determine if he needed one. We've got a general practitioner, a cardiologist and a hematologist who have been on us since May or June to get this done. Is this doctor going to go against the advice of the other three? I understand it's his specialty, but I really don't see why he'd say no when the other three say yes. And it's usually enough to get one based on age alone, even if your doctor hasn't specifically requested it. In the end, we were able to make an appointment for the following day with the assistant because the insurance company decided that it would now cover visits with the assistant - effective November 1. Apparently the assistant can make the determination (with a phone call to the doctor) to go forward with the procedure. First available date? December 31. Seriously, who deliberately schedules a procedure on New Year's Eve? Even if we planned to be in town, that would not be part of our plan. So he's now scheduled for mid-January and we'll have to pay the deductibles and co-pays, which we would not have to do if they could get it in before we went to Florida.

In the meantime, I was told during my last doctor visit that I needed to get one, as well. Apparently it has been six years and I was supposed to revisit that after three. (What can I say? If you don't send me a reminder, I probably won't think of it.) I wanted to go to the same doctor that I'd been to before, the one who is no longer in Mark's network. I'm on a different insurance plan so the network isn't a  problem for me. I called a couple of weeks ago to make the appointment. It couldn't be scheduled until they had a copy of my most recent physical. No problem. I phoned up our GP and was told they'd send it right over. No doubt they did. But the gastroenterologist's office did not call me. I went off to Las Vegas and figured I'd deal with it when I got back.

I phoned them last Monday and was told they got something that might have been the physical but that the "medical" person would have to okay it and they'd call me back. When no one did, I figured that I'd see if I could get in to see a doctor at the practice Mark was going to. I thought I'd just ask while he was there rather than go through the BS of calling their office. (I've heard "your call is important to us" more times than I can count this week.) Had I been there before? No. Had I had a colonoscopy somewhere else before? Yes. Did I have a preference of doctor? No. They would need for me to fill out a form so they could get the records from the other gastroenterologist. No problem. And that office was only one floor down from theirs. She would run it down herself. She came back and let me know that she'd given them the form and she'd been informed that it would have to go through their "copy center" which could take up to two weeks. Seriously? Two weeks??

I had to ask myself why I was willing to move over to a practice where it had taken nearly six months for Mark to be seen. But I wasn't getting anywhere with the other office.

Keep in mind that this is for a colonoscopy. I put it off about six years past the time it's recommended to have the first one because, quite frankly, I didn't fancy it. Still don't. The idea of the procedure is distasteful and the preparation for it is agonizing. I don't like trying to sleep on the bathroom floor. I'd rather have a mammogram every day of the week than have a colonoscopy. But given that my mother had a history of colon cancer, I know I must. But to be truthful, it's very difficult to be diligent in setting up the appointment when they throw so many roadblocks in front of you.

We'd only been home about 10 minutes from Mark's visit when I got a call from the doctor's office that I'd initially contacted two weeks ago. They were prepared to schedule my appointment but were confused because they had a request to send my records to another doctor. Well that worked! I'm ready to schedule. I only contacted the other doctor because they hadn't called me back.

At least they don't require a consultation first. We could go straight to the procedure. First available date - December 31st. It's still a "no". We kicked around a couple of dates in January when she suddenly realized that she had an early morning available on the 13th. I'll take it. Before I have time to change my mind.

Lucky

I consider myself lucky. I have more than I need and just about everything I want. I have people who love and care for me. I get to do the things I want to do - for the most part.

I've known other people who are incredibly lucky. Their raffle ticket always gets drawn. Their errant golf shot hits a tree and rolls onto the green. They suck the luck out of the air so that no one else has any. (You know who you are Larry!)

But last week at the inspector conference I witnessed something that was beyond incredibly lucky. There were three drawings. One for an infrared camera, one for a 50" HD TV, and one for $500 cash. The same guy won all three! All. Three. They were all on the last day but not at the same time and you had to be present to win. All I could think was "Dude. You need to get down to the casino! Now! This can't last."

Essentials

To me, essentials are equivalent to necessities. Things you need. When I go in to a camping store, I expect them to have the things I need, like toilet paper and dish detergent. (So I was more than a bit disappointed when we went to FunTown at Winstar and the store that should have had the necessities wasn't even open.)

Last week we were at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas for an inspection conference. I needed some Tylenol (I think the smoke that permeates the place was giving me daily headaches) and Mark needed hearing aid batteries. Essential.

Now, the store that was on the lobby floor was even called "Essentials" - so you would expect them to have those necessities. We could get the Tylenol but not the hearing aid batteries. For those we would have to venture out two blocks on Fremont Street to a Walgreens. Now, you could get batteries for your camera, your flashlight, and any number of gadgets, but not for your hearing aids. I think someone may be confused about what is and is not "essential".

Some of the other things the Essentials store had - water (yes, absolutely essential to life) beer (not so essential - although some might argue.) This store also had decks of cards, souvenir shot glasses, and t-shirts, which I suppose could be essential if you lost your shirt in the casino.

Today's Music Ain't Got the Same Soul

Ah, Motown in the 60s and 70s. Nothing better. Not sure about now. For the most part, I only listen to oldies. I know some of those old groups are still out there. Like the Temptations. We went to see them on Sunday. One of them (the guy in the middle of the photo) was in the original group that has been performing for 58 years. Assuming that he was 18 when he started (and I don't know, I'm assuming) then he would be 76 now. Good for him! Great job!

But one thing that really stood out for me was the song lyrics. My Girl (my favorite) - "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day." The Way You Do the Things You Do - "You got a smile so bright, you know you could have been a candle."  Lady Soul - "You are my life, you make me whole".

No bitches and hoes. Except for a few "social commentary songs" it's all about how good that woman makes you feel and how lucky you are to have her or how awful it's going to be to lose her.

 Assuming that popular music is a reflection of society, I have to wonder what happened. The 60s and 70s were decades of great social upheaval and strife - far from idyllic. And what I'm going to say next is a broad generalization but I think that back then, song lyrics reflected our ideals more than our reality.  Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

Remote Control

As we were driving through Kansas and Wyoming (and some parts of Colorado) I noticed vast farms and ranches. In Kansas I saw a  big farmhouse, several barns and outbuildings, some grain silos and then nothing else for miles around. In Wyoming I saw a mailbox and a fence - and some cows. Apparently the house was too far away to be seen from the road.

I wonder what it would be like to grow up in a place like that. I'm guessing it takes a long time to get to school. Or maybe the kids (assuming there are kids) are home schooled. I wonder what it would be like to live in such a place as an adult. You'd almost certainly be working on the farm or ranch because other places of employment would be too far away, unless of course you could work from home. You might have issues with your neighbors' animals getting into your fields, but you wouldn't get your panties in a wad over your neighbor's failure to mow his lawn or the color he painted his house because you'd probably never see it. But what do you do if you need an ambulance? Or the fire department?

I grew up in a small town with plenty of neighborhood kids to play with. I could ride my bicycle into town. I could walk to school and stop at the local soda fountain for an ice cream on my way home. When I was in sixth grade we moved to a more rural area. I thought we had moved out in the sticks. We had just under five acres but there were still a few friends within walking distance and I don't think anyone at school lived on hundreds of acres. I took a bus to school because it wasn't safe to walk - but it didn't take all day.

And now I'm back to living in a small town. At least it's small for now. (Not as small as it was when I moved here 36 years ago.) But all the changes are good. We've got three restaurants within walking distance. (Four if you count the one we don't go to.) An international airport is less than an hour away. Two grocery stores, nail salons and additional restaurants are less than 20 minutes away. There's a shopping mall and several cinemas about 30 minutes away with new ones that will be closer "coming soon".  Plus a shoe store (DSW) just opened up in that 20 minute range. What else do I need?

I don't think really remote living would suit me.

A Yellowstone Traffic Jam

I was on the lookout for bears, elk, wolves, antelope, and bison. I saw antelope on the way to the park, usually a bit too distant for a good photograph. If they were close enough, we were going too fast to get the photo. We didn't see any bears or elk. We might have seen a wolf - we couldn't be certain whether it was a wolf or a coyote. The color appeared a bit light to be a wolf, but it didn't seem scruffy enough to be a coyote. But what we did see plenty of was bison. They are just about everywhere except in the canyons. You can see their footprints all around the geysers and hot springs. (All the places where humans are warned to stay on the path.) Clearly they don't fear those warning signs. They are responsible for most of the traffic jams in the park. The speed limit in the park never exceeds 45 mph. Safer for everyone. But when people see bison, either in herds or one or two along the road, they stop. Most of the folks who are stopped are taking photos. Eventually the traffic moves. However, if one or more bison decide to get in the road, everything stops. It stops until they decide to move. If it's an entire herd crossing the road you could be in for a wait. They have the right of way and they don't seem to be afraid of people or cars.

Water in Yellowstone

Lake Yellowstone is the largest lake in the park. Lewis Lake looks small on the map but huge when you're looking at it, plus there are a number of other smaller lakes and ponds. There are also rivers - Yellowstone River, Firehole River, Snake River, and Gibbon River to name a few. And almost all of them have a waterfall or two on them.

If you go to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, you'll see the falls on the Yellowstone River. Again, I know we just scratched the surface of what is there. We had our hiking boots but given the altitude, we were reluctant to hike much of anywhere. What we saw are the things that are easy to get to. I can only imagine that there is so much more.