I had my follow up appointment today. I was a bit nervous as to what the doctor was going to recommend since the bladder installations weren’t as successful as we had hoped.
I was also nervous due to a daycare situation that put me in the office five minutes late. Five minutes is late, yes, but not really that unusual nor extreme. When I arrived, I checked in with my least favorite person in the office. She took my last name and then said, “You’re a bit late, let me see if the doctor will still see you,”. Umm…what? She picked up the phone and spoke to the nurse. When she hung up she said, “The doctor will see you, but there are four people ahead of you and it’s going to be an hour wait.” I have really been making an effort to be nice to people lately but I will admit that for all the niceties I’ve put out there the past few weeks, I took them all back at that moment, “I’m sorry? Can you repeat that, please?” I asked. The fool must not have seen the look of death I was penetrating her skull with or she wouldn’t have repeated herself. “So, I’m getting pushed to the end of the line because I was five minutes late for an appointment? Do you realize that on the day of my first appointment I waited over an hour to see the doctor? I’ve also waited over 15 minute’s on other occasions as well, and yet, due to a situation beyond my control, I’m now being pushed to the end of the line for being five minutes late?” I may or may not have been yelling for the whole waiting room to hear at this point. I have no shame. “We’ve had several people we’ve had to fit in today and you’re the last appointment,” she said. I just shook my head and sat down. An hour and several trips to the bathroom later I was taken to the exam room. Thirty minutes after that I was still waiting. I really like Dr. L and his nurse but sitting there getting more and more angry as the minutes ticked by, I was contemplating getting my hefty co-pay back and seeking help elsewhere. I decided to talk to the nurse before making any rash decisions and plus, I wanted to whine to someone. We had a loud conversation about the wait time outside the patients door where the doctor was. Well, okay, to honest, I was the loud one, she was nothing but understanding and accommodating. Don’t you just hate it when people kill you with kindness when you’re looking for a fight? She won because I found myself back inside the exam room and waited another five minutes or so before the doctor came in, calm but apologetic for the wait.
I discussed with Dr. L how I have had a few really good days but not enough to consider the bladder installations a success. I also told him that it seems I’m worse on Saturday and Sunday’s, the two days leading up to the next installation, He gave me two choices: I can learn how to put a catheter in at home and give myself the treatments twice a week for an undetermined amount of time or he can do a bladder hydrodistention and cystoscopy to look for Hunner’s Ulcer’s. With the latter, I would be in guaranteed pain for about two weeks following the procedure but eighty percent of patients are reported to notice a big difference after that time period. I don’t want to have to play doctor every few days and do my own installations on an ongoing basis so I chose the hydrodistention, I know there aren’t any guarantee’s but I’m hoping to fall in the eighty percent that are success cases. I read in ‘The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide’ that the effects of this procedure may only last three months Of course I’m rooting for longer but…it’s been a long time since I’ve felt good for a week, much less a month and the possibility of three months makes it worth it for me to try. Dr. L also had his nurse show me how to insert the catheter into my urethra so in the future I could do the bladder installations at home, should I get a Flare Up. So, so glad I left my ten-year old son in the waiting room. She was showing me how to insert the catheter and medication while balancing a mirror so I could see my vagina. Although I’m familiar with my vagina, I’d never seen it reflected back at me like that, full stop. Add in the view of my Stay Puff Marshmallow Man thighs and the view of the underside of my food baby and I was horrified. I tried to listen, I really did but I really just wanted her to put the damn mirror down so I could get dressed. Whatever that nurse is being paid, I’m sure it’s not enough.
After that fun, Dr. L came in and told me that he’d kept me so late that his surgery scheduler had gone home for the night. He then apologized again for the wait. I explained to him that the reason I was so irritated was because I felt that I was getting the shaft for being five minutes late when he was late by an hour and a half. I told him that had his office called me to let me know that he was that far behind I would have felt like I had a choice to either come in later or reschedule, He agreed with me and said he’d talk to the office manager about the rude lady at the front desk as well as advising people ahead of time about the wait so they could reschedule if needed. Round trip I was gone three hours for an appointment that I should have been to and back in an hour. I should charge them for my time.
Ms. Peebody 