Being too agressive

[Guest]

Am I doing the right thing? We seem to be having a communication problem with out cancer coordination(my Husband can be to the point in his speaking). She was supposed to handle all scheduling of test such as PFT, stress test, preadmission testing. It seems we have to keep calling her to see if appointments are made. Well, the PFT test was made but no one called my husband to tell him not to use his inhaler that morning--needless to say he was mad, they had to call his primary to see if it was ok to do the testing, o.k. that one is done. When he got home he called the coordinator to see if the appointment was made for the stress test and the problem began she told my husband it was his responsibility to make the arrangements and an argument insused he told her if they are this incompentant he was not having anyone cut on him and would cancer the surgery. She said she would call back Monday afternoon with the appointment--well no phone call Monday or Tuesday--now I am getting upset. My husband tells me he is not calling them again and that he will not get the surgery done--he will go elsewhere--that only means more time wasted and we really liked the Dr. My question is should I call the hospital to see if the test is scheduled and if not schedule it for him or call the coordinator again? At this point I don't know what to do I am so upset everything was going so well.

[ginnyde]

There is no such thing as too agressive when it comes to getting your treatments in a timely manner.

I make and follow up and follow up and follow up all of my husband's appointments. For the most part we have not had this type of incompetence, thank heavens.

Can you do the scheduling? I also ask way too many questions. When Earl was hospitalized every time they came near him, I would ask what they were doing, was that the right drug and dose and on and on. Just little old obnoxious me taking care of my husband.

Every patient needs an advocate, a strong agressive advocate. They have enough to worry about without all of this.

Hope this info helps.

[J.C.]

Agressive is the word needed when requesting answers

or appointments, at some places all is well, others are slow

to answer and a follow up is needed a constant one.

Do not be shy, ask and ask again and write in front of them

(I like to do that in person) the appointments given and go

to the nearest phone and confirm it and do not forget to also

write down the name of the person, day and time.

Good luck and keep us posted.

J.C.

[Ry]

If there is a way to bypass the scheduler do it. When John was first diagnosed, our primary doctor bypassed them got directly to the doctors and whisked him through all his tests within hours. The other thing that helped us is going and standing in front of the scheduler and asking for the first apt. They are often not aware of the seriousness of the tests and the need to rush them unless the dr. steps in. For John's first test she wanted to give him an apt. days later, John made her call the dr and see if that was ok, he told her no, he need to be in the next day. We got a 7:30 appointment. So another option is to have your dr. step in.

[Guest]

thanks for the replies, I am going to call this morning, I am concerned because surgery is scheduled for the 23rd of this month that doesn't leave much time to get an appointment for the testing.

[Mr Ry]

You can never be too aggressive. If they say they are going to call on that day and they don't, call before it gets too late in the day. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." Do not hesitate to call. I have been on both sides of the fence. It is hard to be aggressive if you are the patient, all though it can be done. The more noise made the better. I got a good dose being the avocate. Rochelle's mother broke her shoulder the same week Rochelle got very sick. Rochelle is her own best avocate, but I had to step in once in a while.

It may not seem like enough time but , they can accomplish a lot of testing in a short amount of time.

My best to you both John

[Snowflake]

Bert,

Regarding the scheduler:

If this person is employed by the doctor you are seeing, he needs to be aware that his "trusted staff" has a weak link. It should be stressed to this scheduler how important tests are that the doctor has ordered..

If this person is someone at the hospital, be sure to let someone at the hospital know - there are people that supervise all positions. This person who is doing such a bad job for you is probably doing the same for others - shape up or move on, sister...

For you:

See if the doctor's nurse will schedule for you from now on. The nurse should know the questions to ask regarding fasting, meds, etc., AND be able to order the "next available" vs. fourth Friday after the third quarter of the moon wanes...

...and keep squeaking that wheel!

Tests don't take that long when scheduled right. Prior to heading for a second opinion, I had a bone scan, CT from top of head to bottom of abdomen AND bloodwork. I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital that day, but I only got stuck ONCE! If you have more than one test planned that takes a contrast dye, keep the IV from the first one - blood can be drawn from there, as well...

Take care,

Becky

[mhutch1366]

By pass the scheduler if you can,

and KNOW that all the arrangements are made.

Talk to your Dr., who I am certain is unaware that this level

of difficulty exists in scheduling.

And yes, report her, because her job is to get scheduling done, not

to become defensive and argue with patients. She's a facilitator, not

an attorney. Geesh.

Stay with the Dr. you trust. And talk to your husband... I feel his raving may be

his way of relieving stress/blowing off steam.

Good luck.

keep us posted.

XOXOXOX

Prayers,

MaryAnn

[Guest]

Update: I called my husband from work and told him I was calling the dr office to find out what was going on--he told me he was going to handle it and he did--he called our primary dr. and his nurse was more than glad to give us the phone number and tell him what test to ask for--i was pleased his appointment is this Friday at 7:45 and at some's suggestion here he is going to speak to the dr.'s office staff about the person that was supposed to do the scheduleing, my husband feels she should not be in that position if she can't deal with the patients. We are from another state than the one surgery is being done in so we were not familiar with the protocol for that particular hospital but she still had no reason not to call us back or inform us on what to do if she was not going to do it for us.

[Margaret]

I'm glad that things got straightened out, but this will probably not be the last time a problem can arise. Don't hesitate to call ever to check on what is or isn't scheduled and what you need to know regarding a test or appointment...don't wait and you can be pleasant but you don't have to be apologetic. One time early on I was beyond frustrated because my pulmonary test wasn't scheduled for what I considered a reasonable time. I asked to be advised if there was a cancellation and the person advised that there never was a cancellation...well, I found another place for that test and I called and cancelled my appointment.

You can be strong because you know that it is important,

Margaret