“Yeah, that’s a pretty good idea.”
Yummy delicious.
I’m so sorry that you’re going through this nonsense, but I’m so glad you shared it with us.
Thank you, Sampiro. One of the things that got on my nerves about my soon-to-be-ex-boss is that she keeps tossing these little sideways insults and other assorted pieces of verbal crap, for example giving a heavy sigh and martyred rolleye when someone asked “hey, when is Easter this year?” “Ah! Of course, once more I am the only one who knows which days are holy!” (I refrained from pointing out that, for someone who was a Christian and not a holy-water-drinking pharisee, it would be all days). And I’ve been trying to remember what the heck tiradillas are called in English… zingers! That’s it!
This place does wonders for my vocabulary.
Makes me more appreciative of my Mom’s Doctor and office, who when called in January because Mom had a moment of panic that her prescriptions would run out before the appointment just made her jump through hoops of red tape.
Actually, those imposed by the doctor were no big deal. It’s just that Mom hates leaving messages on voice mail rather than talking to a HUMAN, and Mom’s insurance decrees that thou shalt get all non-emergency prescriptions filled by mail-order in ninety day chunks. So Mom was nervous about whether it was processed properly. It was–although for some reason, they billed Mom after the fact rather than when ordering–probably has something to do with the whole new prescriptions called in by doctor’s office rather than Dad typing the info in online. There have been issues in the past, but not with Mom being denied access to needed prescriptions until she could access a doctor–that’s just mean. Decline to refill it after the Doctor’s visit if it’s not an appropriate treatment for the future but don’t mess with people’s mental health.
I scanned the epic because the extraneous details, frankly and IMHO, weren’t adding anything, plus…
I’ve been out of one of my (very needed) allergy meds, my Provigil, my Protonix, and my Lexapro since the third week of January because BCBS decided, without notifying me, that these meds (three of which I’ve been on for multiple years) needed prior approval before being filled. So when I went in the third week of January, down to a couple of days of each med, this came as a complete shock. We dutifully submitted the written requests (which took coordinating three different MDs), which has just been denied. So now we get to appeal, and in the meantime I’m channeling several of the seven dwarves.
Zoloft is readily available through valid Canadian pharmacies. Provigil isn’t (apparently there isn’t a Canadian equivalent), but you’ll at least have the don’t get pissed pills. It’s likely what I’m going to do for the meds I need.
As for the MD problem, I recommend looking around the local hospital for a multi-doc practice that hosts residents. I’ve never had a problem getting in to see my doctor, often on the same day (I called this morning, actually, for a non-emergent problem, and have an appointment tomorrow).
Can you get them without a prescription? (I know folks who do Canada for their pills but they’re people with valid prescriptions/without pharmaceutical insurance.)
This is just madness. Good on you for dropping this doctor, Sampiro, and I sincerely hope you find someone responsive and sensible in the extremely near future. What on earth good is a doctor who can’t see you for weeks after you need him?
His policy is absolutely Kafkaesque. I hope he finds lots of room in his schedule soon, as his other patients wake up to the fact that they’re getting lousy and dangerously inadequate service.
Poor Sampiro.
Sounds awful and I hope you get your meds soon.
Just for some bad old socialised healthcare comparison…
I can speak to a doctor on the phone the same day (or, you know, since I am one I can have a little intenal dialogue 24/7).
I can arrange a same day appointment at my practice with a doctor for an urgent problem if I call before 10am.
I can arrange an appointment with any doctor at the practice (i.e. potluck doc) within 2 working days for non urgent matters.
I can see my own doctor or a doctor of my choice within 7 days.
5pm-9am and all day Saturday and Sunday I have the out-of-hours Doctor service. Usually staffed by junior GPs trying to make ends meet…not quite doc-in-box.
My GP practice has 6 GPs and 7000 patients, if that helps.
People here still complain, but I think sometimes we don’t realise how lucky we are.
Comes now the ranter with an ultimate irony:
Okay, as mentioned, I go to extremes to not be a jerk, to not be impolite, to not risk the ultimate evisceration of Dixie Bushido (a public scene- God ignores bodily injury, weird sex, and property crimes but public scenes are a mandatory 10,000 years in Purgatory minimum and more likely 700 years in Hell for each minute). But anger/bitchiness/pissiness/“snippiness” is undeniably effective.
I exchange words with my doctor and his nurse, and they’ve sent a compromise: I still have to see him to get the refills, but he’ll work me in tomorrow morning.
I’ve taken it of course, it’s better than going without a doctor for a while, and I’ve told my Danites to temporarily stand down (but do NOT disarm or break camp or stop patrolling in case it’s a trap- just don’t burn any crops unless you don’t hear from me by 11 a.m., in which case make daddy proud). But it shows the ultimate problem with society-
DON’T GIVE ME POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT WHEN I’M BEING AN ASSHOLE!!!
I blame the media, NAFTA, the Jews and the Illuminati for this.
And my sister’s comment: “You see? Squeaky wheel gets the grease doedn’t it? Now you know why I insulted and threatened that Jaguar mechanic.”
Wow. And I just finished reading your old hurricane/beach house rant from a few years ago. This really paints a portrait of the life of Sampiro. I hope you get your meds soon, for everyone’s sake.
Mythbusting Canadian Health Care -- Part I | OurFuture.org by People's Action Heres what it is like in Canada. I wonder what world posters live in when they complain about waiting times in other places. Not only do we make an appointment long in advance but we wait for a long time in their offices. What other profession has a “waiting room” with magazines no less.
Well, except for us, your loyal readers.
My doctor’s a peach. I never need to wait more than a day to see him (or one of his associates) and he looks on that pill reference book like it was the Sear’s Christmas Toy edition. He’s in Akron so it’d be a two day drive for you, thereabouts, but it sounds like you’d still come out ahead.
Okay wow. I was about to say that I call in prescriptions all the time (not a doctor), but the requirements for antibiotics/super-effective fluoride are probably different than for mood-altering substances. All the same, that customer service left something to be desired. Namely, your refills.
Barbers?
Same thing!
Wow, that sucks!
What the hell is up with your doctors, and Sampiro’s, making you both go cold-turkey withdrawal on essential medication? What happens if you manage to get yourself killed from inattentiveness due to the weird side-effects from coming off them?
(I went cold-turkey from the supposedly ‘non-addictive’ prozac* once. It was extremely bizarre and fairly unpleasant. Cold shivers, hot flashes, and every now and again - starting slowly and building up to a once-every-couple-of-seconds crescendo - the world would shift on me by about 5 degrees. “That’s not much”, you might think, but I ‘felt’ it right through my brain; my brain felt like it was trying to move along with the world. Heaven forbid I’d been expected to drive in that condition, or had to go to work.)
I can’t imagine what it’d be like going cold turkey from a cocktail of medicines…and I’m kind of glad I can’t imagine it, to be honest. It must be dreadful. I can’t fathom how this doesn’t qualify as malpractice.
- Which was killing me all by itself, since it put my sleeping heart rate up to 114 bpm and raised my blood pressure through the roof. I went from depressed and listless to depressed and ill. Great improvement. My doctor said ‘Of course you’re depressed; you’re very overweight’. He’s lucky I wasn’t depressed and psychotic.
It’s seriously been three years since your mom died? Good lord, it seems like yesterday. I remember your story about Luna at the funeral like I was there.
Sampiro, your rant gave me very mixed feelings. I absolutely loved the exposition, and the segue into the rant was seamless. Truly a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, as it were. But for the first time, I also got some insight into what it can cost you to produce it. It’s kind of ironic that the affection I feel for you from reading your stories for the past few years makes me wish you didn’t have to go through the turmoil that generates them.
Well, anyway, I hope that there’s some therapeutic benefit to you from discharging the pent-up reactions here on the Dope. And I’m glad that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel wrt your access to your meds.
AND, I think it would be wise to consider this latest development as a time-buying reprieve, and look into finding another doctor.
Love you, Jon! I damn near snorted miso soup out of my nose reading this at lunch today. I had to explain to my husband why I can’t read your stuff and eat/drink/breathe at the same time!
Sampiro, your doctor doesn’t seem to understand the pain of coming of the pills. Pain to you and those around you. I do think that you need to find a new doctor, one who can make time to see a patient when it is necessary, and it is necessary to see a patient at least once a year on the various types of happy pills. As someone who takes happy pills I can say that my annual visit in 2008 saved my life on an unrelated matter.
I second the big, gold stars for you, Sampiro.