I showed up for my 11:45 appointment with the Rheumatologist, at 11:15.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was eager to see her!
It's been 6 months since I've seen her and a lot has happened that we needed to discuss: I have tapering news, my knee (which she drained 6 months ago) is way worse, since I "fell for Billy Joel!" It's needed to be drained again for at least the last 3-4 months, but I've been very patient and I’ve waited for today! We need to talk about my knee replacement surgery; yes/no, when, where, etc... Has she talked with the Orthopaedic Surgeon? The tingling/numb feet have been pretty much diagnosed as Small Nerve Fibre Neuropathy with Autonomic involvement (although officially I will not be told that until November 5th, when I see Consultant Neurologist). Did she receive the letter from the Neurologist? What does she think about all this? And, most importantly… what do I do after I hit 20mg????? We had only ever talked about GETTING me down to 20mg and then she said "we'd discuss." I'm at 22.5!
I approached the reception desk with optimism and a HUGE smile! I was HERE and it was my time!
I kept my energy level and my optimism up, even as the grumpy woman sitting at the desk typing something (obviously VERY VERY important) totally ignored me for what seemed like a 1-2 minutes... I just stood there smiling like an idiot!
A second lady appeared out of nowhere (apparently they had agreed on a "divide and conquer strategy" for the day) and said, "May I help you."
"Why, yes… Yes, you may!" I responded. "I have an 11:45 appointment, with Dr Jordan." Handing her my appointment letter.
She sat at the second desk and started clicking on the keyboard… all of a sudden I heard a DEEP sigh. The sigh was followed by the words, "Oh.... this is not good," talking more to herself, than to me.
I could not resist but to say, "What? ...what's not good?"
No answer. Just another deep sigh and more clicking.
I say.... "Please, please tell me there’s not an issue with my appointment!"
After a very long moment of silence, she said, "I'm terribly sorry... you are the 5th person to show up this morning, whose appointment has been cancelled. I very sorry."
Me: "Cancelled? What? By whom? What? When? Why?"
Her: "We sent you a letter on April 23rd."
Me: "Ummmmmmm, Nooooo. No, you did not send me a letter!" I received no letter! Wait, I haven’t seen Dr Jordan since April, how could you have cancelled THIS appointment in April?"
Her: "Yes, you saw her on April 18th, and we went you a letter advising we were canceling the appointment on April 23rd."
Me: (tears running down my face now) "No, no, I did not receive a letter... I was not advised this appointment was cancelled. (as I wipe the snot running out of my nose, with the back of my my hand… classy, huh?)
Me: "Wait, wait... you said 5 people showed up today, who's appointments were also cancelled... 5 people???? Don’t you think that NO LETTERS were actually sent out? That maybe there was an internal screw up with the letters?
Her: I'm very sorry.
Me: Is Dr Jordan not in the office, today?
Her: "Oh, no... she is here, but your clinic was canceled and it was changed to an Under 25 clinic."
Me: Oh… well... since I’m here! Can't we just pretend I'm under 25 and squeeze me in?"
Her: No, I am so sorry.
Realising she wasn’t going to budge and I was getting nowhere, (and needing a tissue desperately at this point) I decided to retreat.
No knee drain.
No tapering conversation.
No discussion about replacement knee surgery.
No chance for inappropriate happiness today. 😢
This makes me sick just reading it. Sure hope you get a resolution soon. Remember: this too shall pass...easier said than done, I know
This too shall pass... but at that moment Thank you!