Time Line

• Last Week
  Dragging feet about making appointment for next two vaxes, realize that Zantac Rx is coming up for renewal so most likely need an appt for weight check as well.


• Over the Weekend
  Decided that I'm still on fence about vaccines and the fact that Alex is coming down with a cold is reason enough to hold off on them. Do the math and don't think the increase in meds based on his weight increase from last time and the very small change we saw in symptoms is worth coming in for a weight check, especially since we'll be seeing the GI on the 6th and I've already decided that it's time to try something stronger.


• Monday Morning
  John calls the ped's office for a refill on Zantac - leaves a voice mail on their prescription refill line.


• Monday Afternoon
  Realize that it's 4 pm and haven't heard anything from office. Call the pharmacy and nothing is there yet. Call the ped's office and there isn't a damned prompt for "Speak to a person about a non appointment issue" so I just stay on the line until someone picks up. Talk to person and they have no record of John's call, although someone may have already taken the information from the voicemail line. She takes my info to be safe, noting that we only have two doses left and it's "not pretty" when he misses a dose.


• Monday Afternoon, 15 minutes later
  Triage nurse calls me back and double checks all of the info. Says she'll take care of the refill right away. Get kids fed and start bed time. Have horrendous evening with Alex so picking up his meds is the last thing on my mind.


• Tuesday Afternoon
  At 4.45, gather up the kids to walk down to pharmacy to pick up rx. Two techs search the place from top to bottom and can't find the rx. The double check the computer and nothing was called in. I ignore the "Please do not use your cell phone" signs all over the place to call the ped's office, trying to keep Alex happy in the stroller since I wore him in a bad position for a good mile in town and my back really isn't happy. Get the damned after hours line. After hours representative tells me that they put a hold on the refill pending review by the doctor because he hasn't had an adjustment in his dose in a month. I tell her that no one told me this, she responds by telling me that it's an office issue and the office is closed. I respond by asking her what I'm supposed to do with my screaming child in the morning, then thank her for her time and hang up on her. Storm out of pharmacy.


• Tuesday, Early Evening
  Flirt with idea of going up to peds office since I'm almost positive they are in fact open and seeing patients, but decide not to since I will lay into whatever poor soul is working there and do not relish the thought of combining cranky, hungry kids and righteously indignant mom. Get a hold of John on his cell and share the story with him and anyone who happened to be standing on my block at the time - remarkably without swearing. Get kids in the house, try to nurse Alex but Michael is understandably bouncing off the walls and hungry - have to unlatch Alex a few too many times so then starts the hour long scream-a-thon that is interrupted feeding and GERD.
  
  John gets home and we decide against showing up at the ped's office at 8am demanding someone's head - he'll call them since I've had enough and if I come up against anyone lacking in customer service skills, heads will roll. John makes the call to after hours to find out what they can do and while he's on hold there our specific ped calls my cell phone first and then our home phone to say that she will calculate Alex's new dosage based on his curve and call it right in.

We are still going to call the office in the morning to speak with the office manager and will be sending a letter outlining our experience to the office manager and a few higher-ups since they have been bungling calls for several months now. One of the things that pisses me off the most is that I worked as an answering service operator for six years (and was a damned good one) - at 5.15 on a weeknight in a multi-doctor practice, there are still people there. If someone called me that distraught you better bet after I told her that the office had put a note on her call at the very least I'd take her information and see what I could do, in fact I'd probably put her on hold and try to patch her through to the back line of the office seeing as the office screwed up and believe you me the service always knows what offices have a habit of doing these things. I would not stupidly repeat the line about the office being closed and it being an office matter.

Now that I've spent the past thirty minutes spewing this vitriol - I have dinner to make and then manga to read. besides, I have a strong suspicion that I hear Alex cooing from our bedroom so a repeat of last night may be in order.