Totally NOT a Food Post…
July 27, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Tutorials and Basics
But too good not to share it.
Backtrack with me, k?
On Monday last week I got a letter from the VA hospital letting me know that I had a sonogram on my thyroid scheduled on August 6 at 1 o clock. I asked her why, when I thought they had decided to remove it. She was a little snotty, but patiently explained to me that the doctors had ordered it, they knew what they were doing..etc. Did I know more than the doctors, hmmmmm?
Tuesday Marc tried to find out what was going on by talking to a doctor while he was up there. The doctor told him that they had not decided what to do, the surgeon was in Africa, AND since my blood work was all normal there was no reason to take the thyroid out, despite the fact that I am horribly, horribly symptomatic. Marc tried to argue but…to no avail. Did HE know more than the doctors…hmmmm?
On Saturday as you know I got a phone call which let me know I was scheduled for day surgery August 6 at 6 a.m… Interesting….
So I had to go with Marc to the VA this morning about HIS upcoming procedure (we call it the tazer test, electric stimulation of various nerve clusters to check for damage, he has had it before) and after talking to his doctor we had a few minutes. I thought it would be nice to explain to the people in radiology that I was having my thyroid removed the morning of the 6th.
Have you ever felt like you were in a Saturday Night Live comedy skit? I did. I went to the first person. She glared at me.
“Ma’am move BACK behind the sign”
Mkay….but there was no one at the desk. I move back obediently. She looks up and bellows at me… “NEXT!”
I go up to the desk and explain the story.
“You will have to talk to our scheduler. Next window.”
I obediently walk to the next window. The woman there is talking to a patient. For hours. They talk about where he lives, what he does, what foods he likes, the color of his underwear…well not that..but you get the idea…Finally he leaves and I step up to the window.
She turns away and begins to work on the computer.
She turns, see me and jumps. “Oh! Can I help you?”
Me,”Yes…” and I proceed to tell her the story.
The phone rings and she answers it. She starts to talk and then glares at me. “Move away from the desk please.”
She finishes talking and calls me back to the desk.
“Can I help you?”
I explain the story again. She is obviously one of our fine veterans with short term memory loss….
She looks at me for a minute when I am done.
“So, did you want to reschedule the sonogram for a later time?” She looks at me hands poised above the keyboard.
“They are taking it out.”
“Yes, well then..how about …hmmm….August 17th? At say…..2:00?”
“I am having my thyroid removed the 6th”
“Right. So do you want to try to make the appointment the afternoon of the 6th?”
“Uh….” I am frantically looking at Marc at this point. He is trying not to laugh.
“We can make it earlier. You may not feel well after the surgery and want to get home as soon as possible” She gives me the expectant look again.
“Ummm…” I lean up to the window. “I….am…having….it…removed…. It won’t BE there.”
“Yes ma’am. So would you like the appointment closer to your surgery time?”
I am not looking around for a camera and Alan Fundt. Maybe Rod Serling.
“No, if it is closer to the surgery then what if the doctors aren’t done…REMOVING MY THYROID?”
“Good point. SO you want to leave it at one o clock then?”
“Uh….”
“Fine.” She types into the computer “just have the surgeon call us if it looks like you wont be able to make the appointment and we can reschedule.” She smiled expectantly “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Uh, no. Thanks. That is …umm..fine”
So I am thinking of asking the surgeon to put my thyroid in a jar so I can take it to radiology. Then they can sonogram it every day if they want.
And people keep asking me why I don’t think nationalized health is a good idea.
images:marye audet
image of pills:sxc
I really, really want some of what they are taking! It would really help when dealing with all the reality I don’t want to see!
Judy, I know, right? A little Lucy in the sky?
hahahahahahahaha Sorry for your frustrations, but since my husband goes to the butcher shop, I mean VA hospital, I can totally relate.
Oh, and I’m against the healthcare mess too!
http://balanceindiet.com/?p=482
yeah..well, they try (if you are southern you will understand this…)…bless their hearts.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Seriously, I hope I’m laughing with you and not at you. I am totally picturing that scene in “Meet the Parents” where “what’s his name” is trying to get on the plane to go home and the flight attendant tells him to wait his turn when there is nobody else around. Seriously funny.
Bless her heart… *giggle*
That’s going to have me laughing the rest of the day. I needed that.
see told ya you would laugh
Seriously. This really would be hilarious, if it weren’t so darn scary!
I know, right?
I can totally sympathize … while a military dependent, I was left to live with an extremely overactive thyroid for three long years … eating 7 or 8 times a day to maintain a weight that didn’t leave me looking like a skeleton. When my then-husband went overseas, I opted to stay state-side and stayed with my parents, which meant I was able to see a civilian doctor. Within a month, I’d had radioactive iodine treatment and was finally cured.
I wonder sometimes why the military even pretends to offer dependent health care.
Well, I am a vet so I should be used to it.
I would love to see the expression on the face of the radiologist if you brought your thyroid in in a jar. LOLOLOL!!!!!!!! That is funny and scary at the same time.
too bad cameras arent allowed at the VA
I agree. I hidden camera to document this crap and put it on youTube would be THE BEST.
God, this is sooooo sad!
I think it is hysterical
Bad (read-stupid) customer service people are one of my biggest pet peeves. Wouldn’t you think that some training in the field would be good for people who are going to be working in that area? Ugh! Hope the surgery to remove the thyroid goes well and all the sonograms thereafter!
Maybe I’m too tired to read this with a sense of humor, but this makes me angry! Arrrrgggghhhhh! Scary!
You have to keep your sense of humor at the VA
Marye, truly, I am so sorry for what you’ve been going through, but I have to tell you, that I laughed so hard at one point during this post that I spit all over my screen. I know. TMI, but sheesh…
Seriously, though, I hope it all goes well and that the idiocy stops.
Thanks Jen..I think it is hysterical, myself. And..you have to admit…it makes a great story.
Wow, what a story.
I actually get occasional sonograms of my surgically-removed thyroid. Well, okay, the people who do mine actually understand the concept that it isn’t there anymore.
It is used in conjunction with some other tests as a first-line check to make sure there aren’t any new tumors growing.
I had been thinking baout you Kathy. Yeah it was just the way the VA rolls.