Bad & Good
Well, let’s see! Today was both bad and good. I had a 10:30 appointment with my ophthalmologist and I arrived early. I arrived at 9:45 and at 10 I was called back to get my eyes dilated. "Oh, good,’ I thought. "I will be home before noon easily." {Noon was when I was supposed to get a visit from a tech from my provider. I hadn’t had a ummm, errr… legal 
connection to the Internet since I had come home from NC} So, by 10:15 I was escorted to a waiting area to wait for someone to come and get me when Dr. Y. was ready to see me. I was still there, still waiting, at 11:45. So then I did something that if I had not been so antsy about missing the tech I wouldn’t normally have done.
I walked out. 
Now, this was a prime example of cutting my nose off to spite my face! He is the only glaucoma specialist and he is definitely over-scheduled but eventually, he would have gotten to me!!! I had enough sense to reschedule on my way out for December 7th. And when I got home, I had a phone call telling me to call my provider again. 
I called and explained it all yet one more time to the guy who answered. He asked me to look at the modem and tell him what the light labeled DSL was doing. It was a steady green but then I realized I wasn’t actually using my connection but the one I was mooching off because it wasn’t protected. I told the guy on the phone to wait a minute and I changed to where I was supposed to be and the green light was still steady the way it was supposed to be. I then rebooted the computer and it came back as solid green which how it was supposed to be. He then told me that whatever the problem was, it had been fixed remotely! I was thrilled because although I did use someone else’s unprotected connection, I actually felt hugely guilty doing it so getting back my own connection was the good part of the day. 
Tomorrow I have to go to the drugstore and get the antibiotic I have to take an hour before going to the dentist at 2 PM.
Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone. ~Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?
– Hillel
I’ve walked out of doctor’s offices several times under the circumstances you described. They deliberately overbook because they are greedy and then the patients have to suffer through interminable waits. It is inexcusable.
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That’s actually a very good thing, standing up for yourself at the doctor’s office instead of sitting there till hell (or your rear end) freezes over, being seen when they eventually get around to it. I know they’re busy and try to see as many patients in a day as they can, but clearly they are over-booked and need the message that “My time is just as important as yours!” Sorry you have to go through all the trouble of going back, though.
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that is a crazy long time to wait! ugh. I hate it when doctors overbook. I find it to be disrespectful of my time.
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If I was sitting and waiting a full two hours after my appointment time with no reasonable explanation or grovelling from the office people, I’d be walking out too… Waiting is one thing, but that’s ridiculous. If they’d left you there much longer the eye drops would have entirely worn off anyway! (huggles)
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That is wretched about the doctor’s offices. Arrogant swine. Glad to hear that the connection got resolved.
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I’m glad you got your internet connection back! As for walking out of a doctor’s office….I can’t remember if I’ve ever actually done it, but I sure have thought about doing it MANY times!! hugs, Nicky
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Just think. If no one put up with doctors over scheduling and everyone walked out on them it would suddenly become more of a priority to them to schedule patients responsibly. Hey. A girl can dream.
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I used to have to wait an hour or two in my doc’s office, and it was highly annoying. When I switched docs, I no longer had to do that and haven’t since. It so isn’t fair to the folks who show up on time, but I can understand why it happens. Ppl over book because so many clients no show and don’t call. They also overbook because certain insurance companies don’t pay much (like Medicare) and in order to be able to pay all your bills, you need to see a certain # of people per day to make up for it. A therapist suggested letting the doc’s office know that your time is just as important as their time is. She’ll show up on time, and she expects to be seen on time or she will leave. Her doc sees her at her scheduled time now.
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As long as the care you need isn’t urgent, I think it is great that you asserted yourself and your patient rights by getting up and walking out. I do understand the issues going on behind the scenes at the doctor’s office, but a patient’s time is valuable too. If more people stood up for themselves like you did, maybe it would get better. I’m surprised anyone has their WiFi unsecured sothat anyone can use it. I worry about security issues — even if I’m the one “stealing” their WiFi. I’m glad you got yours fixed!
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i’m sorry, but if my doctor was an hour and 15 minutes late i’d have walked out, too. that’s so out of line. he wasted your time and that’s so wrong. did you tell the receptionist why you were leaving? glad you rescheduled. take care,
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I would have left too. They give appoinment times for a reason, and those doctors should do everything humanly possible to meet that time. After working in a Dr’s office, I know first hand how mad those doc’s get if YOU were running late..and then they would reschedule you once you got there..so yeah, good for you on walking out!
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I’ve walked out of medical waiting rooms too, when I’ve had to wait too long.
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