Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Rant About Dr. Tammy



Today's topic is courtesy.

Or, more specifically, lack of courtesy.

Here's the scoop:

I have a dermatologist. We'll call her "Dr. Tammy" for the sake of the blog.

I visited Dr. Tammy on Friday, June 25th, at which time she removed three suspicious moles...I told her at that time that I was leaving for Guatemala on July 8th, and I then asked, "Will I have the lab results back before I leave?"

Dr. Tammy said, "Oh, for sure! You'll probably have them before the July 4th holiday!"

And so, the waiting game began....when would I get that phone call, informing me of the lab results?

July 4th came and went...no phone call....

I called Dr. Tammy's office on July 7th and left a voice mail, informing her that I was leaving for Guatemala the next day, and could she PLEASE call me with the results....??

July 8th came....I had a 1-hour layover in Houston, and so I called Dr. Tammy and left a rather curt message, telling her that I would not wait until my return from Guatemala to know the results - she needed to call me THAT DAY and leave a message on my phone of the results.

When I arrived in Guatemala, I checked my messages, and Dr. Tammy had, indeed, called...her message said, "I am not happy about leaving a message...I'm only doing this at your request." Her message went on to say that 2 of the 3 moles were bad, and I would need surgery to have them excised even more than they were. She said she would have the surgeon contact me to set up the appointment...but she did not tell me who that surgeon would be.

I returned from Guatemala last Saturday - and there has been no messages from any surgeon. Nada. None.

So, Monday morning, I called Dr. Tammy and left a message...stating I had not heard from the surgeon, and could she please call me?

By yesterday, I had not heard from Dr. Tammy...so, I called again...leaving another message, this time a little more angry....

She called yesterday afternoon during a wedding reception for our daughter, and said, "I GAVE the information to the surgeon...they should be calling you. I'll call them again to remind them to call you."

Today is Thursday. Still no phone call from the surgeon. To say I am frustrated would be an understatement at this point.

I told my Hubby last night that if I die of skin cancer, he has every right to sue Dr. Tammy and the invisible surgeon.

He thinks I'm kidding.

Peace.

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4 comments:

La'Tonya Richardson said...

It sounds like someone in Dr. Tammy's office, did not call a surgeon. Don't stop calling and bugging her. Your health is a serious issue, and someone should act like it!

Praying that everything works out fine.

Terri Steffes said...

Keep going at it. If we don't advocate for ourselves, who will?

I'll pray for Dr. Tammy to be wrong about those moles.

David J. M. Samson said...

I hope it is dealt with soon, and properly!

Dr Tammy appears to think it is Okay to give bad news late, in a poor fashion and then not follow up. Keep calling, but also put it in writing, to let Dr Tammy know how serious you are.

Tolentreasures said...

I feel your pain on this one. Seems that no one's time in valuable in the eye's of doctors...makes me so mad!
Keep at them!

Cathy