New tentative date: August 18

[cjsmith]

The woman who does the scheduling did comb through the schedule and did call me at work. She's got me down for August 18 and there's a possibility of a cancellation on August 4. I told her I owed her homemade cookies for combing through the schedule like that.

Ooo, I'm so hoping for August 4. (rfrench, if this schedule uncertainty means you can't drive me on short notice, I can take a cab or something. August 4!!)

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Right, yours was more urgent than mine is today. My main point was that there's a big gray area and I don't know where the line gets drawn. Heck, I don't even know if there are lots of lines drawn by a variety of "authorities" who all call each other liars and crooks. :-)

[rampling.livejournal.com]

I wish I understood their criteria for determining urgency. I was very offended that they gave me my first surgery date for so far away, which I KNEW I wouldn't be able to last until. I was terrified of having to wait that long for the surgery, and I was quite correct. Of course there's the practical side of everyone else's urgency, matching it against mine and yours and all that, but I don't know how they couldn't see that I only had a week or two left before I'd totally lose it. Later, when I was in obviously greater need while lying in the hospital, they found surgery time for me. OK, I guess that's reasonable, they waited 'til they absolutely had to to move up my priority. But I wish they could have told me that such a thing was possible when they first gave me that ridiculous date -- around six weeks away, if I remember correctly! I really could have used the assurance that if I couldn't last that long, they could help me. But perhaps they didn't want me to know that, so I wouldn't give in until I'd actually hit my breaking point, and not just when I was close to it. *sigh*

I can't help but wonder who "they" are who decide these things, though I know some of "them" are HMOs who are looking to keep costs down and don't care much about pain. My pain probably didn't matter much to "them" until I got to the point of checking into the hospital early and requiring a morphine drip. OK, I'm just ranting now.... I guess I'm in a ranty mood today! ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I sympathize with the lack of information and the seeming "testing". Pain makes all of that so much worse. My cynical side wonders if the hospital became more motivated to move up your surgery date because they needed the bed.

I always want more information than I'm given, whether about scheduling or aftercare or etiology or what-have-you. Too often it seems medical providers hoard information and give it out to patients in miserly dribs and drabs. Over the years I've thought about a lot of reasons why this is, and only one theory keeps fitting my observations: they are quite simply way too busy to do anything else.

That's a little scary. If they're this busy now, how busy will they be in a few decades, when we're even better at keeping high-maintenance people alive? How busy will they be when I'm that high-maintenance patient and I really need them?

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Although the "too busy" excuse is likely to be the only one that's nearly always present, I suspect that others are sometimes present too. Especially the "I control the information so I have the power and make the decisions" and the insulting "you couldn't possibly understand". And probably even the occasional "my reasons are icky and due to HMO regulations and I don't want you to see that ugliness".

I always want more info too -- about all aspects.

I also agree that these problems portend poorly for the future! Especially *my* future, since I feel I have a high likelihood of becoming one of those older high-maintainance people -- a scary, scary thought. Made all the scarier for my one-day peek into an especially HORRIBLE nursing home. Aaaaaack!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Like you, I suspect there are other reasons too.

And like you, I feel I have a high likelihood of becoming a high-maintenance patient at some point. My family history even tells me some of the likely causes. Perhaps with luck I can stave those off long enough that something quick gets me first.