Doctor's Office Difficulties

Yesterday I took Hannah to a pediatric psychiatrist in Missouri. His office staff requested that I arrive at 9:30 for my 10:00 appointment to allow time to fill out paperwork and bring my picture I.D., Hannah's birth certificate, Hannah's social security card, my social security card, divorce papers (only if I was divorced, which I'm not) and a blood sample to prove my identity. OK, not the blood sample.

I awoke yesterday irritable and achy, got around slowly--even more slowly than usual, searched for the abovementioned paperwork and found it exactly where it belonged after fifteen minutes of searching, then left ten minutes later than intended. Considering my morning, I thought I was doing OK.

The psychiatrist was located in the 500 block of 34th street. I expected to drive down 32nd, a major street, then turn south somewhere in the 500 block to hit 34th street. BUZZZZZ!!! Wrong answer. I wasted ten minutes trying to figure out how to get to 34th street, which caused me to arrive "late" for my 10:00 appointment by getting there at 9:45. Those who know and love me know that's pretty da** good for me.

Hannah exited the Tahoe without argument in spite of the fact that I had to stop her movie. Thank God for small favors. Being a veteran mom, I brought a few books and Hannah's leapster, which I carried in my left hand, balanced myself with my cane in my right hand, and basically corralled Hannah through the entryway. After seating Hannah in the waiting room at 9:50, I approached the receptionist. Once she opened her glass partition I said, "I'm Hannah's mom."

The receptionist looked at me like I had offered her anthrax and replied, "You were supposed to be here at 9:30 to fill out paperwork."

"I know. I'm sorry. I had a little trouble finding you. Here's the stuff you requested."

Again with the anthrax look, "It takes thirty minutes to fill out the paperwork. We may need to reschedule you."

"You've got to be kidding me. I drove here from Kansas. Could I fill it out after the appointment? Or maybe I could fill it out real fast?"

"I'll check with the doctor," she said curtly then closed her little glass partition on me.

Wait, wait, wait. Hurry up and wait. The receptionist returned, opened her glass window and said, "The doctor will see you, but he may have to cut your appointment short." It was all I could do not to reach through and throttle her, but I exercised supreme self-control, smiled a pursed smile and took the paperwork she offered me. All four pages of it.

After approximately seven minutes I returned the completed paperwork to her. The time: 10:00. I sat back down with Hannah and waited some more. At 10:05 I approached the glass window. When another receptionist asked if she could help me, I said, "Do you have more paperwork for me? I was of the understanding that it would require thirty minutes to complete."

"No, it is a little tedious to complete, though." Tedious. Her actual word. It dawned on me: the paperwork didn't require thirty minutes from the patient; it required thirty minutes of the staff! They expected me to bring a child with behavioral issues to their office, fill out their paperwork and wait/entertain the child while they processed the paperwork! Could they not mail me the *&! paperwork in advance?

I finally saw the doctor at 10:20 for my 10:00 appointment.

Though his staff sucked (sorry mom, "sucked" really says it all), the doctor was excellent. I never felt rushed. He showed me a poster of the human brain as well as one of those three-dimensional plastic brains to explain the location of Hannah's Dandy-Walker malformation in relation to the emotional center of the brain. When I explained my reluctance to medicate Hannah, he concurred and said he thinks we are doing exactly what we should be doing with the weighted vest, the PT, the OT, the speech therapy and the special school. He would keep her file open should things change. I nearly cried. I didn't realize how badly I needed/wanted to hear an outside party tell me I was doing a good job.

I'm considering lightly editing this post and sending it to the doctor, not to his office. We'll see.

The day ended on a lighter note. The temperature neared eighty degrees with plenty of sunshine. LOVE sunshine! I met a previous homeschool mom for lunch, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I ended my day in the metropolis by washing the Tahoe and driving with the window rolled down.

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!