I made an appt. with a new doctor recently. My old one closed down a while back. The first appointment went smoothly, she ordered a few xrays and blood work, an appt. with a specialist, and a return appt. a month later to discuss it all. Here's what happened:
1. I first scheduled the specialist appt. They said on Monday, can you make it here Thursday morning? I said yes, they said I was all set, first thing Tues. morning I get a call saying I was supposed to be there. Had to reschedule for 3 weeks later.
2. I got Xrays done. It was to see if I have rheumatoid arthritis in my right thumb. Everyday tasks are becoming difficult and my bottom knuckle is double the size it should be with more "bones" than it should have. I get the results back from the dr's assistant and she says, "Good news. It's not broken. Keep taking your medication." I explained I didn't do xrays to check for breaks and I have no medication. She just told me to wait a month to discuss it with my doctor.
3. The lab blood work was set up in the computer at the original appt. They'd said just show up and it'll be in the computer so we'll print out paperwork then and you'll be all set. I show up on the right day and I'm not in the computer. I had to wait an hour just for the doctor in the next room to say, "yes, do it."
4. I get to the specialist. The appt. was made just to talk about what tests may or may not be necessary, what they involve, and how soon to do them. The doctor there said nothing to worry about immediately, I could wait a few months if I wasn't ready. Then I get home and the pharmacy's going crazy because I didn't pick up my prescription and they want to know why I'm not already scheduled for the procedure.
5. The day I'm supposed to return to my original doctor, the lab calls and says they need me to redo the test. It's labeled as "lab error" in the computer. No explanation - just that I need to have blood drawn again. When I told her I was ordered to fast 12 hours or more first, she said it didn't matter, I could still do it today w/o a problem regardless if I ate or not.
This is state-funded health care. I pay my monthly amount, but this is what Canada goes through? No thanks! I'll take a zero! If we had more money to afford a better doctor, I'd at least like that option. Not forced into a system like this.
