Wednesday, December 2, 2009

seeking more input...

Thanks for your suggestions yesterday. Much of that is the same as what I do. The hard thing is that there is usually an 8-9 hour work day to get through before I can do any of those things!!! I guess it's a one-foot-in-front-of-the-other time for me right now.

I'm interested in hearing your take on our current situation around our next step in our process. III is pissed off. I'm frustrated and nervous, but feel like it just goes with the territory.

Here's the run down:

8/09- positive beta after IVF#2 (though ICSI #1)
9/09- m/c at 8w
11/9/09- 3 day bloodwork + recurrent m/c bloodwork (though I've only had one)
11/11/09- sonohystogram: all clear
11/24/09- Attend appt with Dr. Z who hands us copies of our blood work results, which show normal for me and an inverted chromosome 2 for III. Tells us that we have to see a genetic specialist before we can proceed. Hands us the card for the specialist, who is in a different office, though right around the corner.
11/25/09- 10:15am- call specialist, am told I need to talk to the dr's secretary, C, who is on the phone and she'll call me back. 1:10pm- still haven't gotten a call and am leaving to go out of town for the holiday, so I call again. C's on the phone again, so the person I speak to takes a basic history and says I'll get a call back. 2:15pm- C calls to tell me they need all of the bloodwork results faxed to then from my RE, and then the dr has to look at it to "see if she can help" us and then C will call me to set up an appointment. 2:20pm- I call Dr. Z's nurse, who tells me she'll immediately print it out and send it to them.
11/26-29/09- Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone is closed.
11/30/09- I call and miraculously get to talk directly to C. I ask if they received my paperwork. She says "What's your name again... um, I think we did... um... yeah, I'm pretty sure we did. Yes, I gave it to Dr. N. She'll look it over and then I'll be calling you to set up an appointment."
12/1/09- no call. Pissed off III.
12/2/09- no call. Frustrated me.

What do you think? Is this reasonable? Could Dr. Z's office have done things differently? (<---III's opinion=yes) What should I expect from Dr. N's office? How long should this take-how long should I wait? When should I call again? This is the first time III has really reacted to any situation we've encountered, which is interesting. I'm definitely in a blue place, which lowers my expectations and hope. I'm just trying to get some perspective... lay it on me!

5 comments:

nixy said...

I think that you are right to be frustrated, but these things can take time. The doctor needs to have time to review your chart and think about everything before he/she calls you back. They also see patients all day long, so this usually doesn't happen until the end of the day.

This person isn't an RE who is expected to be on call 365 days a year, so they won't function that same way. I would wait one more day and then call.

You could have C just set up an appointment for you, regardless so that you'll have a spot. Then, you can cancel it if the doctor doesn't think they can help you.

Heather said...

Sorry you are having a rough time. The fog is just starting to lift for me, so I can relate to how hard it is to sometimes put one foot in front of the other. This is the first week in several that I haven't counted down the minutes until I could go home.

Honestly, I have found that VERY few people in this whole IF process do what they tell me they are going to do, so I find myself in a constant pissed-off state when I'm waiting for someone else to do their freaking job. There is an amazing amount of incompetence out there.

Yes, I think Dr. Z's office could have done better. They should have just made an appointment for you when you called last week, which I'm sure would be far enough in the future for you to have your results faxed to them and for them to review them. They shouldn't have told you to call back and "see if they could help you" either. WTF?! I'm frustrated on your behalf. I hope you get a call today to set up the actual appointment.

sunflowerchilde said...

Maybe I am impatient and annoying, but I would call again. I probably drive my clinic nuts, but when I am expecting them to do something, I feel like I am paying them good money to get it taken care of quickly. On the other hand, I generally don't call them and bother them over every little thing - I save it for the really big things (like telling me they'd call me with my beta # around lunchtime and then me finally calling at 4:30). Also, I work in a job where I sometimes have to deal with people calling and asking for things, and even though the ones who nag can get annoying, I definitely move their stuff faster just to get them out of my hair.

So, I say it doesn't hurt to call and ask how things are coming along.

Anonymous said...

I would be frustrated too. The fact that all this was happening around Thanksgiving makes it much harder, scheduling-wise. The thing is, you know how it is around a holiday. I'm sure the people you're trying to pin down aren't immune to the whole idea of being useless at work for a full day before a major holiday (and probably the day after too.)

I will say that T and I had our meeting with the genetic counselor 10 days after we got our diagnosis. I can't remember if I made the appointment or if it was made for us, but I thought it was really quick.

Hope they call you soon. If they don't, I agree that you could probably give them a call tomorrow.

-K

Anonymous said...

I would be pissed and I would keep callig and keep calling. Similar thing happened, I don't care if I piss someone off or look stupid. It's so frustraing, I don't want to be in "stand still" mode and not get results or know what is going on. I'm not very patient though.