Inconvenience or Crisis?
Sorry about not posting last night. I was at the hospital until 1p (more about that in a minute) and then I went to work. The end result was that I was particularly tired when I got home. I ate dinner and went to bed. <sigh> I’m becoming such a lightweight! (I know! I know! Radiation and chemotherapy….blah…blah…blah! I have work to do, I don’t have time to be afflicted by treatment (side) effects.
So, my oncologist had the nerve to take a vacation this week (what was he thinking?)! As a result, my ‘normal’ schedule at the hospital changed a little. The idea (as I understood it) was that I would have my radiation, then get my labs, have my chemo pump attached and then I’d have an appointment with the nurse practitioner today. Apparently, the person who was scheduling my appointments, though: (a) forgot to order the labs and (b) left my ‘chair time’ to get my chemo pump as if I had an appointment with the oncologist. Well, someone was able to call in an order for some basic labs (CBC and DIFF) and then I sat and waited….and waited…and waited.
You see, I get done with radiation around 8:15a. After a short wait, I went for my labs and was done around 9:15a. I then took a seat and waited for 2 1/2 hours until I was taken back to ‘C’ bay to have my pump attached. Of course, once I got there, I had to wait some more for the pharmacy. As I said, a lot of waiting. Today was a challenge, too. The person who thought it was okay NOT to order labs yesterday, put in the order today, so I got to get stuck AGAIN!
As I have mentioned previously, a wise friend told me long ago (when I was over-reacting to some life issue) that it is helpful to consider whether something that is bothering me is an inconvenience or a crisis. An inconvenience maybe upsetting, but it’s really only an annoyance. A crisis is a real emergent problem, the results of which could potentially be life altering. I can honestly say that, right now, my cancer is an inconvenience — a HUGE inconvenience to be sure, but I’m not currently in a state of crisis. I have a great support system and doctors that are working to help me get better. At some point, my health may more to crisis, but it’s not there yet.
When you find yourself obsessing over some life event, take a moment to consider whether yours is a crisis or an inconvenience. I have found doing so has been really helpful in dealing with things that were upsetting me. Consider this my paying it forward! 
Merle
Sorry for your troubles. I have a tounge in cheek suggestion.
Sounds like they could use a database system where the patient could see whether or not the proper orders have been placed (a secure system – password protected). Then the patient could check the evening before and send an alert if something is missing. This seems very menu driven and you should be able to see the treatment menu and confirmations days before hand. Shoot – the system should check itself. Amazon can do it with orders placed. So can UPS, Home Depot and even the post office. Why not a cancer treatment facility?
How about a self check out system like at Kroger? The Doctor picks from his menu, gives you the print out with the bar codes and before you leave you scan the treatment schedule and pay your deductible with a self serve credit card machine. Then you could fill out a survey for your chance to win $500 in a drawing of survey participants, – of course you should have the option of declining e-mails from the various advertizers sponsoring the service. What a deal.
Could this be a project for the CDC? Want help writing a proposal?
The biggest problem with trying to make an idiot proof system is that idiots can be sooooo inventive.