Thursday, March 29, 2007

a rant

In the last few months, Cliff's hearing aid seemed to be working less and less; it got to the point where I felt as though he may as well leave it in the drawer. 

Either it needed a tuneup, or he was losing his hearing completely.

So I called the ear, nose and throat place and told a lady the problem.

"Why don't you bring it in, and we'll clean it and check it for him," she said.

"OK, make us an appointment.  It needs to be in the morning, because Cliff goes to work at 2:30."

"Is 8:30 Thursday all right?"

"Sure, he can get up early enough for that."

"All right then," she answered sweetly.  "Now, his appointment is at 8:30, but you need to be here at 8 to fill out papers."

So this morning I got Cliff up at 6:30, about an hour earlier than usual.  The granddaughters weren't here, so I accompanied him.  We ran a little bit late, so we arrived at 8:10.  A lady was just turning on lights and unlocking the door.

We entered and told the receptionist Cliff's name.  She took his insurance card and driver's license and gave us a couple of brief forms to fill out and sign.  Filling out the papers took us all of five minutes.

Thank goodness we took the Kansas City Star along, and I had a Reader's Digest in my purse.  Because we sat.  And sat.  And sat some more.  Cliff was the first patient of the day, but he wasn't called in until 8:50 AM.

Why on earth did they want us there so far ahead of time?

I guess it was worth it, because they replaced filters and tubes in his hearing aid, and he can hear again... when he wants to.

So, forget the rant.  I'm thankful Cliff can hear once again.

*adding this note later... the reason for our wait was not because the doctor was late, since Cliff didn't see a doctor.   The young woman who unlocked the door to let us in is the one who gave his hearing aid a "tuneup".

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean.  I could count on one hand the number of times I saw a doctor at the appointed time.

So, Cliff has 'selective hearing'.  So do my kids...LOL

~Amy

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's nice he can hear again, but it's lousy there is so little respect of other folks time these days.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you got it taken care of.  I wonder why you had to wait that long though?  Oh..I know...they had to make the office coffee and have a cup first.  That's gotta be it!
Pam

Anonymous said...

The doctor probably arrived at 8:49 am. At least you got what you needed out of the visit!

I remember once going to a doctor and noticing that at least 30 people were waiting. I had specifically asked for a time when they were less busy. I went to the desk, signed in, and asked if all those people were waiting. She said yes. I said sorry, I am not waiting hours to see a doctor because you cannot schedule appropriately. She said they had an emergency. I said I had been there before a few times, and they must have daily emergencies. I walked out. At least 10 people followed me. I never went back.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

That waiting happens to us all the time. Once they wanted Ken at the eye foundation to be the first patient for surgery. Then they kept calling patients ahead of him who had come after he did. They finally got around to his surgery around lunch time. Said they always scheduled two patients first in case one didn't make it so the Dr wouldn't be sitting there waiting. Ken was there first, had to wait until they opened the doors but didn't get his surgery first. Boy was he aggravated. Helen

Anonymous said...

PS. Glad they Cliff's hearing aid working better. Helen

Anonymous said...

hurry up and wait!!!  seems to happen all the time....glad you had reading material along....and happier that Cliff can again hear....when he "wants" too.....LOL...Cliff...we call that "selective hearing" LOL...works for me...hugs...Ora

Anonymous said...

I hate that hurry up and wait stuff.

Anonymous said...

Hurry up and wait does seem to be happening more and more.  Glad Cliff can hear now.  He has no excuses-right ! 'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

So glad Cliff can hear again... and I know what you mean about that when he wants to... my hubby does the same thing.  LOL.  I do hate getting up early for doctor appointments.  You did very good!!  I would probably have had to have an elephant sit on me to wake me up to get ready to leave for work.  Part of why I work from home.  By the time I get the kids to school it's all ready almost 8am and then I can start getting me ready for life too.  
Lisa

Anonymous said...

lol...my grandparents lived in Nova Scotia.  Once when they came to visit, and Pop got out ouf the car, I hugged him told him how glad I was to see him andhe just had a dumb blank smile on his face. All of a sudden his face lit up, he reached up to his ear, fiddled with his hearing aid and said to me, "If I didn't shut offf your grandmother, I would have killed her hours ago! It is the secret to a long lasting loving marriage"  He really did love her but she tends to talk your ear off!
Becky

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Cliff can hear again "When he wants to!"  I got a good chuckle out of that one, thanks Donna.  I have no idea why these businesses think that they can schedule people in a manner that they will end up waiting long periods before they are seen or treated.  Some day in the future this kind of treatment will not be tolerated anymore, thank goodness.
Sam

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain.  I hate to wait in doc's offices.  When you wait on the doc it is understandable at times.  But that was uncalled for.  Ya'll should have been obnoxious or something so she'd get you "done" and out of her hair.  You know, poppin' and smacking gum, arguing, complaining.  LOL.
Sonya