Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Letting off some steam!

I was set to write a post today about the two male pets in my house--George and Marco. They both misbehave so often that I sometimes mix up their names when I'm yelling at them. It's probably a funny sight--me calling a bird by the dog's name and vice versa like a frustrated mother whose kids have pushed her to the edge! Ginger, of course, is the perfect dog and never does bad stuff but the boys in the house are troublesome. Ah well. I wonder what people without pets do for entertainment? There's never a dull moment around here!

Instead, I'm finding myself still stewing in irritation from the work day. It was 50 shades of chaos in the office and by 9:30am I was ready to strangle some of my coworkers. It was the same old thing: too much stuff going on, too many people needing too many things at once, phones ringing off the hook and parents cursing at whoever happened to answer the phone (me), half of the administrators and one of the guidance counselors out sick, and me being by myself handling everything because the two or three people who could've pitched in to help had either disappeared entirely, or were sequestered in their (private) offices with the doors shut. I was so damn mad.

I'm going to have to have a sit down with the principal in the very near future. I've had enough.

I'm also irritated as hell at some of the medical care my husband has been getting recently. He finally saw his doctor friend, a prestigious pulmonary specialist who now sits on the board of the hospital, and he immediately questioned the diagnoses and treatment Gregg's been getting. The good news (and I am grateful for this) is that it's looking less and less likely that he has a blood clot on his kidney and the testing they've done so far has concluded that his heart is fine. The problem is that there's some sort of obstruction in the kidney and they have to get to the bottom of it still. And our doctor friend was very upset when he found out that our family doctor and the kidney specialist she sent us to failed to contact Gregg's oncologist right away. When a patient has a history of stage 3 cancer, the oncologist should be notified immediately of any new health concerns, particularly a kidney blockage. Gregg's been wasting time and taking medication he doesn't need, as well as having lots of expensive and uncomfortable tests run that were probably not necessary. And to top it all off, no one thought to share his information with his oncologist! Unbelievable. And the nurse at our family doctor's office had the nerve to get defensive when Gregg told her that he needed to make an appointment to discuss these new findings! She's probably afraid that they'll be in trouble with our friend since he has so much power and influence at the hospital. And what about people who don't have a great doctor friend looking out for them? What happens to them? I'll tell you what--substandard care. It's despicable and it just burns me up. Not normal "everyone is human" mistakes, but mistakes that come from carelessness. Medical people need to be held to a higher standard.

But anyway, enough with all that. It felt good to type it all out, but I'm not going to let the rest of the evening be ruined. I'm home now, the sun is shining, and the screened porch (and a glass or three of wine) await. Maybe Marco won't screech at ear splitting levels (which he did yesterday when we had him out on the porch) and George won't bark like a crazy dog if the neighbors walk by with their little anklebiter dog on a leash (which also happened yesterday).

Oops...too late. She just walked past, and of course George barked like a hellhound. I went out back and yelled at him to stop. Hey, at least I didn't call him Marco this time!



17 comments:

  1. hee hee hee! enjoy the porch and the wine and screw the rest of the world! I am sorry gregg has had to go thru medical hell.

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  2. Work always has it’s good days and bad days. As long as you have more good than bad, you are doing Ok. When it goes the other way, you have to find a solution.

    Greg is very fortunate that he knows a good, important doctor. Medical mistakes happen too often.

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  3. I so relate to the medical miscommunication. It's a damn shame that in this country the patient is the only person really in charge of his own care. And I do hope you take your very legitimate grievances to the principal.

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  4. I used to have days like that; luckily no more! Your time will come, when you can relax and watch all the others running around; the waiting is the bad bit.

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  5. And then there is tomorrow, have a fourth glass love. After your day you need it. Shut up Marco, lay down George!!!

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  6. Well...I hope that you had at least 3 glasses of the wine! Does Marco's screeching annoy the neighbour from hell as much as the dogs barking? I hope that you don't find yourself giving up your " perfect" job for reasons of your sanity...sounds like they are taking advantage of your good nature and hard work!
    Sending good wishes for Gregg's health getting sorted out.

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    1. I don't think the neighbors can actually hear Marco. As for George, he only barks excessively when another dog walks by our house--and to avoid trouble with the Crazy Neighbor I always shush him immediately and make him come inside.

      The two or three coworkers who take advantage will hide away while things are hectic, then emerge from their offices to congregate and gossip as soon as things calm down. It's rude and thoughtless, but I know it's not meant personally.

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  7. SO glad you’re got that friend. What an unacceptable situation. I hope you can get some answers and GOOD news now. Jerry calls our cats, Dudo and Moose (Mussy) by the wrong names and refers to them incorrectly all the time. I’ve begun to refer to them as Doosy ... and Moodo.

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  8. I called one of my cats "Maxie" last night which was the name of a cat we had who died about ten years ago. And with my grandchildren I just go down the list like I did with my kids. Like I DO with my kids.
    I would be enraged at those doctors. Thank heavens you have your doctor friend. I hope this all gets figured out sooner rather than later.
    As to your job- please do have that talk with your principal. That's ridiculous.

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  9. Please don't say you are going to quit your school job. It's sooooo much better than the job you had at the mall. There just needs to be a clear plan of action when there are staffing issues or times of heavy demand at the frontline. It shouldn't just be random. Your principal sounds like a good guy and hopefully he will engineer a better way forward even though good guys are not always effective guys.

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    1. I would never quit this job! I still love it despite a couple of thoughtless people. I was just reeeeeallly irritated yesterday. Today has been much better.

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  10. Thank goodness your doctor friend is looking out for Gregg now, that sounds outrageous that the other doctors did not notify the oncologist. I hope today is a peaceful one for you at work and that Marco and George simmer down.

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  11. I'm continually shocked by the quality of health care in the U.S.

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  12. Glass you were able to write this we all need to let off some steam ! I scream in the shower.
    So happy you have a wonderful screened porch with wine !

    cheers, parsnip

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  13. I'd be furious too about the seemingly lack of concern in regard to Greg's treatment. Cancer survivors are a special group. They deserve better than a frivolous diagnosis.

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  15. Oh, that is so frustrating about your husband and his care. Sometimes doctors have a terrible time communicating with each other, never mind with patients.

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