Month: September 2012

It didn’t dawn on me until the day was half over …

TODAY IS MY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

For you long-time readers, can you freaking believe this??? It’s already been one year since I started in the healthcare field.

That just boggles my mind. And even though I’m going to leave healthcare at some point in the near future … I’m not sure I thought I’d last a whole year. The first few months were rough – REALLY ROUGH. Like I would go-home-and-cry rough. There was SO much to learn. Not only was I learning about the industry, and all the terminology and acronyms, and policies and HIPPA rules, etc., but I was scrambling to learn brand new software and terrified I was going to schedule the wrong patient with the wrong doctor (check), or a wrong test (check) or forget to put them on the Imaging schedule for a test (check) … it was nerve wracking.

It didn’t help that I had no help – AT ALL. There was virtually no training. I watched my office manager for maybe – maybe – two days before she said, “Okay, you’re on your own. Just jump in, that’s the best way to learn.”

Now granted, I’m a fast learner, but COME ON, I’m human and I was completely lost for several weeks. Slowly, I started getting the hang of it and I must say, looking back on the experience one year later, my office manager is the worst office manager on the face of the earth. She openly despises her job and she in no way ever, EVER offers to help anyone out.

It’s really quite sad, if you want the truth. She’s an alpha female (which technically, I guess you could say I am too, but I’m also a smart alpha female and I’m aggressive in more effective ways – heh) and she likes to feel like she’s in control of everything. So … she doesn’t teach anyone anything so you have no choice but to rely on her.

Meh. Whatever. She can sit on her throne and feel self-important – I could give a monkey’s butt.

So yeah, I’ve been there for one year now and it never ceases to amaze me how people refuse to take responsibility for their health. I had one lady I was trying to set physical therapy up for and she whined and fought me every step of the way. She kept complaining how she couldn’t afford it and yes, I realize it’s expensive, but this is your health we’re talking about – I’d say that’s a good investment, wouldn’t you? I’ve moved past the point where I allow people to bully me. That happened a few times when I first started, but I quickly got over that and now I know when to stick to my guns and when to compromise. I stuck to my guns with this woman and after a while, she laid her head down and mumbled, “I just want an injection.”

Yeah. I thought so.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the crux of it. People want a quick fix. They want an injection. They want a pill. They want surgery. They want the solution that requires the least amount of work from them possible. It annoys me to no end when people act this way. Or. They get upset with the doctor because he didn’t immediately suggest surgery.

First – contrary to popular belief – surgery should be the LAST option, not the first option. Our doctors put patients through physical therapy, injections and pain management programs in an effort to see if any of these conservative treatments will work. Secondly, the doctors prescribe conservative treatment because insurance companies will not pay for surgery if the patient hasn’t at least TRIED conservative treatment … and you can see why. If we all skipped conservative treatment, insurance companies would go broke paying for everyone’s surgeries.

It’s also frustrating to try and explain to patients that they are not surgical. Our doctors are neurosurgeons – if they determine they can’t help a patient, that that patient is not surgical, then we have to refer them to a pain management doctor or back to their primary care physician (PCP) because we can not help them. Patients simply do not understand, or accept, the fact that our doctors can’t help them. i know they pin all of their hopes on our specialists being able to fix them, to help them get past their pain and if surgery is ruled out, they are left feeling hopeless, scared and frustrated because now what? The quick fix is no longer an option and CRAP, they are going to have to start taking responsibility and make lifestyle changes – exercise, lose weight (which is about 85% of the problem, if you want the truth), stretching, etc. …

It’s really hard to NOT lose patience with people sometimes. Most of the time, I’m pretty sympathtic, even empathetic because my back goes out sometimes and I get it – I GET IT. But there are some patients that you can’t just get through to … and it gets so bad, our doctors refuse to see them back for whatever reasons.

And trust me when I say, you really don’t want to get to a point where your doctor “fires” you and yes, that happens more than you think.

So the next time you go to the doctor and he/she prescribes conservative treatment remember three things:

1. He/she is trying to avoid an invasive procedure.
2. Insurance companies demand conservative treatment options first
3. It’s a process of elimination and if the doctor can rule out certain possibilities, then he/she can come make a more accurate diagnosis.

And the ultimate goal is to feel better, right?

I avoid doctors at all costs – both the ones I pay to look at my various body parts and the ones I work for. It’s a game really. I’m a peon – and I’m COMPLETELY okay being a peon. I wouldn’t want to be a doctor. Doctors get a bad rap, you know, but have you ever stopped to think about how much responsibility doctors have??

The brain doctors I work for quite literally have the patient’s life in their hands. Would YOU want that much responsibility? And because having that much responsibility comes with MASSIVE stress, don’t you think they DESERVE to be paid well to endure all of that on a daily basis?

Of course you do. Don’t be a jerk and say no.

My doctors are intimidating. I don’t really talk to the doctors. In fact, any time I have a question, I avoid the doctors and go straight to the nurses.

But once in a while, when I have to leave my desk and go back to the clinic area, (where the exam rooms are), I run into a doctor. And I have no choice but to address my question to them because, well, it concerns their patient.

Most of the doctors are pretty cool. Their answers are always short and concise because they have so many things running through their very intelligent brains at any given time, but a few of the doctors are not personable at all and scare the hell out of me, quite frankly. One doctor never addresses me directly – I will be standing not five feet away from the man and he’ll answer my question THROUGH the nurse, who in turn looks at me and repeats what he just said.

It’s sort of insulting.

This tends to bother some people but me, meh. I honestly don’t care. I think it’s sort of amusing, actually. I mean sure, the man has several intelligence points on me, but he’s not any better than me as a human being, he’s just more accomplished and way more successful than I am. And he’s in his element – I’m sure if the man tried something I was good at, he wouldn’t hold a light to me, either.

(Or maybe he would).

At any rate. Doctors have Texas-sized egos. It just sort of comes with the territory. And I suppose they sort of HAVE to have this arrogant, confident attitude so patients will trust them. Who wants to turn their health over to a man who can’t complete a sentence or who acts like he’s scared of his shadow?

Exactly.

And I’m proud of our doctors – like mama bear proud. These men are amazing human beings. They comfort people. They fix people. They SAVE people.

Case in point:

This patient checked out with me today and he talked my head off. Sometimes, I get impatient with patients who feel the need to tell me their life stories because I’m thinking in the back of my head of all the things I need to get done in the next few hours, but then I take a breath and force myself to slow down and listen, really listen, to what they’re saying.

People have incredible stories. If you ever think your life is hard, you should try listening to people who have health problems. It’ll put you in your place pronto.

This patient I talked to today had a brain bleed – two bleeds, actually. And he passed out whacking himself on the head so much hard that his brain swelled. He was out for two days. One of our doctors fixed him. And he was fully functioning, and speaking clearly and it was really a miracle that he was alive.

And he was sitting in my chair telling me about all of his near-death experiences in his life.

And how he praised God for protecting him and helping him through every single incident.

It’s stories like that that make health care worth it.

And patients like that that make me feel proud to be in a position to help them.

At least, according to my husband.

SEXY, RIGHT?? (Kevin routinely “compliments” me like that – I’m used to it. Also? Tough. My hair. Deal).

I got a trim and a color this past Saturday. My hair is even shorter than it is in my profile picture you see in the right-hand column. It’s my fault, really. I allowed the stylist to talk, and talk, and talk and whack, whack and whack and by the time I really noticed how much she was taking off and on the verge of saying something, she stopped, stepped back and said, “Is that short enough?”

I nearly shouted “YES” back at her.

So yeah. It’s short. And it’s dark. Like almost black. At least, it feels that dark to me, but really, it’s pretty close to my natural hair color. Which is what I wanted, actually. The stylist used a different type of color on me this time – it’s supposed to cover gray better. *shrug* I don’t know, I can’t really tell a difference, but everyone I worked with today said something to me.

They liked it. And they thought the shortness (because I can’t really say the “length” since there isn’t a “length” to it) looked good on me. One gal thought my new “do” made me look younger.

I’LL TAKE IT!

Let’s put it this way, my hair is SO short, that the stylist had to use an electric haircutter-razor thing to shave off the tiny hairs on my neck.

I know! But you know? I like it. It’s super easy to take care of and it’ll last me a good seven, possibly eight weeks before I feel like it needs another trim. (My hair grows insanely fast. Nearly every stylist I go comments on that).

So I went to work feeling self-conscious, but left work feeling pretty good because so many people made positive comments. I have no idea if they really felt that way, but … DON’T CARE. It made my day.

I have a public service announcement:

Healthcare clinics are not emergency rooms.

I talked to a patient’s husband today, and he was concerned about the amount of pain his wife was in.

Understandable. This is especially hard for men because it’s an instinct for them to “fix” things and they want to make everything better. When they can’t, they get frustrated.

I get that. I understand that.

However. We are a clinic. Our doctors are certainly in the business of fixing people, but if it’s an emergency and requires immediate attention, that’s what an emergency room is for. We schedule patients and our doctors rely on this schedule when they see patients. They rarely, RARELY, work patients in because they are in extreme pain.

Everyone who sees our doctors are in pain – get in line.

I try not to be annoyed with people who throw an absolute hissy fit about not being able to be seen the next day, but let’s be real – we’re not an emergency room. If a patient goes to the emergency room and our doctors take a look at whatever test they do in the emergency room and determine that the patient needs to be seen in the clinic, trust me, WE MAKE IT HAPPEN.

But the norm? Is to make an appointment for people who are in equal, if not more, pain.

I had a patient ask me how she was supposed to KNOW if she needed to go to the emergency room.

No one KNOWS when to go to the emergency room, there’s no hard and fast rule, everyone is different. Every situation is different. Everyone’s pain tolerance is different. You just listen to your body and you usually know, deep down, when something is not right. If you’ve reached that deep-down part of you that knows something is wrong and you feel scared because it FEELS wrong, then for the love of God, go to the emergency room.

That’s why it’s called an emergency room – it’s an emergency. We can’t do much for you in a clinic setting, we’re not physically equipped to handle emergencies – we’re equipped to provide a setting for the patient to speak with the doctor about a standing issue and nothing more.

I can understand why doctors become de-sensitized to the whole process … because there’s just so much of it. EVERYONE is in pain. EVERYONE wants to be fixed. And though our doctors are awesome, not everyone CAN be fixed surgically. Many patients can be fixed if they are just willing to make some lifestyle changes.

But alas, society today relies too much on quick fixes – whether that’s a pill, or a surgical procedure to correct whatever is wrong or not working properly.

So please. Do not treat clinics like your personal emergency room because it’s not that we don’t want to help you, it’s because we’re not physically equipped to do so.