Wednesday, March 09, 2011

How to schedule tests

In just 284 easy steps.


  • Go to physician and receive referral for specialist
  • Make appointment for specialist
  • Call specialist on the way to find out street number because you cannot find office
  • Realize that "General Practice" is actually the sign for the neurologist office...
  • Wait for 90 minutes to see the doctor that asked you to arrive 30 minutes before your appt so she would have "lots of tme to spend with you"... and even scheduled you into the end of her lunch hour
  • Have meeting with neuro and receive scripts for MRI and EEG
  • Call local hospital for EEG and be told that you need additional documentation on the script
  • Call children's hospital for MRI and be told that we need additional documentation (different) on that script also
  • Call neurology office and request new scripts
  • Have the entire family get sick so you can't pick them up for 10 days
  • Drive to neuro to pick up scripts
  • Leave for a wedding so you can't call the hospitals again for 7 days
  • Call children's hospital for both tests (having decided that's probably a better option)
  • Have scheduling person tell you there's more info needed for the EEG
  • Have scheduling person tell you there's more info needed for the MRI
  • Call back neuro's office
  • Give neuro's office information from hospital and request that it be taken care of
  • Get call back from neuro's office with all info
  • Call hospital back a third time to schedule tests
  • First available date for EEG: April 7th while we are inpatient for Wesley's hip surgery. No can do.
  • Second available date for EEG: April 11th when it's possible we'll still be inpatient.  No can do.
  • Third available date for EEG: April 14th when we have 3 cardiology appointments.  No can do.
  • Fourth available date for EEG: April 15th when we CAN do it.
  • Then learn that the Sleep Deprived EEG that was ordered will be done at 9am.  Um..?? SLEEP DEPRIVED?  I think I'm the only one sleep deprived at 9am..
  • Schedule MRI for first available in early May.  Wow.
  • Now wait for office to call in to try to reschedule MRI for within 6 weeks of the request, because that's kind of crazy to wait 8 before being seen.
  • Then realize that this has taken up at least 10 hours of crazyness in order to what should be a simple phone call after a visit with a calendar in front of me.
  • And try not to consider that this is the first of many tests to come...
  • Then collect the tissues from your whining and put aside the selfish thoughts of how it affects me 
  • And last, eventually... hopefully... have the two procedures and find out (quite literally, in a way) what is going on in that little brain of Wesley's :)

6 comments:

  1. WOW!I thought appointments were complicated here!Our docs dont do scripts for testinf like MRI and stuff.The just schedule it to be done on their computers and then they call us and tell us when it is and what needs to be done.The wait times are like yours..Get their early just to set and wait.

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  2. So sad, but so so true!! Perseverance.......

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  3. Wow - that sounds like our Drs office that I am currently filling out medical release forms so we can move to another practice. You'd think they'd understand that mommies are busy!!

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  4. Only the love of a parent...

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  5. Sleep deprived EEG means that mom and child get to stay up the night before the EEG. So you will be more sleep deprived than usual. Children are more likely to have seizures when they are stressed, which sleep deprivation does to them.

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  6. I hear you ( only I only have 4 children!) We have to drive 2 hours away for all of our specialty visits and we usually wait 2 hours PAST our appointment to get seen...not EVEN kidding. (sigh) It took us 3 months to get an appointment with neurology. Ridiculous!
    Oh well....just wanted to say, I hear ya!
    oh and I HATE puke too. Really!

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