I want to complain about something small, but big to me.
I have a department from the oncologists group that calls me once a year. It is the pharmacy department. They call me to see if I am having any problems with my meds, and my general welfare. I resent these calls mightily. Generally when they call the call is filtered by Verizon and also my Google Voice account as spam and as such goes directly to the voice mail. If I do not respond to their calls they will eventually call the oncologist office and “tell on me”.
I have spent some time this morning thinking about why I am so angry about these calls because I do not want to take out any anger on the person stuck with the job of calling me.
I spend a very large percentage of my time dealing with my disease.
I see my oncologist every threee months.
I see the cardiologist office every three months
I see the radiologist every three months
I see my family doctor every three to six months
I see a nurse for a shot every four weeks.
I go to laboratory every three weeks for blood work
I see a nurse for chemo every three weeks.
I see my family doctor every three to six months
Of these eight offices six of them ask me the same questions. How am I feeling, how am I reacting to the medicine, is anything new happening?
In my home, I exercise almost every day to keep my heart from deteriorating from the medicines I take. I take multiple medicines to help me live with the side effects of the medicines I take. I take supplements to give me what I need to bounce back from the medicines I take. I think about every bite of food I eat and how it will help or hinder the medicines and disease.
I have given up so many things for this cancer.
Having one more person call me, in my home, without anyone ever asking me if it was what I wanted, is intrusive. I do not care if it only takes a couple of minutes, those are my minutes. MINE. They could be the nicest person in the world, and they usually are, but that doesn’t mean they have a right to my time.
Susan Joos
February 15, 2024 at 6:27 pmIf you think about it, there’s just so much pulling at a person that adds up to a lot of time waste out there already. Every online purchase wants to bug you with a survey. Every in-person purchase also has its own irritations; the dance over getting a credit card EVERY TIME, where it’s not enough to say no once. Then there’s questions on the ubiquitous screens about customer service, receipts, email, etc.
Since I have reached the age of Medicare, our doctor’s office treats us to the same sort of monitoring over the phone every month. I can be pretty short with some of the people that call. The thing is, I feel that it is done only for the compensation from Medicare, not for any real need on my part or actual care on their part. Often the person on the other end reads tonelessly through the questions as quickly as they can, having to complete their quota. The ostensible reason for the calls is to “catch any problems early” but seriously, it seems like such a waste of time. Not sure any of that information even goes anywhere.
I would be far less gracious than you are. It feels like being besieged, all the time, and I would be livid at being “tattled on”.
Tracy
February 15, 2024 at 7:42 pmOh no! Every month‽I cannot with that.
itsmemb
February 15, 2024 at 9:05 pmI am at appts far less than you but I am so sick of it all. I don’t know how you do it.
The phone calls would make me so angry. After all the time traveling to appts, waiting at appts, doing the actual appt and then traveling back for multiple doctors and then to have to deal with all those calls.
It must be so tiring.
Tracy
February 16, 2024 at 12:58 amAnd it makes me feel mean and petty. They are so nice and it seems like a few minutes of my time should not bother me. I hate feeling like that.
itsmemb
February 16, 2024 at 3:57 pmHonesty you sound really tired. It is so much work staying healthy and alive. I feel like you need a vacation or something really fun in your life.
Tracy
February 16, 2024 at 10:42 pm😍