Idiocy Rant

I'll try to make this a short one. But you know how I get. (oh hell, I don't know why I even bother with "I'll make this short." 'Cause I won't. It'll be long as all hell, and probably boring to everyone but me, but whatever.)

So. 2.5 weeks ago I injured my ankle. At the time I was treated in the ER, the doctor told me that if it wasn't better in 6-7 days, to go see my doctor because (and this is the important part: AND I QUOTE:) "It could be a hairline fracture that we missed on the X-ray."

Last night I re-injured the ankle AGAIN. Walking slowly and carefully across the baseball field. Heard/felt something go "pop" and it started to hurt more, and started swelling back up, etc. So I decided that it really was time for me to go see a doctor about it.

This morning I call the orthopaedist's office, and they can't get me in for an appointment until next Wednesday afternoon. Y'know, six days from now. So I called my *regular* doctor, to see if I could maybe get in *there* a little faster (like, oh, today?), and the earliest I can get in *there* is Monday morning. And in the conversation with the receptionist, it went a little something like this:

mk: "Is there anything at all open today? Because I'm worried that it might be healing improperly. The ER doctor said that if it wasn't better to get it checked out, because it might be a hairline fracture that they missed."
receptionist (in a snotty voice): "Did you get X-rays?"
mk: "Yes."
snotty receptionist: "Did anyone *call* you about them?"
mk: "No."
snotty receptionist: "Then there wasn't a fracture."
mk: "But the doctor said that they might have *missed* it."
snotty receptionist: "If there was a fracture, they would have seen it on the X-ray."

Um. This bothers me on so many points.

1) At what point did you, the RECEPTIONIST, get a medical degree?
2) If the ER doctor HIMSELF says that there may be a fracture that they missed, who the hell are you to contradict him?
3) What if they didn't take the X-rays properly, hmmmm? Like, I don't remember them actually X-raying the part of my ankle that was hurting (which struck me oddly at the time....they X-rayed the INSIDE of my ankle, but I don't remember them doing the OUTSIDE).
4) People don't make mistakes? Ever?
5) Did I mention that you are the RECEPTIONIST?!?!?! <== note triple interrobang
6) The ER is basically (in my opinion--correct me if I am wrong) a bandaid operation...you know, quick, sometimes temporary fixes, to get you by until you can see your regular doctor. It is not supposed to be a substitute for specialized care. And as such, sometimes you need, oh, FOLLOWUP CARE. Or there may be FURTHER COMPLICATIONS. Or an EXACERBATED injury?
7) I'm sure there are more, but at some point I need to rein it in.

In other words, don't TELL me it can't be something when you haven't looked at it. And you are A FREAKIN' RECEPTIONIST!!!! mk

p.s. Not to say that a receptionist is necessarily an idiot. This is not meant to be a put-down of the field of receptionists/secretaries/office assistants/anything I missed. I have been a receptionist, and a secretary. I recognize that there is a certain skill level required, and in a medical office, a certain familiarity with the medical environment. However. Methinks this person is just a teensy weensy bit out of her area of education to be diagnosing (or rather, eliminating possible diagnoses) over the phone when her job is to...schedule appointments. Yes?

Oh, and when I asked whether they would be able to put me on a call list if there was a cancellation today, she told me that "they don't do that." Because people would be calling all the time and asking for that. But that if I wanted to call back later and see if there had been any cancellations, I could do that.

Does this just seem wrong to anyone else?

Customer service has just continued to go downhill on a steep slope since I left the working world. And I wonder why I hate dealing with people. mk