On the 31st of March (nineteen days ago now) I had an appointment with an otarlaryngologist (yes, ENT is easier to say/type, but I like saying/typing it out because it makes me feel smarter) about my possible sleep apnea. The doctor said his staff would call the hospital to set up a sleep study and they would call me to set the appointment. Each week I called back to ask when this was going to happen. They kept assuring me I would get a call (and that was when someone from the doctor's office would call me back). Finally today I got a call from the hospital. The wrong hospital.
See, they were going to do the sleep study at St Luke's East hospital because it's right next to his office and he knows the people there. Today, St Luke's downtown hospital called me back. Now, Wednesday when I called the doctor's office, I made sure to tell them that the doctor wanted the appointment at St Luke's East, not downtown. So, to avoid further complications (or maybe to create them) I went ahead and scheduled downtown.
The call from the downtown hospital came while I was on the road and I didn't want to have to go through all the logistics of setting an appointment while on the road, so I asked if I could call back in five minutes. I finished traveling home, called back, and was on hold for seven minutes before I could even speak to someone. Seven minutes is a long time to be on hold. If you want to try, go get a CD that you really dislike (or turn your radio to some smooth jazz station) and listen to it for seven minutes, while holding your phone to your head. And make sure you're somewhere you can take notes, ie, not comfortable to sit for seven minutes while waiting. And, to make it even more realistic, go put some food on the stove, wait until you can smell it cooking, and try said experiement. Not too fun.
But after all is said and done, I have an appointment for a sleep study on April 30th, only a month after my initial appointment. I just hope they don't watch me while I sleep. Talk about uncomfortable.
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4 comments:
Those doctors will be standing by your bedside while you sleep with all of these wires connecting you to a huge machine that prints out reports that look like receipts, and they (the doctors) will stand there with their clipboards and frowns on their faces all the while saying, "Hmmm...interesting" and making notations on their forms. Is that a run on or what? It's too late to edit. I'm just trying really hard to freak you out. Did it work?
As long as they don't ask me about my mother, we're fine.
I've been told I sometimes talk in my sleep. I don't want to end up on YouTube like that guy in the Phillipines.
Sometimes you do talk in your sleep. Remember the time you said "Suzzanne"? They video you and watch you that way. No one is in the room, but the video cameras red light gets annoying.
Ha! I just had a vision of Rhia in a white doctor's coat super-geeky glasses, and a clipboard taking notes and saying, "Hmmm . . . interesting."
:D
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