Uh-oh!
“Why did Typist dress like a ninja yesterday?” Cal asked.
Thalia sat up straight. “I picked her outfit. No buckles or zippers allowed — so we wore black yoga pants with a black turtleneck… classic style.”
Urania slouched in her chair.
“Get over it Nia! We had directions from three people… two nurses told us not to eat 4 hours before our 1:45 CT. Then there was a phone message that said to be there at 10:00 and… don’t eat four hours before.” Tal tickled Nia’s shoulder with a touch as light as a butterfly. “So we ate breakfast at 7:30. I know you thought we should have investigated the phone message, and we did verify the times on My Chart, but we didn’t call back… all we had was the generic hospital number and no name.”
“The desk person sure caught us off guard when she handed us bottles of dye at 10:00.” Cal’s eyes were wide. “Typist questioned… I thought we weren’t supposed to drink this until later? We’re just here for the bone scan injection at 10:00? I ate breakfast at 7:30.”
“Curly black haired receptionist huffed,” Tal continued. “And said to Typist, ‘I told you yesterday!’”
“Typist said, ‘I didn’t talk to you yesterday.’”
“Pressing… the scowler asked, ‘Don’t you listen to your messages?’”
“And Typist said she did, but it was not clear in the message — four hours from when? So she trusted what the nurses and her My Chart said.”
A word from Typist:
I was sent back to a room with a kind tech while the desk person sorted out what to do with her rule breaking patient.
After the needle and tube went in, I thanked him and said he was a pro. I hardly felt a thing.
Despite his mask, I could tell he was smiling. “It doesn’t have to hurt.”
“I’m a little worried about the woman I’ve upset at the desk,” I said.
“Don’t,” he replied.
By the time I came back to the waiting room, phone calls had been placed and answered. All was well and peace was restored. As I sat drinking my 32 ounces of dye, I thought about my feelings. Typist and Nia hate doing things wrong and upsetting people. I thought about the receptionist’s feelings. She’d felt her phone message was clear, and that she’d done her due diligence.
I’m watching myself as if I am in a movie. It helps me to observe what’s happening — to respond instead of react. We’re all doing our best.
What a wonderful illustration of our collective humanity… and imperfection. I had a similar experience last fall in preparation for my back surgery. Two procedures were scheduled back to back. I heard the first doctor mention using contrast dye, and my instructions for the second procedure had also mentioned dye. I intuited that I should mention the dye that would accompany the MRI that came next. The first doctor suggested that his portion would have to be rescheduled as the MRI should have been done first. He instructed his support staff to call the folks that would perform the MRI. In the end a resolution was found that allowed both procedures to occur.
Your description suggests something thoughtful allowed your imaging to occur somewhat as planned. That folks might err in their doings is not the point. That they take responsibility and seek a solution is what matters.
Well navigated. Now I hope your week end involves no needles, dye, or navigating contradictory instructions. Be.
A question mark walks into a bar? 😁
I have a fragment of a quote, but it was something about a true professional “takes everything seriously, but nothing personally”.