11 Calls in 3 Hours Don’t Ever Give Up.

I needed a very important medical appointment. A PA, a physician assistant, not my normal provider, but the one available on short notice, said I have a certain condition that she needed a second opinion on because she wasn’t positive about the diagnosis and didn’t know how to treat it. She said, “I’m going to put in a referral for an ultrasound and an MRI, and you need to see another provider from another clinic for a second opinion.” Later that same day, the PA’s technician calls me and tells me the PA ordered another ultrasound and wanted me to get my blood drawn tomorrow and again in two weeks from now. I asked the technician to have the PA call me. With all these appointments, I must be dying, right?

I had my blood drawn the next morning. The PA received the results from my blood test, and it revealed a problem I didn’t even go to her for.  Everything seemed like such an emergency the way the PA wanted test after test. That made me very scared. I didn’t understand what was going on and really needed the PA to call me. But she did not. I got into an argument with the technician because I wanted to talk to the PA. I was pretty rude.  In the meantime, Greg kept telling me, “Be nice. Be nice.”  I said, “I HAVE NO MORE NICE LEFT IN ME!” I did end up calling later and leaving an apology on the answering machine.

OK, third day after my appointment. I have had my blood tested. The fourth day, I received another call from the technician, NOT the PA like I asked, and was told to see my nephrologist, or kidney doctor and go off a specific medicine because it was harming my kidneys. A few days later, I saw Nurse Practitioner for a second opinion. She said, “I have no idea what is going on. You need to see a urologist.” 

Fifth day, Friday now, a nurse calls me and says, “I promise you we are going to figure this out and I will answer all your questions.” Deep breath. Relief!

My insurance company, Tricare, had a list of providers they chose for me to see and put the names of the providers on the referrals. The ultrasounds could take care of on the Air Force base near us since my husband is retired Air Force. I called to schedule the two ultrasounds, and they could not get me an appointment until the last day of July. It was only the beginning of June. The urology clinic they chose could not get me in until mid-September. I already had a nephrology appointment prescheduled for two weeks out. And the MRI, I scheduled where I was getting my ultrasounds because they could get me in in just a few days.

I could NOT wait for any of my conditions to get worse before I could be seen. I was so upset waiting, and my condition was getting worse. About a week had passed and I was sitting on the couch thinking about all I was going through, I decided to do for myself what I always recommend to others. And that is, to advocate for myself.

I began calling different clinics to see who had the shortest wait for appointments. Every time I found a sooner one, I needed to call Tricare and have them write up a new referral so I could be seen by the new provider, not the one they had originally assigned to me.

It took 11 phone calls and three hours, but I did it!

I was frustrated having had to wait for automated recordings over and over before being able to get where I needed. Sometimes I would forget what number I was told to press and had to begin again. I was disconnected, forgotten about, on hold for what felt like forever. But I got every appointment scheduled within the next two weeks. I was so proud of myself and so tired. My patience was at the end of my rope, and I couldn’t communicate any further. I took a two-hour nap. But I DID IT!

Results:

It turns out the thing I was originally seen for does not need any treatment at this time, and my 3^rd stage kidney disease is getting worse, likely due to one of the medications I am on.

My kidney doctor will take me off one medicine at a time that can affect my kidneys until we figure out which one is hurting them.

Never EVER give up.

If you would like to learn more about brain injuries and our journey, please read my brain injury educational book that is on the list of resources for the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) and the Brain Injury Association of Colorado (BIAC), titled,

A Miracle a Day, One Day at a Time: Hope After Traumatic Brain Injury

It is always in stock at Bookbaby Bookshop.