Not My Doctor From Now On

All right, as I mentioned, I have a story about why one of the doctors I chose after moving down here is now (already) off my list.

One of the umpty-seven kinds of doctors I needed to line up after I moved was a gynecologist. I'm on the Depo shot, which is given every three months, so I really wanted an office close by, and it turned out that I had one, count them one, to choose from (on my insurance, anyway). Here was an unexpected feature of moving to an area that is demographically older: not as much call for the gynecologists, apparently. I wasn't thrilled with the practice, for two reasons: one, it's a single-doctor practice, and after having a few gynecologists retire on me in the last decade, I'd rather avoid that happening again soon, and two, this doctor also runs a diet center out of the office, which (two-A) I worried meant even more pressure than usual to lose weight, and (two-B) sounded a little twinkle-ding-dong to me. But in the interests of convenience, I decided to give them a try.

As I mentioned back in June, I asked and they were willing to give me the next shot I was due for, in July, before giving me a full exam (since I wasn't due for my annual until a few months later), so that was good. I was disconcerted to show up on the day we had made the appointment for and be told I wasn't on the schedule, but in fact they did get the shot done, so no big deal, right?

{ominous foreshadowing}

When I had an appointment with my new PCP in September, she mentioned that she had heard he was moving his office farther away, which I wasn't happy to hear about. (She also said she was willing to give me the shot at her office, but it turned out that she meant they would administer it, not that she would prescribe it, and I still don't understand why another doctor would prescribe it to me only to take it to another doctor's office to be given). I called the gynecologist's office later, and the receptionist-person, K, told me that the doctor was looking into moving, but that it wasn't a done deal yet.

Then:

• On 10/10, I got a call from an unknown number, so I didn't answer it. The message revealed that it was K from the doctor's office, telling me that we would have to reschedule my 10/23 appointment after 10/15 because they were moving their office and wouldn't be available then. I was confused (remember I was in week one of that cold), so I called her back, and it turned out that she couldn't get into the scheduling software that week to reschedule it. I guess she thought that telling me I would have to call the next week to reschedule, instead of just calling me the next week to reschedule, was helpful in some way. 
• On 10/17 I called, and after way more discussion than I needed ('we can do it whenever you need it' and 'that's a bad time for us' don't really go together; also, I don't care about the new counter tops you're getting done, or any other workers doing whatever to the new space), we set the appointment for Tuesday, 11/6; I'm quite certain of the date, because she offered me Monday, but I had a colonoscopy scheduled, so we went with Tuesday instead. She said that she would have the prescription called in so that I could get the shot to bring to the appointment.
• On 10/22, she called me, sounding confused, to ask if I had an appointment scheduled for 10/23? I said well, I did, but we rescheduled it for 11/6. She sounded very relieved: oh good, we're set for 11/6 then, that's good, and what about the shot? I said that she had told me she would get it called in, and she said right, right, the pharmacy should have it then ... but she didn't sound sure. I said that I had to go to the pharmacy for something else anyway, so I would check and let her know if they didn't have it; otherwise, we'd be good to go. She said fine, and when I went to the pharmacy, they did have it, so I thought that was it.
• {more ominous foreshadowing}
• On 11/6, I took time off from work and drove to the new office (now a half-hour drive instead of ten minutes away), only to find the door locked and no one there.
• I called the office number, and could hear it ringing inside. The message gave the info for the new location (and there were handwritten signs, too), so I left a terse message about the situation.
• The appointment was at 10; I waited until 10:15, thinking that perhaps I would get a call from someone tied up in traffic but on their way, then left when nothing came.
• On the way home, I stopped in at the PCP's office, and they gave me a nurse's appointment for the following day, so I did get the shot, finally.
• After I got home, I looked at the website to see if there was any useful information, and no, in fact it still listed the old address, nothing about the move, and still with the formerly appropriate information about how convenient they are, you don't have to go all the way into the big city....hmmm.
• After hearing nothing the rest of the day or most of the next day, on Wednesday evening, I got a very apologetic message from the nurse, saying my appointment had been in the system for Thursday, to please let her know if I still wanted to come in, and by the way K is no longer with us. Which I did appreciate getting, but too little, too late.

So now I have to go doctor-shopping again. Cross your fingers for me, would you? I've already found that the nearest other providers according to my insurance aren't at the address my insurance has listed, so that's annoying, and I suspect it won't be the end of the annoyances.