"Hi! This is Cindy Scatterbrain! I forgot to call you guys last week, but I'm leaving for France tonight on a 3 month exchange program and so I'll need 3 months of my epilepsy medicine, whatever it's called. Can you guys call that in to my pharmacy ASAP? Or, I'll be near your office later today so do you have 3 months of samples I could pick up? Or if you can't do that, do you guys know a pharmacy in France you could call it to and I'll pick it up when I get there? Thank you!"
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Bon voyage
"Hi! This is Cindy Scatterbrain! I forgot to call you guys last week, but I'm leaving for France tonight on a 3 month exchange program and so I'll need 3 months of my epilepsy medicine, whatever it's called. Can you guys call that in to my pharmacy ASAP? Or, I'll be near your office later today so do you have 3 months of samples I could pick up? Or if you can't do that, do you guys know a pharmacy in France you could call it to and I'll pick it up when I get there? Thank you!"
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27 comments:
They got universal healthcare over there, right? So, she'll be fine.
She's that scatterbrained, her flight probably left YESTERDAY.
Just give her a black beret, a black-and-white striped shirt, and some white pancake makeup, and she'll be fine.
Blonde???
Actually, from what I've been reading, this person has her stuff more together than some of your other patients - at least she gave you her last name and a vague account of what her ailment is, right? Although . . . "a pharmacy in France" is a little general - maybe you like to use La Drogerie Normande or something and she's way down in Provence. Anyway, like I said, it does beat your patients who tell you they take a white pill with an S on it once a day.
I suspect this is why my physicians are usually happy to see me - I'm on time, have my questions written down, and know all my meds down to the microgram. Maybe I should start asking for an I-have-my-shit-together discount!
Look, I love your blog.
But do you really have that many patients like this??
Really?!??!
Yes, but I suspect I have the same number as anyone else.
Sacre Fucking Bleu!
Since France is a little bitty place, like Rhode Island with extra sidewalk cafes, any pharmacy will be within walking distance.
Anybody know French for Dingbat?
Actually, if she has a written copy of her prescription, the pharmacies here will fill it once a (28-day) month for 3 months. No biggie, they do it all the time. She could also go to a GP to get a new (French) prescription written out.
She'll have to pay full-price (which could be anywhere from .50€ to 100€) and in cash, though.
Wow, she gave you a full 5-6 hours notice? Usually they wait till they're on their WAY to the airport....
So matching neuro is a good thing or bad?
What I absolutely love about your blog is that I'm a mental health nurse and your patients make me feel at home on your page. I had a patient that said "Nurse Becca I'm not crazy, I'm just stupid. Can I get out of here now?"
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic:
"Bonjour, Docteur Grincheux? C'est Cynthie Fou. C'est soir, je vole a Grumpytown en Amerique pour un programme d'echange, et j'ai besoin..."
Ha! I'll bet the pharmacist at her favorite chain will love to see her, although I hear some of them do FedEx.
It ain't cheap to France, though.
Don't send her to the pharmacie there, though. They tend to give out way too many suppositories, or they did way back when I travelled there one summer.
Tant pis si elle manque son voyage a cause de pilules! (Too bad if she misses her trip because of pills)
It's not dizzy, but close: verification word for me: disji
Rule #1: Stupidity on your part DOES NOT constitute an emergency on my part. But....in the patient's reality.. Rule #1 does not exist. Past experience has told them that everyone will bust their butts to make up for their stupidity. I would never expect a patient to go without seizure meds, but if it is that important to their health, you'd think that they would be just a touch more on top of things.
Yeah, then she walks into my McDruggie where she finds out her plan won't cover a 3 month supply without an override, so we have to call them with her date of departure ("Like, two hours!"), date of return ("I don't know, something like June 5? Or June 20? Or maybe July. If I'm having a lot of fun, I can apply for an extension!"), and primary city of destination ("Well, I'm traveling all over!"). It's always something.
Anonymous 3/24 2:12 -- actually, in my experience, when you're a patient w/everything written down & in order, they try to tell you you're either (a) a hypochondriac; (b) OCD; or (c) anal retentive. some doctors will even call you all of the above, to your face. as a patient, you're only considered amenable by the medical establishment if you're absolutely healthy or dead.
Same thing happens to me too. Not infrequently. Worse scenario is for the patient to get sick from not having their meds. Saves everyone time in the long run to call in the script.
Hopefully she didn't just show up at her pharmacy wanting all her medicine anyway...without a prescription. Oh, she probably did. They all do.
Let her seize...might help.
I got a call today about a lady moving to England. Can you tell me what compounding pharmacy I should use in England?? Er, No I can't try google.
We had a dood go completely apesh*t in our ED one Sunday night (read: busiest night in the emerg) because we refused to vaccinate him and his entire family for a trip they were leaving on in the morning.
Funny how it is *our* fault when people can't organize their lives...
"actually, in my experience, when you're a patient w/everything written down & in order, they try to tell you you're either (a) a hypochondriac;"
I agree. Doctors DO NOT like people who write things down, especially in a centralized notebook. Patients like that get dirty looks, are labeled crazy, or worse.
In a psychiatrist's office, though, it might help them with the diagnosis.
:)
She is really up a creek. Her pharmacy probably doesn't stock 3 months worth of her med anyways and her best bet is to have her mother/uncle/soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend mail it to her once the pharmacy has gotten the rx, prdered the med and gotten the necessary overrides.
Remeber, many drugs may have similar BRAND names across the pond, but once you look at the generic name it is different.
For instance: In Denmark you can buy "BENADAY" over the counter. It is not BENADRYL, which contains diphenhydramine. BENADAY contains cetirizine, which, of course, is ZYRTEC in the US. Ok, they are both for allergies, but don't exactly work the same way, nor is dosing scedule anywhere near the same.
Erm, she might well be in for a nasty surprise if anyone tried to mail her her meds. I don't know about France, but in a neighboring EU country(Germany), you can't mail meds to anywhere but a pharmacy. Given that they're both EU countries, I bet things are similar.
...well, look at it this way--you're not going on the trip with her. If she forgot her meds, Lord only knows what else she's forgetting... ("Passport? What passport?")
I had someone come into my pharmacy (in the USA) one day looking for Procardia XL 20mg. I tried to tell him there wasn't any such animal, it's only available in 30, 60 and 90... and he pulls out a box of Procardia XL 20. I blinked at it and asked "Where did you get that?" He said "I brought it with me from the UK." I said "You'll have to have it sent to you from there, then, because they don't sell that strength here." He said "I tried that, and customs seized it and sent it back." I said "Maybe you can go to your consulate and have them send it in a diplomatic pouch?" He says "Well that's a good idea, but I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow. Do you think I can get this in HK?" I said "I'm pretty sure you can get anything in HK..."
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