Monday, February 21, 2011

Sunday afternoon, 1:28 p.m.

Mrs. Grumpy and I are taking a nap. My home phone rings, waking me up.

Dr. Grumpy: "Hello?."

Mr. Pissmeoff: "Hi, um, Dr. Grumpy. You don't know me, but my kids also go to Wingnut Elementary, and I got your phone number out of the school directory."

Dr. Grumpy: "Uh-huh..."

Mr. Pissmeoff: "My wife has MS, and is in Local Hospital. She sees Dr. Darth, across the street from you."

Dr. Grumpy: "I don't cover for Dr. Darth, sir. You'll have to call his office."

Mr. Pissmeoff: "I know you don't. But she wants to go home, and he hasn't been in to see her yet today. Can you please come in and discharge her instead?"
at

23 comments:

  1. CrownedwithVictoryFebruary 21, 2011 at 7:22 AM

    That is pretty ballsy of him, but I understand his pain. My mom was in the hospital for 2 weeks before the doctors decided she had had a stroke. Every day we would go in to be told: we will know more when the doctor comes to see her. So our family would wait by her bedside and wait and wait and wait...some days the doctor never came. It was truly frustrating.

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  2. Grumpy, M.D.February 21, 2011 at 7:28 AM

    I understand his frustration, too.

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  3. DianaFebruary 21, 2011 at 7:30 AM

    OMG, that takes the cake.

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  4. laughingmomFebruary 21, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    Maybe Dr. Darth was taking a nap too!

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  5. Kat's KatsFebruary 21, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    ::wince:: And people wonder why doctors & teachers get unlisted phone numbers.

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 12:33 PM

    Get a wheel chair and push her out the door. My wife was in the hospital and she had not been seen for 8 hours, I got her up and got her out. We walked out the door of the hospital a midnight. The security guy gave us a strange look, but that was all we needed.

    More people need to start looking to their own judgment.

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  7. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 12:36 PM

    Who made the hospital your slave master, if you have not been attended to within a reasonable time get up and get dressed and go.

    People do it in restaurants, why not in a hospital, when they find you are gone and haven't signed for the bill they start to get wired.

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  8. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    Even if you wanted to you can't, can you?

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  9. Grumpy, M.D.February 21, 2011 at 1:27 PM

    No, I can't.

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  10. JulesFebruary 21, 2011 at 2:22 PM

    @anon 11:33 AM - Bet you showed them!

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  11. a.generic docFebruary 21, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Did you tell them what school Dr. Darth's kids go to so they can find his home phone number?

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  12. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    Jules, can't say that we did or didn't, but what I do know is that the hospital formerly known as The General is no longer known by that name, for the The General closed.

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  13. TeeFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:32 PM

    What would have made him think that you even had the ability to do that? Strange.

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  14. GlenFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    I'm amazed you manage to nap with three school age kids. Do you send them away for the day?

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  15. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    By nap, he probably meant he was pulling monitor duty with one eye open.

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  16. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 6:03 PM

    My small baby had viral pneumonitis and was admitted for "observation". Nobody looked at him for 8 hours. At that point I announced that I was taking him home since "If he's going to die of neglect he might as well do it at home". Man, THAT got them moving! Oximeter on his finger, Consultant summoned to reason with the M-squared (Mad Momma) and diligent observation through the night. He was well and healthy next morning but the Consultant was still cautious with me and the junior doctors were frankly terrified of me.

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  17. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 10:02 PM

    What do you say to these things? I'm a med student and I'm curious as to how you handle all of these strange patient experiences. I imagine you're a bit more patient than myself Good sweet gravy...

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  18. The MotherFebruary 21, 2011 at 10:35 PM

    I wouldn't have believed this if it weren't for the last two months. Now I'm very gullible if the issue is patient stupidity.

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  19. ERPFebruary 22, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    Man-o-Man-o-shevitz

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  20. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    I once had a lady call me at home in tears because her husband was being discharged from the hospital by the attending. His regular doctor was on vacation. His regular doctor is my father. Would I please call him?? I felt bad for the lady, but seriously? Just becuase my name is in the phone book?

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  21. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    It's probably a case where the patient has no clue how the chain of command works within the medical field. Most of us don't know that all doctors aren't in the same club, and that hospitals aren't set up to make things simple.

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  22. miss kittenFebruary 22, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    with the huge scandal here (houston texas) of one of the major hospitals sending out bills of up to $600 for ER visits...to people who signed in and LEFT because they'd sat for hours and seen no one? i dont blame the patient for wanting to go home.

    ive been fortunate. the 4 times i've been admitted in the last 2 years, i saw at least 2 doctors each day.

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  23. canoeheadFebruary 27, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    Just say "I'll be right there," take the phone off the hook, and go back to sleep.

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So wadda you think?