The phones were really ringing today, and so a few calls went to
voice mail. Annie had me listen to this one:
"Hi, this is
Suzy Frazzled. I'm a social worker involved in the medical case of
Kathy Smith. I'm calling to see if you have any records on her. You
probably don't, because none of the other doctors on the list she gave
me have ever heard of her, either, and I'm on my last damn nerve dealing
with her. Anyway, she's blaming every freaking illness she has on a piece of cotton that was left in
her ear 2 years ago after she had a glob of wax taken out. Thinks
she's won the freaking lottery, apparently. What? No Bob, I don't have
that info here. I've been working on Mrs. Smith all damn morning. How
come you don't get these cases? The boss gives me all this shit, and it's not
fair. Where the hell do these people come from and why do they always
end up on my desk? Why can't I get normal cases? Oh, sorry,
hello? Anyway, please call me back and let me know if you've ever heard
of this lady."
Well, had you?
ReplyDeleteMay God bless the social workers of the world. Masochists aside, who else would willingly go into their field these days?
ReplyDeleteWere you the doc who left the errant cotton ball in the patient's ear?? LOL! I think not.
ReplyDeleteSeriously social workers are overworked and we need more of them.
Dr. G left the cotton in there when her prosthetic ear unexpectedly fell off and he went screaming into the hallway.
ReplyDeleteSocial workers are quite nice people if you're polite to them and honestly try to help yourself. They get an unnecessary bad rap in too many circles.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in WorkFirst over a decade ago, DSHS was so shorthanded WorkFirst was offering to send unemployed people to social worker training -the only program of that length they were offering to pay for in their program to pay for education to get people working. (Most programs were 6-18 months at most; the social worker training programs available were minimum 2 years.)
I didn't go for it because I had a hard enough time dealing with some of the people in the waiting room; there really are people who exploit the system for all they can get, and make everyone else who needs help look bad.
I check back here periodically to see why I hate doctors and I am happy to say you never disappoint. You are all arrogant jerks, and I only hope that when you have a medical problem, and you will, you are treated by doctors who are exactly like you.
ReplyDeleteAs a social worker, I totally get it. I say that daily... Who the hell left THAT crapy case on my desk. Just last week a client spit in my face. It was glorious.
ReplyDelete@Anon 2:10AM- What bug crawled up your behind and died? Wait a tic...I mean who left the cotton in your ear? That's a really rude comment for somebody you've never met in your life, and if that's the attitude you run around with, no wonder they ran away before removing the cotton. As a suggestion, don't get a endoscopy.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 2:10 AM:
ReplyDeleteAm I correct in assuming that you're Kathy Smith?
Several of my blog connections have linked you so I have to come here and see what it is all about! Funny stuff but painfully realistic.
ReplyDeleteIf Anon 2:10 am were a regular reader s/he would know that most of Dr Grumpy's frustrations comes from caring about his patients.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have nothing but sympathy for that social worker.
At the risk of sounding like a jerk, it is all to often that certain patients take up an inordinate amount of time not due to the extent of their illness, but due to the extent of their insanity. To clarify not medically insane, but rather just plain old crazy as shit.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the cotton in her ear, she probably never knew she had COPD AND CHF-no one ever provided teaching, and she's lookin to sue for that, too.
ReplyDelete