Wednesday, April 29, 2009
disappointment
That's today for me.
And when I was asked "you're mad, aren't you?" and my answer was that I was not mad, but disappointed, I realize I'd rather be mad.
With anger you can feel it, and then let it go. Disappointment is a bit of anger but with a whole lot of sadness. And unfortunately, it lingers.
With anger you can totally put the blame on someone else. But with disappointment there is no real blame.
Anyway, it totally blows.
Friday, April 24, 2009
So perhaps just THAT Rite Aid sucks...
Someone from Rite Aid who did read my blog post has reached out to me for more information. I hope that he is not just blowing smoke up my butt and pretending to care.
I think I maybe be making this my mission to get that list changed.
That pharmacist never should have told me to "just worry about myself" (sic)
That is what made me realize just how important it is to make sure that nobody else has to deal with a situation similar to mine. (I feel like John Locke on Lost-- "DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO!")
So thanks to Rite Aid Eric for reaching out to me, and I look forward to hearing how this was resolved.
And I wonder, is your whole job to google your company and follow up on what people say about them? That's actually pretty cool. Technology may be deleting some jobs, but look how it's brought new ones into existence! So what's your title? Chief Googler for Customer Service?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
and yet...another reason why Rite Aid sucks...
So Rite Aid has been googling themselves and found their way here.
They now know that I was given the wrong drug just because it was "on the list" and that I got appallingly scolded by the pharmacist for trying to make her understand that it was still wrong even if it was on the list.
And yet, they did not care enough to leave a comment to try and contact me to find which location this was.
Way to be on top of things guys!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Rite Aid sucks
So I got my correct prescription today, along with a scolding from the Rite Aid pharmacist. She showed me her list which she thought proved she was right. I explained that I believed her that the list said so, but it is NOT the same thing but she told me that the list said it was.
Aren't pharmacists supposed to be educated? Shouldn't she have grasped the concept?
So here's the whole story...
From the years 1998 - 2004 I had 5 surgeries and lost one ovary due to endometriosis. This is a condition that is often treated with hormone manipulation because estrogen is the enemy. One way they manipulate the hormones is with the use of birth control pills. When I was going through all of this at first, we tried several different pills to find one that worked for me. Some birth control pills are monophasic and some are triphasic-- in other words, some give a continuous dose of the hormone the entire 21 days, and some change the dosage each week.
Hormones are a pretty delicate thing, and you can really screw someone up with them. I tried triphasic ones and I was a basket case on them, plus it made my endo worse. Finally, we found one that worked, one that is monphasic. It is really is crucial for me to keep my levels even to keep the endo at bay.
So I was on a monophasic for many many years. In 2007 I lost my health insurance and wasn't in a relationship and I was completely pain free from the endo so I decided to go off the hormones.
After the last few months I decided that in order to keep the endo at bay, it was time to go back on. I got the doctor to call in the exact monophasic pill I had been on for many many many years.
I picked up my pills yesterday and it was a triphasic one. I explained this to the pharmacist and she insisted that because it was on the list, it was the same thing.
I called the hospital pharmacy because I thought maybe I was nuts. That I might have somehow forgotten the name of a pill I took forever and knew was a monophasic. She looked it up, I was right, it was a monophasic, and the substitution that Rite Aid gave me was definitely a triphasic, and definitely not the same medication in generic form.
And yet, this pharmacist at Rite Aid swears that because it was on the list, that it was. She was not open or caring enough about the health and well being of her customers to accept the fact that the list might be mistaken. I explained to her the difference between monophasic and triphasic pills (shouldn't the pharmacist be explaining this to me??) and that the list is not accurate and I said that I had concerns that other patients might be given the wrong pill too. She told me to worry about myself and not others.
So someone else might end up having their hormones completely thrown out of wack, causing who knows what problems because of something a list says.
If she were a proactive, thoughtful pharmacist, she would have investigated, realized the discrepancy, and contacted the authors of said list to get it straightened out.
I am pretty sure that I will be switching pharmacies.
Monday, April 20, 2009
SICK!
I have been on hiatus due to my health. I went to see my friend Steve in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a few weeks ago and there were lots of snotty kids in the audience. A few days later both myself and my friend, Ali, who went with me got VERY VERY SICK. Stoopit snotty kids! We both ended up with ear infections (I had 2, go me!) and sinus crap, and then lungs... Not at all pretty.
I am pleased to say though that it is not TB! Ok not that I thought it was... but I had my annual appointment for my ppd test for work during this time and that was negative. It was handy that it coincided with my illness so I got some drugs for that. My doc said my one ear was "Majorly bulging" which kinda freaked me out. I was never the kind of kid who got ear infections, but I know many who were, who had their ear drums perf regularly. I am terrified of this happening and I'm guessing it was close to happening if I was "majorly bulging". Although it no longer hurts, I really can't hear very well out of my left ear so I almost wonder if it did perf? I dont know, does that hurt like hell or does it stop hurting because the pressure is relieved? (kinda how once your appendix bursts the pain stops)
Whatever, at least I'm feeling well now. Other than the fact that the allergies are kinda kicking in...
So remember last July when I said I loaded all sorts of crap in my kitchen while they cleaned my carpets? Well I finally got everything out of the kitchen and just today I brought in the kitchen chairs that had been out on the porch this whole time. (I think I have only eaten about 4 meals at my kitchen table in the 4 years I have lived here!) I had to wash them down because they were YELLOW with pollen. I mean COVERED! and then of course I was sneezing like a fool. Thank GOD for Claritin :)
In other news I went to the new Rite Aid to get a prescription filled and they gave me the wrong thing! I called and they claimed that what they gave me was an approved generic substitute. Except it was NOT THE SAME THING. I thought I was crazy so I called the hospital I used to work at's outpatient pharmacy where I used to get scripts filled (and this, which I used to take back then) and she confirmed that what I got was what I thought and NOT what tried to give me. The smart pharmacist told me what IS the approved generic alternative and so I called Rite Aid back and told them to get me that instead. It scares me that this pharmacist kept saying that what she gave me was on the list so it was ok. The list is wrong. I explained to her how it was wrong, how it was different... blah blah, but since her list said it, it must be...whatever...
So now I've lost my train of thought thanks to several IM's so I'm just going to end this here :)
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Something I just realized...
I laugh easier than I ever did before.
It used to be that I would RARELY laugh at something I read or saw. LOL was just a computer shorthand for "that's amusing" to me rather than actually meaning I laughed out loud. Oh sure I would smile, or chuckle, but no full on laughs!
But in the past 6 weeks or so (ever since the beginning of my unexplained happiness) I realize that I LOL out loud all the time! And you know what? It's awesome. I suspect that it's not just the mood prompting the laughter, but also the laughter prompting the mood.
I also smile more. Oh sure I smiled often before now, but now I catch myself smiling for no reason. This morning I had no good breakfast foods in the house so I decided to enjoy this GORGEOUS day and take a walk to the bagel place that's about a mile away. On said walk I saw Dogwood trees in full bloom- I hadn't noticed any others down here to my recollection. That made me smile. We lived in a house when I was small that had a Dogwood in the front yard and since I was pretty small at the time I have very few memories of that place, but many of them involve that yard and that tree. So as then I happened upon some pansies, which are a flower that remind me of my grandmother. Normally these make me smile, but I realized I was still smiling from the Dogwood. Then I passed some girl also taking a walk and she smiled at me and I realized it was because I STILL had the smile on my face.
And as I sit here typing this guess what I'm doing? Smiling :)
My hope for you is that as you read this that it makes you smile too :)
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Livin in a box...living in a cardboard box
So recently I mentioned that I reconnected with my old roommate, JT. That day we chatted she gave me what I consider to be once of the best compliments I have ever received, and that has turned into a new concept for me...
She said that she and I could be doing nothing more than sitting in a cardboard box and we would still have a blast together.
So this brought up the idea of "cardboard box friends". How many people do you have in your life that you would classify under this title? I am fortunate enough to have more than a few :)
These are people that I just can laugh my ass off even during the most lame of circumstances. Good, bad, or indifferent, these people make my life fun.
For example... once in college Biff and I were both going through a bit of a seasonal/situational funk and so we decided to run away. For this adventure we chose to rent a car (we'll call him Dave) and on the way back we accidentally locked the keys in Dave at the Blue Mountain rest stop. Oh yeah there was also a picture of Fred Savage on the dashboard. We were trapped at this rest stop for several hours while we waited for a locksmith. And we didn't have any money, bu they took pity on us at the fast food place at the rest stop and gave us their left over breakfast. And we knew the car would be returned late and there would be an even bigger charge. And yet the memory I hold from this experience is of a) being taunted by Kevin Arnold and b) laughing....LOTS of laughing.
That is a true cardboard box friend. (in fact, at this point I think we would have preferred to be in a box than in the situation we were in!)
I am very blessed by a large number of CBB friends and I realize that I am too far away from many of them. I have made a decision that unless something significant changes in my life in the next year that I will be moving to Atlanta in May of 2010. I have multiple cardboard box friends there and my soul already feels lighter and happier about my trapped Raleigh situation having made this decision.
So yay for CBBF! and YAY for plans!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
If I were an artist...
Or a musician, or even a writer of more than just a lame blog...
Just now I looked out the window and saw a brilliant red winter cardinal, sitting on a tree that has the buds of spring, with leaves on the ground underneath like fall, with rain falling like summer...
I feel like this is a song/poem/picture just waiting to be told and shared...
I wish I had it in me to convey the emotion that I just got looking at it...