#70 - Dr. Quack and Nurse Ratched

I thought the worst thing to happen to me yesterday was having to get an idiot to pull over on the highway.  This moron was driving 70+ miles an hour, cell phone in his left hand, right hand trying to manipulate a pen and paper to take notes while he was looking down at his (presumably note pad) instead of looking forward where his 3 ton death machine which almost took out 3 vehicles before I got to him.  Thankfully when I laid on my horn and refused to stop, he put down everything and pulled over to complete his whatever-the-hell he was trying to do.  If the day could have gone up from there, that would have been awesome...but nope.  It slid down, down, DOWN into the record books as a real loser.

I drove the additional 40 miles to pick up my 82 year old mother-in-law to go a recommended orthopedic doctor that everyone said could help her with her ankle/foot pain.  From her house we went the additional 35 miles to KU Medical Center in Kansas City to the Orthopedic wing.  We got there, found a parking spot, and went into the office at 11:30 AM for a 12:00 PM appointment.  I know, what were we thinking being early.  UGH!

So we go in and get checked in, filling out a stack of paperwork that would make a forest cry and sat down to begin our waiting experience.  After sitting, pacing, playing games, sitting longer, reading emails, sitting longer (guess you get the drift here), I went up to the front desk where I was greeted by a snotty, sourpuss face woman I am calling Nurse Ratched.  She really lived up to the character from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as she was also a cold, heartless, and passive-aggressive battleaxe, probably not a nurse tho.  Just office staff that made you want to throw the clipboard at her and say,
'oops, sorry...it slipped.'  She proceeded to inform me that 3-4 hour wait time was expected in this office as Dr. Horton was just 'that good.'  All I could do was shake my head at the arrogance of that office thinking this was OK.

Sometime around 1:30 PM we walked down the long corridor to get something to eat and drink since this was going to be some marathon type waiting event.  We got caffeinated beverages and what I believe was supposed to be pastries at a coffee cart type place in the hospital (yea, hospital food would have been better) and went back to the waiting room from hell.

Another hour has now passed and finally someone calls mom's name.  It is now 2:30 PM and they are taking her for x-rays on her foot.  They put her in a small room and then off they go, closing the door leaving us to wonder what next.  Fast forward another 30ish min and a resident comes in.  She is, let's just say very colorful, in her white mini-dress, burgundy tights and turquoise accented brown cowboy boots.  She proceeded to look at mom's ankle and foot and basically said there was probably nothing that could be done short of surgery but she would share her findings with the doctor who would be in shorty.  Shortly ended up being another hour!!!

It is now almost 4 PM and yes, we are still here.  The arrogance of this office is astounding, the staff leave a lot to be desired, bedside manner is lacking severely.  Even the cleanliness of this office is left to question based on the room we were in.  Disgusting is putting it mildly when you consider what looks to be mold growing on the soap dispenser.  Just nasty!

Dr. Greg Horton finally graces us with his presence around 4, yes that is 4 hours after our scheduled appointment.  He gives mom a quick look, doing everything his resident did earlier, speaks to her for about 3 minutes, then that's it.  THREE MINUTES is all we get after waiting for FOUR HOURS!  He then sends her off to have a boot made and that is all he does.  The arrogance of the medical profession astonishes me.

Finally we leave the facility from hell just in time to get into the rush hour traffic from hell.  I now know where I never want to go for any medical anything.  Just glad we were not the other family we met in the waiting room who drove 3+ hours to get the same type of treatment.

Needless to say boredom did kick in so had to find something to do, hence the last picture.  Had mom rolling.  Other than that and getting to spend time with her, this day just sucked!

Thanks doc.