Answers

Well.

I was heard today.

Yesterday afternoon I called my doctor's office.
Even though she's out of town.
Because I am scared, dammit. This is a lot going on suddenly, and I don't like any of it.

When something that's supposed to HELP your BP actually makes it worse...a LOT worse, it's no fun. When they swing FIVE TIMES at the BP and completely miss, it's not fun, either. My readings have been horrendously high, the medications have made me sicker than hell, and no one is goddamn helping me.

First I got some twat on the line who wanted to tell me that my BP reading when I left the ER was 'stable'. And when I asked her if those numbers were an acceptable range, and told her my current reading, she said there was a discrepancy between my home BP cuff and the hospital reading.

Well no shit, Sherlock. That's why I brought my cuff in to check against the one in the office!!

I told her, "Yes, there sure is. But six or seven points difference isn't an issue in this case and a stable HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE is still high blood pressure. Are you not getting this?"

But I got pissed off, too. I told her that I'm completely sick of being patronized and condescended to and that I want a referral to a specialist because, "As of now, I am goddamn sick of being dismissed."
 
 So she said, "Hang on, I will have you talk to Diane."
(Diane is one of the nurses.)

"Nope. I talked to her twice last week. She doesn't give a shit. Is there anyone working there who cares about the patients?"

I'm not nice when I'm angry.
And I'm not just angry, I'm sick and scared.
So be nice when you're on the other end of the line, because you will be hearing some shit if you're not.

So when they do a referral, they do this test and that test so you're handed off to the next doctor with all your bloodwork and other stuff in a neat little package.

The person they had me talk to instead of Diane asked me if I'd come in today for those tests.

"Can you guarantee that it's not still another condescending asshole?" I asked her.
There were a couple moments of silence on the line. Then she said, "She's really good. And she's very nice and a good listener."

I told her, "Look. I realize that you're not the problem here, and that you're the one stuck with a phone call from an angry person. But consider... I wouldn't BE an angry person if I'd been treated with respect by everyone else. So I'm sorry you had to be the one to hear this, but I can't say I'm sorry for saying it."

I had several different tests today.

Also have some other things scheduled for Wednesday.

And there's one test they can't do there that I'll have to drive down to mid-Portland for. That's fine.

Today, though, someone finally listened. To everything I had to say. I went over my entire list. I told her about all the side effects I've experienced and about being dismissed and ignored and that I am no longer sitting and waiting for assistance, here's what I want, and yes, I want it now.

So here we go, I guess.
::sigh:::

When I got home and checked email, I found an email address to send my commentary to. I did that immediately, since it was all written up.  I'm not done, though. It's going to the state regulatory board as soon as I have the energy to do so.

I need to get a better saddle if I plan to take up tilting at windmills as my new career.