I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to get a message from the eye center. The message popped up on my email, "You have a very important message from @#%^&*(*& Eye Center!" Now I had already been through this with my doctors office and their little portal means of communication, so I cringed inwardly. Since I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow, I thought I better try to retrieve it. I am so friggin' naïve it amazes me most of the time. The episode with the doctors portal, had taken me 3 days to complete and it was after they sent me the correct link that I was able to retrieve my message there.
So when I received this one, I had my usual sinking feeling when I know I am on a dead end trail and a cliff awaits me at the end. But it had 2 pages very detailed telling me how to reach the portal door and all the secret codes I needed to step through. HA! But nonetheless, I persevered. User name. User password. Incorrect user name or password. Try again. Ok. Put on my glasses and make sure I am doing it right. Check every letter and number. Incorrect user name or password. Try again. Ok. Once more with feeling! Incorrect user name or password. Your computer is now locked for your safety. It will automatically unlock in 20 minutes. Try again then.
20 minutes later I tried again. Once more I was wrong 3 times was locked out. So I called the office. Of course by this time I was in tears. The automatic man that answered told me all circuits were busy and to stay on the line. After several more minutes I heard a human voice.! Name. Birthday. I know this. Oh, ok, she will transfer me to the surgery center nurse. This is going good!
Oh, she is not in, but will return my call in just few minutes. It is now the next day!
Here is my question, why do I have to fight this system to get a message from the medical profession? She is going to ask me if I started my eye drops. It would have been much simpler to pick up the phone and dial my number and ask me. 30 second job at the most. As it is, she had to look up my info for the portal, type in the question, hit the send button, hit the button to send me a notice that I have a message (that I am not going to get), back out of my file and go to the next one. All that is going to take way more than 30 seconds.
So, by the time I went to bed last night, I was wound up tight enough to rip the throat out of a charging Rhino. If I have one more place making my life easier, I am going to go completely nuts!
I have 2 telephones. One hangs on the wall and has a home number. The other rides in my purse wherever I go, so I am always within easy reach of every telemarketer in India and beyond, but not able to be reached by the medical community who in in charge of my health and well being. I do not have a smart phone, because the word "smart" denotes to me that it is smarter than me.
I can remember the time when I had a doctor and he had a nurse. They both knew my name. If I went in for a problem, one of them would call me the next day to ask how I was feeling. A human voice! Not a damn portal that I can not open. I am going to remove my email address from all my medical records. I may even close my email, so no one knows I have a computer. I got this thing for my convenience, but I am beginning to hate the damn thing because other people do not respect the fact that I do not want them in my world. This goes for all the yahoos who try to send me Viagra because my name is Lou. I do not want to go on a cruise. I do not need vitamins or wrinkle remover and I sure as hell do not want to lose 22 pounds overnight. If I needed that stuff, I would google it. I know how to do that.
I know my medical providers will not read this and if they did they would think I was nuts. I may very well be, but I am happy to inform them, that my contact information is about to change and they can either pick up the phone, or not. Their choice. As for me, I know how to dial!
So when I received this one, I had my usual sinking feeling when I know I am on a dead end trail and a cliff awaits me at the end. But it had 2 pages very detailed telling me how to reach the portal door and all the secret codes I needed to step through. HA! But nonetheless, I persevered. User name. User password. Incorrect user name or password. Try again. Ok. Put on my glasses and make sure I am doing it right. Check every letter and number. Incorrect user name or password. Try again. Ok. Once more with feeling! Incorrect user name or password. Your computer is now locked for your safety. It will automatically unlock in 20 minutes. Try again then.
20 minutes later I tried again. Once more I was wrong 3 times was locked out. So I called the office. Of course by this time I was in tears. The automatic man that answered told me all circuits were busy and to stay on the line. After several more minutes I heard a human voice.! Name. Birthday. I know this. Oh, ok, she will transfer me to the surgery center nurse. This is going good!
Oh, she is not in, but will return my call in just few minutes. It is now the next day!
Here is my question, why do I have to fight this system to get a message from the medical profession? She is going to ask me if I started my eye drops. It would have been much simpler to pick up the phone and dial my number and ask me. 30 second job at the most. As it is, she had to look up my info for the portal, type in the question, hit the send button, hit the button to send me a notice that I have a message (that I am not going to get), back out of my file and go to the next one. All that is going to take way more than 30 seconds.
So, by the time I went to bed last night, I was wound up tight enough to rip the throat out of a charging Rhino. If I have one more place making my life easier, I am going to go completely nuts!
I have 2 telephones. One hangs on the wall and has a home number. The other rides in my purse wherever I go, so I am always within easy reach of every telemarketer in India and beyond, but not able to be reached by the medical community who in in charge of my health and well being. I do not have a smart phone, because the word "smart" denotes to me that it is smarter than me.
I can remember the time when I had a doctor and he had a nurse. They both knew my name. If I went in for a problem, one of them would call me the next day to ask how I was feeling. A human voice! Not a damn portal that I can not open. I am going to remove my email address from all my medical records. I may even close my email, so no one knows I have a computer. I got this thing for my convenience, but I am beginning to hate the damn thing because other people do not respect the fact that I do not want them in my world. This goes for all the yahoos who try to send me Viagra because my name is Lou. I do not want to go on a cruise. I do not need vitamins or wrinkle remover and I sure as hell do not want to lose 22 pounds overnight. If I needed that stuff, I would google it. I know how to do that.
I know my medical providers will not read this and if they did they would think I was nuts. I may very well be, but I am happy to inform them, that my contact information is about to change and they can either pick up the phone, or not. Their choice. As for me, I know how to dial!
