I’ve spent a lot of time (a lot of your precious time) sharing my observations about the diagnosis, treatment, science, and overall “path” of my cancer journey. The genesis of many of my thoughts have come right from inside the walls of the CINJ infusion clinic - that I visit once a month - every month - for 7+ years so far. But all of that sexy subject matter couldn’t have been possible without the mundane but critically necessary logistics of scheduling all of my medical moments (infusion sessions, tests, consultations, etc. etc. etc. - said in my best Yul Brenner accent). Today, I want to waste a little bit more of your time around this topic - one germinated outside of the actual Clinic, because I wasn’t able to get in. Permit me to explain (I say that a lot don’t I? Maybe I should just be more clear upfront? Naaaaah - said in my best Theodoric of York accent).
As a guy who fancies logistics & plans both personally and professionally, I loves me some scheduling (not control-freakish, cuz you can’t control cancer, just knowing what’s coming). And in the case of my cancer treatment calendar, I take an active role in staying on top of the timeliness and accuracy of said dates/times. (PSA: With any health-related issue, personal advocacy for your treatment and its timing is really an important role that you play on the team.) Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog-cast. Modern tech allows me to see and track all of my treatment activity through the (secure) MyChart portal - including my roster of upcoming appointments. I verify the timings that the doctor ordered and the Scheduling Department setup, and ask questions about or adjust those dates/times that don’t align with what we agreed was the short-term (about 3 months ahead) meter moving forward. That’s been working pretty well, untillllll that past session.
As often happens, there were some slight adjustments necessary to my recent flow of upcoming appointments. For one, I was mis-scheduled for my February monthly session on a weekday, I’m supposed to come in on Saturdays. Using the portal, I contacted the proper folks to get that moved to Feb 8. And using the portal again, I later verified that in fact the requested change had been made (this portal isn’t really good about verification notification). I got up at 6am, did my prepping, took my pre-meds and arrived at CINJ bright and early (I’m always a little early) - only to learn that I was not on the schedule. The check-in person patiently researched the situation and found that someone in the system had cancelled this 2/8 appointment - and not notified me; themselves or through the portal mail - such that it is (or isn’t).
Turns out that 2/8 was too close to my previous January appointment (I can’t have certain drugs too close to each other), so the medical justification was real, but the annoyance and frustration was also real. My getting angry now, with them or the system, isn’t going to change anything, and there’s no benefit in being dick-ficult. So, I’m going to just seize the scheduling even tighter, advocate even more arduously for myself and my treatment times, and be a pleasant partner as best as I can - after all, they’re sticking a bunch of needles in me so I wouldn't want to make them mad ;-)
HBD LWRC
