the waiting game...

The waiting game, a game that we all participate and play in whether it be in a doctor's office or hospital, at the pharmacy while waiting on a prescription to be filled, at home while we wait for our tests results or by the phone waiting for our doctor to call us back. Let's not even talk about insurance companies and having to wait When you have a chronic illness, learning to wait and be patient becomes mandatory. Things just don't happen. You have to be patient whether you like it or not.

Whenever I went to my first GI appointment with my GI doctor who is also a motility specialist, I knew it would be a long wait because of who he is. I believe I waited close to three hours but in return I got to spend an hour with him discussing my case and the "plan" of action with how about we would go about dealing with my possible GP if the tests confirmed. The waiting was totally worth it.

Way back in the day, I remember I waited forever in the ER waiting room. I had never really been to the ER for my GP. This was an ER in a hospital. Weren't things suppose to move a little faster? And not to mention I was miserable and you know when you feel that bad you have blinders on and all you can focus on at that moment is you and keeping yourself together. Who wants to throw up in the middle of the waiting room? Not me. I still hadn't adjusted to being familiar with the hospital setting including the smells. It was a rough time. For those of you who have GP you know how it goes once you have a bed in the ER; you have to explain to the ER doctors that you actually have GP and that your legitimate. You're not lying and seeking out attention or pain medications. You know how it goes.

When it comes to waiting on test results, ugh. There is no way around it. Time always seems to go by so slowly and just drag. Whether you're getting your results in the mail, by person or phone, you want to know your results so you can deal with whatever the results may be and proceed from there. Or at least I do...

The hardest thing I have trouble dealing with when it comes to waiting is dealing with phone calls.  It never fails that whenever I leave a message for my doctor to call me back especially on a Friday, I will miss that phone call and have to wait the whole weekend to see what the phone call pertained too. Voicemail never does the call any justice. It simply drives me insane.

When it comes to insurance companies, whether you're needing a prior authorization on a prescription or you're needing disability coverage, waiting is bound to happen. Nothing happens automatically. Don't get me wrong, it would be a perfect world if we didn't have to wait all the time but I don't see that happening anytime soon unfortunately. ;)