The Pharmacy Chick

Every day brings its own  interesting quirks and quibbles.  Some are head-shakers, and others just make you wish certain customers would crawl back under the rock they emerged from.

1. Script from ER>  Symbicort 250/50.  From the get go, somebody has no clue.  I call the Urgent Care clinic and actually get Dr on the phone.  Apparently he knew nothing of what he was prescribing because ” Thats what she said she was on”.    He said to have patient  figure out what she was on, give her that, and let him know. She swears its Symbicort.. We finally had to resort to “what color is the box you used?”  She said red… I said, “thats not one of the options… Blue or Green?   blank stare…

2.  customer calls us and wants us to fill some simvastatin for her.  We discover she had never had it here.   She said she got it mail order and wants to know if we can fill it.  We say sure, we can transfer it from mail order…but NO, she doesn’t want us to transfer it….just fill it.  Must be the slow class..  We think we are moving in the right direction when things get weirder.. ” Can you check my chart to see if I am supposed to be on simvastatin anymore?”  Um, we dont have your chart records Ma’am.  This is the pharmacy. Call your physician..” Do you have his phone number?” Sure, what is his name?  “I dont know, dont you have it on your chart?”

moving on…

We get a script for Suboxone.  12mg for 1 week, 16mg the next then back to 12mg.. (!?!)  We call for clarification and the nurse says “we wondered if we would get a question about that”.  yea well thanks for helping the pharmacy out by NOT clarifiying anything, thereby making us call.  Turns out the patient is having some procedure that week and may need MORE suboxone.  How about not getting hooked on narcotics in the first place.?

” Do you deliver?”  No we dont have a delivery service   “well do you suppose one of your underlings would like to make a quick $20 by delivering my prescriptions?”  um, not likely and I am sure they appreciated being thought of as “underlings”.(thought but not said)

RING RING…   ” do you have 480 OxyContin 80mg?”  Not in a million years.

“What do you mean I have to take Generic Effexor now??”  State welfare doesnt’ pay for brand anymore now that there is a generic. “what a ripoff”..  (free is free, I fail to feel a lot of compassion right now)

But the winner of the day goes to :

“Do you have Lovenox 150″  (we affirm that we do).  ” OMG! you do??? I have called every pharmacy in town and nobody has it and I gotta have it today! wow!.  can’t believe my luck…(we fill the rx..and ring it up…cash rx)  “Oh thats too much money…do you price match?” 

I need a beverage…

Tags: customer interactions, customers, personal life | |

Recently, PC had the opportunity to have an email string with a person who had some questions about being a better pharmacy customer despite her many needs including high dose narcotics.  She felt frustrated at the treatment she received at certain pharmacies when she filled her prescriptions, and tho she said she prefers to use the same pharmacy each month, they have suffered supply issues and occasionally has to find it elsewhere.  She took pains to remind me that she uses ONE doctor for all her meds and she she has never lost/stolen/ or otherwise needs “early fills”.  Never the less, she is often treated with disdain. 

In her opinion she is doing everything by the book….ordering early enough to get the stock(but not TOO early to be inappropriate), using one doctor, being polite and friendly..you know..playing by the rules that we pharmacists like our customers to play by.  And yet, she described a story where she was berated by a pharmacist as being a f’n drug addict and to get the f**k out of the store.

Wow, strong words.  All things being said, I have not met her, seen her, and my only communication as been thru email.  She could be blowing smoke..but I am not thinking so.

Pharmacy Chick has a pain clinic near by so we dispense a lot of narc’s.  Ive had my own share of scum in and out of the store.  You know the kind, the ones that leave a trail of slime as they leave the counter.  They are good at working the system to their advantage and are so good at it, they could probably teach a class.  Why the doctors dont see thru this act is beyond me.

However, I also have  a sizeable client list of people who are on high dose narcotics from a lifetime of illness or injury. Henry was in a car accident…I guess you could call it that.  He was working on a car and it fell on top of him. He was broken in a lot of places and most of them aren’t fixable.  Not that the doctors haven’t tried, but he is so full of pins and screws that his insides look like a toolbox.

Ralph lost his leg at work.   It confuses him because he takes pain meds for pain in a leg that isn’t there anymore.  I told him that his BRAIN doesn’t know the leg is gone.

Steven was a police officer shot in the line of duty. 

Tim had a kidney transplant and it didn’t go every well. He has so much scar tissue pulling on stuff he was going thru 2000 oxycodone 5 per month.  Everytime they did surgery to remove the scar tissue, more came back in its place.   Eventually he was managed on Oxycontin 80mg, twice daily.  Dunno how he managed that, but he is.

Linda has bone cancer…she is fighting it like her life depends on it…because it does.  She takes a lot of pain meds to control the suffering.  She knows she is going to lose this battle by years end likely, but she isn’t giving up.

Everybody you just met, are nice people.  They use 1 doctor.  They come to me each month for a prescription.  They  never lose it. They never have it stolen.  They never ask for early refills for suspicious reasons.  They treat their meds like blood pressure/diabetes/asthma meds, like clockwork.

If there is one thing I have learned in this life is that not all boo-boos can be fixed…and some only LOOK fixed..  If you remember in school,  there is no ceiling to narcotic doses.  You dose to pain control.  What would kill me, barely holds another. 

Its wrong to treat pain management patients as second class citizens.  Now granted, there are WAY more that deserve to have the book thrown at them when they resort to sneaky ways to get their stuff.  I’m not writing about them and I don’t go out of my way for any of them.  But I also haven’t called anybody a f’n drug addict to their face, which is inappropriate on every level.  When you wear the white coat,  you can at least hold some professionalism.

At the very least, you could be wrong about the patient..and get hauled into corporate to explain your behavior…at the very worst, you could get your butt shot off in the parking lot by somebody who took exception of your tirade.

We bloggers write frequently about drug seekers and the trash that they are…lets just remember not to paint all our patients with the same brush.

Tags: customers, pharmacy life | |

Customer staring me down at the pharmacy counter: “What do you recommend for this cold? I have a bad cough and all this (expletive) in my lungs.”  Not being horribly busy at the time I decide to play very-concerned-and-dedicated-to-your-health-pharmacist and go see what he needs.  Since it appears he wants to hack up his lungs AT my feet (clean up , aisle 5!)  I keep a polite distance and secretly wish that a Hazmat suit was part of my uniform…or at least the headwear was.

I ask him the usual questions and ascertain that what he really needs is an expectorant and cough suppressant. And in this blog I prefer to avoid endorsements, so lets just say I recommended Gunk-away DM as the perfect med for his symptoms.  He was at the tail end of this cold and he needed no deongestants, antihistamines, pain relievers, etc.   I told him to drink a lot of fluids, it won’t keep him awake (OR put him to sleep), and lookie, its even on sale!  He had just enough questions to be annoying.  (this isn’t rocket science dude. you are 50 years old, this cannot POSSIBLY be your first cold!). Finally I escaped back into the pharmacy and let him ponder all I told him.

A few minutes later he was at the cash register with a box of Tylenol PM.  “Um, did you want the Gunk-Away?” I asked him.  He just snorfled a bit and said “Nah, this always works”.  (resist the urge to tear hair out…or tear HIS out)

And so dear readers, If you ever wonder why your pharmacist doesn’t seem overly interested in your cold, your hemorrhoids or the rash on your elbow…think of this man and realize this sort of thing happens All..the…time..

Tags: customers, pharmacy life | |

I really hate it when parents send their kids in to do their own work.  This day this 8-9 year old kid is standing at the counter and his dad is about 5 feet behind him.  “Well, go ahead and ask her!” he said and the kid meekly asks “for what?”.  I don’t have time for this crap.  “Your prescription” he says.  I play the part and ask.  “What is your name?”  and he replies “Steve” (fake name by the way).  Clearly we are getting nowhere.  We don’t file prescriptions by first name so I address the father ” What is the patients full name please?”.  He tells me. “Steven Anderson”. 

I find the prescription on the shelf, one I did several hours ago.  Its a new patient to ME but since I had his address on the e-script, I found one other family member (his mother), linked them up and filled the rx.  Only problem was the insurance was out of date.  I had filled the antibiotic for cash, about $15.  I told papa, ” we need current insurance for Steven.” to which he told me “You have it on file”.  

I truly hate it when people tell me this.  ”On file” could mean anything.  His mother was the only patient in our system and the last time she was here was in 2008.  Clearly ON FILE was synonymous with “nothing ever changes!”.  I had to tell papa that Steve was a new patient and the ONLY other family member’s insurance was expired.  The price is $15 or I need a new insurance card.  To that, he informed me he didn’t carry the card with him.  WTF?  its a 2×3 piece of plastic, keep it in your wallet!

And so I went to the cash register and run up the $15 to which he looked at me incredulously.  ” I have insurance!”.  “And you do not have the card with you, so it is $15.00″. I politely replied.  He put his hands on the counter and said “And DON’T YOU BILL AETNA?”  –this guy was from the slow class, clearly.–  I said.  ” Yes I bill Aetna and a thousand other plans, but I need your card.  Without the card that you said you do not have, I cannot bill this prescription for anything but cash.” “Bring me the card and I will bill Aetna or whomever is their provider”.

How stupid can people be?  Can I walk into the grocery store, pick out a grocery cart full of items, walk thru the checkstand, and ask “DON’T YOU TAKE VISA?”   but refuse to provide the card because ” I dont carry it?”.  Steve just stood there (as I would expect an clueless 8 year old to do) as his father finally paid the bill.  I began to provide the necessary counsel to which he said ” Tell HIM”, pointing to Steve.  Sorry buddy, I am not counseling an 8 year old kid.   I pretended he was joking  (haha), ignored  his statement and continued to tell  him about proper storage, usage, discard and side effects.

And, wished them both a good day.

Poor kid.

Tags: customers, insurance | |

Step one.  Wake up to casually notice your neighbors lights are on. (which are NEVER on at 630 in the morning).

Step two.  Receive a phone call from said neighbor who announced her husband had committed suicide in the middle of the night…in her presence.

Step three.  After rushing to neighbors house with condolances and talking, somehow have to get  your head to function and get to work.

Step four.  Intern leaves message and says she is too sick to work. (one more person down and H1N1 Vaccines scheduled all day)

Step five. Arrive at store to find Electric gate jammed, trash not emptied, 20 rx’s not filled and 10 more not even processed and 40+ in the queue, vials empty, and a forboding sense that “this day is not going to be good”.

(clouds building)

Step six.  Spend next 12 and 3/4 hours with no rest. no food. no bathroom break and begging that 9pm will arrive without perishing yourself. Receive phone calls all day from neighbors trying to make arrangements for the recent widow. Desperately wish you were at home helping out there instead of here at work.  You are exhausted, surly, hungry and have nothing else to give. Look at the stats and see that you have done the same number of RX that you did on monday with half the staff. No wonder you brain is fried.

(Thunder rolls)

Step SEVEN.  Two strangers arrive with a chip on their shoulder.  They left town without insulin…..2 friggin days ago….and only NOW, 10 minutes prior to closing decide to address this issue.  (can you hear the camel’s back breaking?).  Tell patient that she will address this issue in the morning.  Patient tells you that you HAVE to take care of them because you are a PUBLIC SERVANT.. wtf?

(Lightning strikes!)

Step eight. Snap like a twig!  Tell two strangers that this was an issue they should dealt with the day before or at least HOURS earlier, not 10 minutes before  the store closes, and since you are not employed by neither the city, county, state, or federal govt, that while the working conditions are slave-like, you ARE NOT however a public servant…..

The rest of the interaction when downhill from there.  These people weren’t worth a piece of lint to me by this time. They were irresponsible about their health care and expected (no, DEMANDED) me to care about it when they didn’t care about it themselves. I was surly. I was out of line.  They complained to the management.

I just couldn’t care about them. Who I cared about blew his brains out.  Who I cared about was a widow trying to survive this day.

I am sure there will be hell to pay at work on monday.  I dont think I’ll care much about that either.

Tags: customers, personal life | |

I may take a round about way to get to my point in this post, but trust me, I’ll get there.

I got my very first job when I was 14 and 11/12th years old.  (you had to be 15 to work in my state) My next door neighbor managed a very nice steak house and I got a job bussing tables.  In the town that I lived in, there were only a few really NICE  places to eat, and this was one of them.  From the outside, it looked like a huge 3-pointed A-frame ski chalet.  On the inside it had a dark and private ambience since most of the tables were either booths or enclosed in smoked plexiglass. It really was a nice place for a quiet meal, and apparently the atmosphere worked because it was not uncommon to have 1-2 hour wait lists for dinner on the weekends. That fact alone was phenomenal to me, especially as an adult.  I wouldn’t care if they are serving hundred dollar bills with their meals, I won’t wait 1-2 hours for a meal.  

If you have ever worked in a restaurant, you can testify that the calmness and the soft dark ambience of the front part (the tables),  defies the crazy atmosphere of the kitchen part of ANY restaurant, and this was no different.  Order accuracy and prompt delivery of the hot food was critical.   The two cooks worked feverishly cooking and sorting orders so that not only were individual orders  done correctly , but that the were finished at the same time, since different foods cooked at different rates.   Wait staff were barking requests, the bus help were dashing around keeping the dirty dishes managed, and the dishwashers in the back were constantly transforming dirty dishes into clean ones.  We never seemed to have enough silverware so getting to the clean dishes first was a priority for us.   It was LOUD, it was DISORDERLY sometimes, but honestly it was seldom DISORGANIZED.  It could be called “organized chaos”.    However, the diner never got to see this.   With the kitchen out of view, they only saw their waitstaff disappear with their orders in hand, only to return a short time later with a platter full of nicely cooked steak and seafood.  It wasn’t their concern about HOW the food was prepared, only THAT it was prepared to their liking.  And for that great service they paid a premium ( restaurant prices) and a tip for the wait staff.

The pharmacy isn’t all that different in some regards.  For me personally, I try to portray an image of organization and order in the department.  Even tho we are in plain view and not hidden (tho I think we SHOULD be…another post maybe), Id rather not have the customer see the chaos that can be in the pharmacy.   I try to keep the people milling around to a minimum..(how do you say “go away” nicely??)  so that I can work as quickly and quietly as possible.  Because of this, there is a mistaken idea that we aren’t busy.    There doesn’t have to be 9 people standing around the pharmacy for me to be overwhelmed with work. 

I worked the day before Thanksgiving.  I really hate to work the days before a holiday.  Every “issue” that can come up, ususally does.  Whether it be ” I have to get on a plane in 2 hours and I need this refill oked by my doctor” ( fuggetaboutit), or ” This is Aunt Edna who left her Lantus in Sheboygan, she needs it right away” and has no pharmacy name or number, the day before a holiday is usually fraught with a zillion fires for the pharmacy staff to put out.   About half way thru the day, we had a time where we had probably 1-2 hour of wait time to pick up  prescriptions.  We had close to 40 unfilled (non waiters) and probably 20 waiters that were some where in the store.  They just happened to NOT be at the pharmacy.  This man walked up with yet another waiter, looked around and said “Hmmm…looks like you aren’t very busy today”.   A part of me just snapped.   “Actually sir, we have a 2 hour wait for these prescriptions”.  He looked flabbergasted. “But there is nobody here!” He said.  I told him, “Oh, they are all here..you aren’t looking close enough..they are ALL OVER THE STORE.”.

Maybe I do a disservice to myself by making the pharmacy look calm and collected to the customer.  Maybe they need to see the chaos that is inside.  Maybe I need a number taker out front so they can see how far down the list they actually are.  Just like the restaurant,  they see the nice exterior and fail to see beehive of activity that exists within the prep area so that their (and everybody elses) finished product is done on time and accurately.  Maybe we need an educational video that shows the real life activity in a pharmacy….Maybe I need to pull back the curtain a bit.

They only see THEIR needs, THEIR wants, and THEIR prescriptions.  If you get down to the marrow,  thats all they care about, so don’t kid yourself.  About the only time that people SEE the work load we endure is when the pick-up line is snaking down the aisle, and then we get to hear THEIR complaints about it. 

Would it matter if they knew?  Nah,  I doubt it.   Getting people to cooperate is like nailing Jello to a tree.   And so I just carry on. 

Order UP!

Tags: customers, pharmacy life, ranting and feeling the squeeze | |

Eric, Pharmacist, wrote a nice piece in Drug Topics recently about loyalty cards.  If you haven’t read it yet, click on his link on the blog roll you’ll find it there.  It got me thinking about the darn things and lacking anything really INTERESTING to write about today, I just decided to steal his own topic and simply add to it.  I’ll admit it, I have no shame…

If  I HAD to choose between either samples from the doctors office and the loyalty cards, I suppose I would choose the loyalty cards for the simple reason that I get NO money for samples that come from the doctors office but I do at least generate a sale from the latter.  That being said,  let me make this perfectly clear….Loyalty cards are a colossal pain in the Chick’s rear. 

To clarify…if its not clear enough..I don’t really mind the one-time-here-its-free cards.  Take the card, get your one month free supply of ExpensO-RXatrol and we are done. Finito, Over and out.  I never have to think about that transaction again.   Granted, there are a few brain trusts out there that seem to conveniently  forget  that the  card provided only a one month free supply and wonder rudely the next month “WHY do I have a $75 copay for Luxiq? I didn’t pay that LAST month??”  only to stomp off and refuse to take the prescription. 

No, the loyalty cards that tie the Chick’s feathers in a knot are the re-usable..monthly cards for 3 dispensings, 6 dispensings,  1 yr, 18 month…you get my drift.  Give me a break.  You get Pimple Face Finnegan in here with  Cards for Solodyn, EpiDuo, yada yada yada and his mother expects me to remember that each month this card goes with this drug and on and on…  SORRY MOM, THAT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN…

I fill over 6000 prescriptions each month.  99% of them are billed to some kind of insurance or discount plan.   I am damn excellent at keeping track of 1 insurance, and most of the time, if I have it bookmarked, i can sometimes remember the split bill…but not always.  Therefore, when I so these split bills, I tell the patient (in the most kind manner possible) “Dearest customer,  I take your loyalty cards, but it is YOUR responsibility to make sure they are done..not mine..so when you ORDER THE PRESCRIPTION, not pick it up, please remind the staff that you have this card because it will be  returned to the back of the line if it needs to be rebilled at the time of pick-up. ”  

Unfortunately my computer does not have any kind of “flag” that tells me that any given rx was split billed.  It just doesn’t. And while I do my best to put “split bill” in the comment line, that comment line applies to every thing we look at on their file, not just that rx.   Nothing stops the line from moving quicker than when my tech moves from the cash register TO a computer with a RX and a loyalty card…and does NOT move the customer out of the way.  I have endured too many glares from customers when I tell them to step away from the counter when we rebill cards for them…Know what??? Tough noogies. If you want to have $25 knocked off your Diovan..wait your turn.

Now we have special loyalty cards that frustrate the cashier also. Not only do they require a split bill, but they “fund” a card that has to be swiped at the cash register, in order for the customer to receive the loyalty discount.  (Insert head slap here!).  These transactions have to be very specially done, in order to work. In a nutshell, if the copay is $40 for Aciphex, and the card takes $30 off, then the clerk has to ring up  $40, collect $10 FIRST, to make the remainder $30 show on the register…then the customer has to slide the loyalty card, put in the PIN number, and process to get the #30 off. It will not work in any other order. 

My question WHAT THE HECK for??.  Why add this step when the split bill process would have been sufficient?  Im just sayin….

Recently this woman brought me 4 prescriptions for acne medications from a physician whose sole purpose in life (I believe) is to promote the most expensive dermatologicals on the planet. I believe I have written about him before.  Each of these rx’s had a loyalty card associated with it, but some were actually duplications in treatment.  “Mom” gave me this deck of cards and rx’s and wanted me to provide “whichever was the cheaper product”.  Steaming with rage because we were slammed (being a Monday).  I wasted close to 30 minutes billing, and rebilling this nightmare, for which she thanked  me by taking NONE of them.   “I just wanted to know how much they cost”. 

Maam?  may the fleas of a thousand camels find solace in your underwear tonight.

Tags: customers, doctors, insurance, pharmacy life, rambling | |

Often Pharmacy Chick is called to counsel on subjects of utmost importance to a customer…the process of pooping.   Of all the ailments I offer advice on, (colds, flu, cough, athletes foot, vitamins, allergy eyes, dandruff…well you get it), Constipation and diarrhea seem to top the list for IMPORTANCE and adherence to my advice.  Rarely does anybody question my wisdom…why I don’t know.  Maybe I look like defecation expert. 

Today I received a call from a lady whose daughter had surgery and was given narcotics.  True to form they caused some constipation and she wanted some help for the daughter.  I felt it was important to narrow down exactly what she needed so I asked the question.  “does she feel like she HAS to poop and just can’t get it out or does she just want to poop in the future?”    The answer to that led me to suggest Bisacodyl suppositories for her to provide the immediate relief she was desiring.  I hung up the phone and the relief tech next to me was standing there gaped mouth  “DID you just say POOP to her?”.  I told her that her ears functioned perfectly, Yes I did say “poop”.   She was aghast. 

Look, I talk in regular English.  Why use a Dollar word when a 10 cent word works just as well?  

Poop is poop.  Aren’t we supposed to be understood? 

Thats what I thought.  Thank. you.

Tags: customers, pharmacy life | |

There are few more humbling experiences than going to a nursing home.  Whether it be to visit a family member, or in my case, give a flu clinic,  I find this experience both rewarding and a stern reminder that my body is frail and someday will betray me.

Each year I pack up my vaccine and visit a particular assisted living facility.  There are several levels of care, ranging from “nearly no care required” to “completely incapacitated”.   Since I have visited this same location for four years I have been privy to seeing the same faces over and over.  Ths is particular facility can best be described as “premier”.   They only take private pay and private insurance.  No welfare here.  The entry looks like a fancy hotel.  There is a concierge. They have a hair salon, a movie room and regular outings for whoever wants to go.  Soft music plays over the sounds of the residents moving about.  About the only way you’d know this was NOT a hotel would be the condition of the residents.  Wheelchairs and walkers replace business suits and briefcases of a typical hotel lobby. 

Because I have come to this place for several years, I have become recognized and welcomed.  Several of them actually patronize my store (or have their family members pick up their prescriptions).  They know me by name. One even knows Mr. Chick from some other place and time.  She always asks “So how is Mr Chick!”, and remembers him by first name. Considering she is in her mid 80’s and hasn’t seen Mr Chick for 13 yrs really says something to me.  She is sharp!.

Not all are this way however.   Nearly everybody who lives there has a reason for doing so.  They cannot or should not live alone anymore.  I only hope to have the financial ability to live like this when I need such care.  One such couple are Leo and Bess.  I met them several years ago.  Leo was a quiet man. Bess was the alpha female.  I suspect this was because Leo was in physical decline long before we met.  He didn’t say much but was politely conversant.  Time has ravaged him.  When I came to the facility (LTC for short)  even I was surprised.  He was hunched over in a wheelchair and resides in the memory care unit.  Bess spends most of her days knitting next to him in a chair.   She still freely moves about.  Leo does not. 

Sam was a retired physician.  Four years ago he praised my needle technique; “You give a mean shot pharmacy lady!”  “Good job!”.  He too lives in the alzheimers unit now and didn’t even know he received his vaccination. 

Henry and Carol used to live near my store. Both were long time customers.  When their kids moved they moved into this LTC.  He still has his spark, but no longer walks unaided to my clinic.  He slowly and carefully uses a walker.    This year Carol chose to stay in her room.  She didnt feel well enough for her shot.

Frank loves the Lord.  He told me about 40 times.  He is just biding his time til he goes home to be with Jesus. I know this because he told me.  I just met him this year.  He is the LTC newest resident according to Frank, all of 1 week.  Of course, I can’t always believe what they say. He said he wants to remember my name for next year.

Phyllis was a kick.  She too lives in the Alzheimer’s unit.  I’d describe her as high functioning dementia..if you didn’t know, you’d might not figure it out.  She was napping, when I came to give her the shot.  The aide woke her up and she had still just enough modesty to not want her shirt pulled up too high because she had no bra on.  We worked around it.  The aide said “Phyllis its time for your shot!” to which she replied ” Well of course!  I spoke with her (pointing to me) about it this morning!”  We never had any such conversation. I gave her the shot and moved to the next resident…and the next….about 15 minutes later she walked into the private room where I was giving a shot with her bra in hand.  “I found it..will you help me put it on?”

One lady nearly needed subduing, not becasue she was angry, but because she was singing at the top of her lungs. “Glory, Glory Halleluia!” Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”

I am grateful for the fully functioning body that I currently own.  Yea, its getting older.  My hips hurt after long days on my feet.  I have some arthritis in my thumb, and I notice that small jowls  now reside where my clean jaw line used to be.  I no longer like a side view of my face.  A few crows feet are sneaking in around my eyes and I have more grey hairs than I’d like to admit.   Despite normal aging, I am in good shape.    I play golf, tennis and move around freely.  My brain functions normally (tho I think Mr Chick might have something to say about that).  

It may or may not always remain that way.  And, it only takes an anual trip the LTC to remind me of my current good fortune.  Dementia doesn’t run in my family. Most of my relatives (save, my mother) have lived into their 90’s.  My grand mother is 96, and lives in a nursing home, and is getting a bit forgetful herself now.   I hope  if somebody comes and gives her a flu shot and she talks a little nonsense, that they are nice and patient.

I just wanna love on Henry, Carol, Phyllis, Leo, Bess, Sam and Frank a little while longer…and rewind their clocks a bit.

Tags: customers, memorable customers, pharmacy life | |

I guess flu shots will earn a lot of write-time this year…its always good for a story.

1. Mr Copafeel.  This guy came in for his flu shot. I sit next to my patients when I give flu shots.  I took all his info and asked him to rest his arm at his side…He flops his arm over the arm rest..and right between my legs.  Um, ok..comfortable??

2. Ms “I’m in a hurry”.  She wasn’t in any mood to wait, but there wasn’t going to be a choice.  We were buried, both in flu shots and prescriptions.  After trying to negotiate her insurance, we finally gave up and told her she had to pay.  “whine whine whine…fine, I’ll pay”. when I finally got to sit next to her to GIVE her shot, her friggin cell phones rings…AND SHE ANSWERS IT…but NO she didn’t say “I’ll call you back”..she takes  the entire call.  Piss on this…I just stick her in the arm, and she is yakking away as if she is the only person in the wait room.  I try to get her to move from  the “victim’s chair” but she just settles in to take her call till I finally give her the thumbs up to please GET UP.  She keeps this phone call going all the way thru the payment.  PUHLEEZE.  We use to have a sign asking people to get the hell off their phones  but corporate took it down. H.o.w.R.u.d.e.

3. Miss Scaredy cat.  I honestly wasn’t sure I should give her a shot today.  She wanted it (so she says) but I think I needed IV Valium to keep this girl in the chair. She was completely freaked out by the needle.  I was ready to ask for restraints. I asked her ” Kim, are YOU SURE you want this shot?  you are going nuts here…”..She did..I am not sure who was more stressed out…her or me by the time she was done.

Ya’ll are welcome to share your own flu shot folly stories with everybody!

Tags: customers, pharmacy life | |