Dr Z, my wonderful onco at REX UNC made his recommendations. I chose bilateral mastectomy and hopefully immediate reconstruction. He gave me a list surgeons as well that he said did great work. None of those surgeons do immediate reconstruction. I asked him how long I could put this surgery off due to there still being a small amount of the cancer left after the initial lumpectomy. He said that at the latest he would prefer the surgery to be done by mid January, or late January at the absolute latest.
I discovered that Duke U is the only surgical that does this type of immediate reconstruction so I called them back on Nov 16. THEY wanted me to call one number to set up my medical records and another number to get copies of all my cancer related records from my various tests and doctors. I set up the medical records number. I called the other number. The woman says she can email me the hippa release form. I said why dont you just fax it, and Ill fax it right back. She says ok.
NO FAX COMES. i wait another 4 days to talk to this woman again and tell her i never got the fax. No answer because apparently they dont DO any of this faxing of hippas over the thanksgiving holiday.
I finally get ahold of Jennifer, the same woman I spoke to about getting the fax, she says- You didnt get it? Hmmm Oh, I sent it. Let me send it again.
NO FRIGGIN FAX
I immediately call her back and tell her to email it to me and I will IMMEDIATELY fax it to her. I fax it to her. I call her back and ask her if she got it. She says yes. She says that she'll submit it and theyll get ahold of my records and call me for appointment. I waited a week. Guess what.
NO &^$*&^$#F#@ PHONECALL! I call the Duke number that I have, because my stupid dog chewed up my notebook where i keep this under par Jennifers personal work line. I get voicemail...some kind of greeting that promises they'll call me back before 5pm if I left a message before 4pm. If Im leaving a message after 4pm, theyll get back to me by noon, next business day.
TWO MESSAGES AND 5 BUSINESS DAYS LATER no RETURN CALLS, NO MSGS.i
I call the main appointment line for the entire hospital and ask for the Breast Clinic- I figure THEYLL miraculously figure this all out. THREE TIMES I get transferred from the appointment line to an automated msg that gives you HALF of the number you shouldve dialed, and then it hangs up. GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
I decide screw this, Ill call the plastic surgery clinic at Duke and see if THEY can help me. The very nice woman there at Dr. office asks me if I got assigned a medical no. I gave her the one that Duke gave me when I made my first phonecall. The poor woman tells me that number cant possibly be right, because all med record numbers have letters at the beginning. I know I wrote down the right number. Ive been very organized since the cancer process started. So I did the best thing I could figure out to do.
I burst into big dramatic tears. I was nearing hysteria when I heard her say-lets go ahead forgo all that set you up for a consult with dr zenn and get this moving for you. Her only stipulation was that I needed to make an appointment at Duke with a general surgeon (one regular surgeon does mastectomy, plastic surgeon then takes over and does reconstruction) for more info on the procedure go here . What an angel she was! They are seeing me on Dec 23rd.
I then call the number she gave me to schedule with a surgeon at Duke. Its almost 5pm. I explain the cancer yadda yadda and this guy finally gets me going in the right direction. I choose an appointment on the 21st of Dec. Unfortunately thanks to JENNIFER, time is getting short and I gotta make 2 4 hour trips in two days DURING retail season, right before Christmas. Yay. Wait till my boss hears this. So this guy is going over the details, confirms my appointment AND THE godforsaken phone line goes dead. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I call back, simultaneously looking at the clock and its 3 minutes after 5. SO guess what...NO ONE IS ANSWERING THE PHONES AT THE APPT LINE. So tomorrow morning I have to call back and HOPE he registered my appointment. EVEN though he only had my name.
Yeah. Im completely furious. Stoopid cancer.
I discovered that Duke U is the only surgical that does this type of immediate reconstruction so I called them back on Nov 16. THEY wanted me to call one number to set up my medical records and another number to get copies of all my cancer related records from my various tests and doctors. I set up the medical records number. I called the other number. The woman says she can email me the hippa release form. I said why dont you just fax it, and Ill fax it right back. She says ok.
NO FAX COMES. i wait another 4 days to talk to this woman again and tell her i never got the fax. No answer because apparently they dont DO any of this faxing of hippas over the thanksgiving holiday.
I finally get ahold of Jennifer, the same woman I spoke to about getting the fax, she says- You didnt get it? Hmmm Oh, I sent it. Let me send it again.
NO FRIGGIN FAX
I immediately call her back and tell her to email it to me and I will IMMEDIATELY fax it to her. I fax it to her. I call her back and ask her if she got it. She says yes. She says that she'll submit it and theyll get ahold of my records and call me for appointment. I waited a week. Guess what.
NO &^$*&^$#F#@ PHONECALL! I call the Duke number that I have, because my stupid dog chewed up my notebook where i keep this under par Jennifers personal work line. I get voicemail...some kind of greeting that promises they'll call me back before 5pm if I left a message before 4pm. If Im leaving a message after 4pm, theyll get back to me by noon, next business day.
TWO MESSAGES AND 5 BUSINESS DAYS LATER no RETURN CALLS, NO MSGS.i
I call the main appointment line for the entire hospital and ask for the Breast Clinic- I figure THEYLL miraculously figure this all out. THREE TIMES I get transferred from the appointment line to an automated msg that gives you HALF of the number you shouldve dialed, and then it hangs up. GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
I decide screw this, Ill call the plastic surgery clinic at Duke and see if THEY can help me. The very nice woman there at Dr. office asks me if I got assigned a medical no. I gave her the one that Duke gave me when I made my first phonecall. The poor woman tells me that number cant possibly be right, because all med record numbers have letters at the beginning. I know I wrote down the right number. Ive been very organized since the cancer process started. So I did the best thing I could figure out to do.
I burst into big dramatic tears. I was nearing hysteria when I heard her say-lets go ahead forgo all that set you up for a consult with dr zenn and get this moving for you. Her only stipulation was that I needed to make an appointment at Duke with a general surgeon (one regular surgeon does mastectomy, plastic surgeon then takes over and does reconstruction) for more info on the procedure go here . What an angel she was! They are seeing me on Dec 23rd.
I then call the number she gave me to schedule with a surgeon at Duke. Its almost 5pm. I explain the cancer yadda yadda and this guy finally gets me going in the right direction. I choose an appointment on the 21st of Dec. Unfortunately thanks to JENNIFER, time is getting short and I gotta make 2 4 hour trips in two days DURING retail season, right before Christmas. Yay. Wait till my boss hears this. So this guy is going over the details, confirms my appointment AND THE godforsaken phone line goes dead. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I call back, simultaneously looking at the clock and its 3 minutes after 5. SO guess what...NO ONE IS ANSWERING THE PHONES AT THE APPT LINE. So tomorrow morning I have to call back and HOPE he registered my appointment. EVEN though he only had my name.
Yeah. Im completely furious. Stoopid cancer.
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