I Guess I'll Survive (Part 5)

The Ol' Universe was rolling on the floor, clutching its universe-y innards, hee-hawing at the continuing shenanigans with Mrs. HM's medication.

Just when I was celebrating the successful procurement of my vital drug, in fact on the phone with The Pony arranging to drive over to Bill-Paying Town and pick it up that very afternoon... I got a call from the pharmacy.

"Hello? Is this Mrs. HM? I'm calling from YOUR CLINIC Family Care Pharmacy. Your NP asked me to give you a call about your medicine. It looks like your insurance won't cover this brand name drug. The cost will be $168. He wanted to make sure you knew that, to see if you still want it."

"Yes! I've been getting a 30-day supply, and it cost me $66.31. So I imagine this is for a 90-day supply. I normally wouldn't want that much, in case he might have to change it back to the 50mg. But with this, I could take two and it would be the same thing. So I'm fine with the $168. It's not a problem to get the 90. Especially since I have to drive 25 miles to get it. I'll be there this afternoon to pick it up."

"Oh. Well. We don't have it HERE. We'll have to get it. But we should have it tomorrow (Thursday) by noon."

"That will be fine! I'll be there to get it."

"We will call when it's ready. It will be a St. Louis phone number, just so you know. From our automated system."

"That's good to know. I'll be waiting for it."

So close, but yet so far! The Universe was dangling that beta blocker in front of me like a carrot on a stick. But at least I was six days closer to getting it.

THURSDAY

I started my morning routine early. It takes me three hours to do my unwrapping of legs, exercises, shower, leg pumps, and re-wrap. I wanted to have time for breakfast, and innernetting, and some laundry, and dish-washing. Then leave at 1:30 to pick up The Pony at 2:00, and go get my precious, long-awaited prescription. I had my ear on the phone, waiting for that pharmacy call to say it was ready.

I waited. A lot. Started to doubt The Universe once again. That merry prankster!

At 11:46, my phone rang. It was a St. Louis number. I answered, and it was the recording that my prescription was ready for pickup. YAAAAYYYYYYYY!

The Pony and I started our Errand Day with this pickup over in Bill-Paying Town. The pharmacy has a drive-thru window. Not the kind I prefer, that slides open and lets you talk face-to-face as they hand you the prescription. But one of those slide-out metal drawers that are a bit low for T-Hoe, with the worker hermetically sealed behind thick unbreakable glass.

The gal was very nice. She asked if I was sure I wanted the brand name. YES! She told me that there was only one bottle left at their supplier. And since they didn't have anybody else getting this drug from their pharmacy, they gave me the whole thing. Which was 100 tablets instead of 90. The cost would be $181.95. Was that okay? YES!

I tossed my debit card down into the drawer, and she sent out an electronic signing thingy for my signature with a fingertip. Then I sent it back, and got my precious DRUGS!

The gal said that when I'm almost out, to notify them so they can have a few days to get my refill. You can bet I will be doing that. I sure hope there's not a shortage at that time, or I might have to go through this all over again!

I Guess I'll Survive (Part 4)

It shouldn't be so hard to get a prescription filled. Here it was, Wednesday, and I'd been trying since the previous Thursday. Even Farmer H, with his poor communication skills, should have been able to explain what was needed, and gotten results by now. Surely Mrs. HM, a former VALedictiorian, with a 28-year teaching career, should have been able to convey her information successfully.

WEDNESDAY cont.

I finished washing my dishes. I did not run to check the phone. I can only take so many disappointments in a week. It was probably just junk email at 7:29 a.m.

But no! I saw the email was about a new message in YourChart! Which meant I had to rush back to the kitchen, because I can't get logged in and then go back to that screen on my phone. I'm sure it's a phone glitch, heh, heh, and not user error.

Once HIPPIE got warmed up, I read the most beautiful message:

_________________________________________________________

Hello Mrs. Hillbilly Mom,

The medication renewals below were approved. Please check with your pharmacy to determine when it is available for pickup or delivery.

The following prescriptions will be filled at MY CLINIC Family Care Pharmacy - Bill-Paying Town, MO.

Toprol XL 25mg extended release tablet

Thank you for using YourChart.

__________________________________________________________

I could hardly contain my glee! I was getting it! I was getting my prescription that I need to live! FINALLY, after a week of chasing it.

I called The Pony to set a pickup time to ride over to Bill-Paying Town. I mainly wanted the company, and a spare driver in case I began feeling dizzy. Or in case T-Hoe succumbed to the 100+ degree heat, I'd have The Pony to organize our rescue. We planned for 2:00.

And then I got a phone call at 12:55.

I Guess I'll Survive (Part 3)

Monday morning, I was still trying to get the prescription that I'd been given on Thursday.

MONDAY

I called the clinic around 8:30. Got a different gal than Friday. Told her that I was not able to get the Toprol XL 25mg prescription that had been called into Farmer H's pharmacy on Friday evening. So I would need either the generic, metoprolol XL 25mg, which my pharmacy had in stock... or a similar beta blocker, depending on what NP thought. Different Gal assured me she would pass this info along to the care team.

That was it. Nothing else on Monday. No return phone call. No YourChart message.

TUESDAY

I figured I'd wait my the pharmacy opened, so I could check on whether a prescription had been sent in. The gal there said yes. It was for Toprol XL 25mg. I said, "Which you still can't get." And she said yes. And that she remembered this situation. I thanked her, and told her I would be calling my doctor again. She said she would keep an eye out for a prescription for me.

I called the clinic. Got 3rd Gal. She seemed totally disinterested in my request. But said she would send the message to NP. Of course I kept my phone with me, checking at any incoming sound, lest it be a text from the pharmacy, or a YourChart message.

At 11:34, I got an email about a new YourChart message. Imagine my surprise when the message showed that a Toprol XL 50mg prescription had been canceled, and a new prescription for Toprol XL 25mg had been sent to my pharmacy.

THAT DIDN'T HELP! They'd sent another prescription that couldn't be filled!

I called the clinic. Got 4th Gal. Who was kind and understood and seemed like somebody who could get something done.

"I don't mean to be complaining. I just want to get my prescription. I've made a lot of calls here, and nothing seems to get done."

"I will expedite this to your provider. I will use different words, so maybe he will understand. Don't you worry. You HAVE to keep on them to get anything done!"

That gave me high hopes that I'd hear something before I left for town. Nope. Not a word. So frustrating. I told Farmer H when he got home, and I had heard nothing by 5:00.

"I'll go down there tomorrow! I'll go to the counter and tell 'em that you HAVE to get your medicine! This is ridiculous. Tomorrow it will be a WEEK, and you still don't have it!"

"They're not going to tell you anything! Even though you're listed on my contacts, and that you can pick up my meds. They'll say, 'Why isn't SHE talking to us about it?' It won't do any good, and you'll just make a scene."

"Then YOU should go down there! Tell them ain't nobody doin' nothin' to get it right."

"I'll think about it. I'll call the pharmacy, in case they sent something in this afternoon. Then I'll call the clinic again. I might just ask for a work-in appointment. So I can talk to NP in person! To get this figured out!"

WEDNESDAY

The plan was in place. The Pony was on call to ride with me, if I had to make an appointment and go to the clinic over in Bill-Paying Town. Farmer H, who usually drives me, would be busy working on Cheap House. Which he hadn't done on Monday or Tuesday, having been ON ANOTHER JOB FOR HIS MONEY, putting in electricity for some random guy.

I gave The Pony a wake-up call at 7:15. Said I planned to wait until the pharmacy opened at 9:00, to call and see if by some miracle a prescription had been sent for me on Tuesday evening. I said I'd be calling the clinic if not, and trying to get an appointment. I should know by 9:30 what I was going to do.

Then I went to wash dishes as usual. I heard my phone make an incoming noise at 7:29. Hmm... I wonder that that could be. Don't you?

I Guess I'll Survive (Part 2)

I was back home from my NP appointment Thursday afternoon, waiting for a text that my prescriptions were ready before I went back to town. The text came in 1:53. It said that ONE prescription was ready. Well. That would not do. I was supposed to have two. Sometimes that automated system makes a mistake, and sometimes they are waiting for a drug to come in the next day. So I called before I left for town at 3:30 to be sure, before parking T-Hoe in line at the drive-thru of my pharmacy.

The lady said there was only one prescription, the levothyroxine. That they could not fill the Toprol XL 25mg. First she said because it was too soon, since I'd just gotten a refill on the Toprol XL two weeks ago. Yes. But I pointed out that was the 50mg, and my NP had changed the prescription to 25mg. That it was a DIFFERENT prescription, and that such a drug can't be cut in half. 

THEN she said they couldn't get Toprol at all. In any strength. They couldn't get it from their supplier. I said that was odd, because I'd gotten it from them for many years, and in fact, I'd gotten it ONLY TWO WEEKS AGO. Still, she said it was not available. I said I would call my doctor (NP) and see what to do. That I'd wait to come later for my levothyroxine.

By this time, I needed to get to town, because Farmer H would be getting home and want supper. Besides, it would be hard to get a response from the clinic in that short time period, since they close at 5:00. I decided I'd call them first thing on Friday morning.

FRIDAY

I called the clinic at 8:15. I got a very pleasant gal who listened to my tale, and said she'd check with my NP, and call me back. That call came at 3:53, when I'd just gotten back from town. She said that NP suggested I try another pharmacy, so I said Farmer H's pharmacy, which is also in town. She said they'd send it there, but they would need to know if I couldn't get it, and they would be leaving at 5:00. I told her I didn't think I would be going back to town, so I wouldn't know, but that I'd call Monday if I couldn't get it.

Farmer H said they were open until 6:00, so I tried to call, but of course could only get a recording asking for my prescription number (which of course I didn't have) or my phone number (which of course they didn't have a record of, because it's not my pharmacy). The recording kept saying they didn't have that phone number. And cutting me off. No option to talk to a person.

Farmer H said he'd send a text to his woman there! He has her phone number. He asked if they could fill a Toprol XL prescription for me. His woman didn't see the text until after 8:00, and sent him a response the next morning that she didn't know, because she was home.

SATURDAY

I planned to go by Farmer H's pharmacy to see if they had my prescription for Toprol XL 25mg. Since I'd rather not stand in line inside, or deal with it through glass at the drive-thru, I tried calling again. When that recording kept asking for the prescription number and phone number, I said I didn't have the number. And it gave me a REAL PERSON at the local store!

She was quite gruff, but very nice. Kind of like my grandma. Polite, but no-nonsense. She said that yes, they had a prescription sent in for me, but that they don't carry Toprol. That it would have to be filled off-site. And that if I couldn't get it at my pharmacy, it was probably due to a manufacturer hold, and no one would be able to get it. She said if I found somebody to fill it, she would gladly transfer my prescription there. 

THEN I drove over to MY pharmacy, to ask if they had the generic version, the metoprolol XL 25mg. I figured there was no reason to ask my NP to try that if they didn't have the generic, either. In that case he'd have to prescribe something else. 

Such a simple question to ask, yet I was drawn into a "Who's On First?" routine at the drive-thru window. An old gal gave me my levothyroxine. In the routine manner, she asked if I had any questions for the pharmacist as she was ringing it up.

"Yes. But it's about my other prescription. I'll ask when we get done with this."

Old Gal asked me twice more if I had any questions for the pharmacist. YES! I asked, "Do you have the generic, metoprolol extended-release in 25mg?" She said, "That's the generic." YES! She turned to ask the pharmacist, whom I could see a few feet away behind the tall counter.

[I must add here that I use this pharmacy because the pharmacist was an older brother of two of my students. He's such a nice guy. When I was released from my Unfortunate HospitVALzation, he drove across town to get the rest of a prescription I needed that they didn't have enough of. But I haven't seen him at the pharmacy for several weeks now. I don't know if it's the hours, or if he moved on.

Anyhoo... THIS pharmacist was a hateful witchy woman who acted like she had her broomstick rammed up her rumpus. So cranky. I've heard her talking in there before, through the drive-thru.]

Witchy Pharmacist said she hadn't heard a thing. So Old Gal repeated my question. Witchy Pharmacist started ranting that they CAN'T GET TOPROL. That my doctor had called to question her about it on Friday. And that the last she heard, I was supposed to call my doctor. She ranted a bit more, but never answered whether they have the generic, metoprolol XL 25mg. I kept trying to explain again to Old Gal. Who kept repeating that Toprol is the brand name.

"I KNOW THAT! All I want to know is: Do you have metoprolol XL 25mg?"

Old Gal asked Witchy Pharmacist. Who huffed that yes, they have metoprolol XL 25mg. But added that I would need to call my doctor. Well, of course I would. On Monday, when his office was open. It's not like I was expecting her to hand me a prescription for the metoprolol right then and there. I just wanted to know if they had it, before I called NP. 

As you can see, this quest to pick up my medicine was not going well. But there's more...

I Guess I'll Survive (Part 1)

Time for me to be the star of this show again! Farmer H will just have to heal and stop doing dramatic things. I had my own doctor NP appointment on Thursday. It was a follow-up for after I completed the therapy for lymphedema. After all that, NP didn't even want to look at my legs!

I had asked the nurse if she thought he might want to see them. You know, that's the point of the visit. She said she didn't know, but that I should probably wait and see when he came in. No need to take off my leg wraps in case he didn't need to look. She said she could tell, even from looking at my wrapped, pants-clad legs, how much they had changed. She said they looked great.

My other issue was to talk to NP about my blood pressure medication. I told him first thing that I had been having dizzy spells, and that I had stopped taking the 10 mg lisinopril. NP said, "That's probably why you're dizzy!" I don't think he meant it as a joke. But I DID explain that first I had cut it in half for two weeks, and the dizziness was not as frequent. And that I had been off it completely for a month, and the dizziness was better than when I took a half. Also, that I'd been taking my blood pressure in the evening, and it was 120/60 most evenings. Once it had been 118/58. And that the previous evening, it was 125/62. Also, that I had lost 30 pounds (intentionally) since my last appointment. And I was wondering if my other med needed to be adjusted.

Here's where it all goes to Not-Heaven! I explained that I did not mess with my Toprol XL 50 mg pill. I know you can't just stop taking a beta blocker. And I also know that I shouldn't cut it in half, because that would negate the extended-release feature that the XL stands for. NP agreed. He said he was going to change my prescription to Toprol XL 25 mg. And check my TSH levels for my thyroid, to make sure I wasn't being "overserved" with my levothyroxine 150 MCG. (Which turned out to be fine, with my blood results in the normal range.)

I left with an order for bloodwork. My next appointment was already scheduled for December. I met up with Farmer H in the waiting room, and we waited for my turn. The phlebotomist was a really nice gal who was in and out in less time than it took me to walk back to her cubicle. And completely painless!

We left with Farmer H having time to get to the Senior Center for lunch (meatloaf). All I had to do was wait for a text from my pharmacy that my levothyroxine and Toprol XL were ready. 

The Universe laughed...