Wednesday, December 21, 2011
memories
Well its that time of year and Christmas is creeping up our way! This particular time of this year brings back some HILARIOUS memories. I have always been around the 'healthcare' system so to speak ever since I was...well...practically born because my mom, as many of you know, is a nurse. Part of my biggest childhood memories are of me spending time getting to know and developing relationships with her residents. It is amazing what you learn and definitely what you hear and say.
While I was shopping today at Victorias' Secret one specific resident of my mothers'...(weird i know but you have to know the ol' woman)...came to mind and I just chuckled right there in the middle of the store.
This lady went by the name of Miss Gracie. Now anyone, hearing that name, has a sweet little woman who shows nothing but tender love and care comes to mind. Well...you're wrong. Don't get me wrong, she loveddddd me honey but Gracie was a kind of her own. Let me tell you....So the story begins.....
Miss Gracie, 98 years of age, came to my mom's nursing home about 2 years or so ago. I would hear my mom talk and talk about this lady and I could not wait to just see what the whole thing was about. So about two days before Christmas, I went and gathered up some Hersey kisses and put them in a pretty basket and drove up to Clinton (where my mom works) to go visit the residents and most of all..Gracie. So I get there and start walking and all of a sudden I hear this old woman hollering at a CNA saying, "you better get your nasty N***** hands off of me, or I'm going to beat the hell out of you" So i'm thinking to myself Lord, that's not Miss Georgia Bee, definitely not Mr. Thomas, or Ms. Lilly, or any of the other residents whom i'm familiar with...sounds like a racist old white woman. So I keep heading towards the dining hall and out pops from the room and old COLORED woman. She has one leg, and little bitty braids, and the biggest smile with about 2 teeth total still intact to her gums. She wheels herself towards me and the first thing out of her mouth was "Lord honey child, you could have made some good money back in the day." I, startled am thinking I KNOW that she's not talking about what I think she is. Right after directly my mom walks and says now Gracie, this is my daughter Ashley Rose. Right then I definitely believed everything my mom had said. Turns out this little ol' firecracker of a woman was the driver of the Kennedys and was what we like to call a 'madame' back in the day...yes, you heard right...a madame...aka over the prostitutes.
If that wasn't enough in itself when I started to have a convo with her I would have thought I was in sex ed....well...I take that back...more like a sex rehab trying to solve my problems. I would ask her how she made so much money and she would say "girl I would bring in the money" and I'd say Ms. Gracie how, and she said "I would just moan and make a little noise and boy that brought in the dollars". I could have fell out of my chair. After talking to her for about two hours I began to realize that the reason she sounded so racist against the African American decent was because she SWORE i mean swore up and down on her mammas grave that she was WHITE....so here I am, having a conversation about sex with a 98 year old woman, WHO drove for the Kennedys, is a millionaire, and was over all the prostitutes in Washington.....AND on top of it all...claims she is white. whew, that is a mouth full.
Even, though, Gracie was a big ball of mess, and old as dirt she was actually a pretty sweet lady...to me at least, I think the CNA's at NHC would have another opinion. She was a kind of her own. If you were not dressed up, she plain out told you you looked like shit. But she did teach me that "honey you never know who you are gonna see or meet". Sadly, Gracie passed away last year. Hated to see her go but Lord I know shes kicking it up there in heaven.....well I just pray she made it there.
But here is to you Grace-face. I miss you, and you were a joy to be around and definately have given me some memories I shall take to my grave. I love you and would have you know I am making lots of money and will be making even more come 3 years but in a more so "non-prostitute" way ;)
While I was shopping today at Victorias' Secret one specific resident of my mothers'...(weird i know but you have to know the ol' woman)...came to mind and I just chuckled right there in the middle of the store.
This lady went by the name of Miss Gracie. Now anyone, hearing that name, has a sweet little woman who shows nothing but tender love and care comes to mind. Well...you're wrong. Don't get me wrong, she loveddddd me honey but Gracie was a kind of her own. Let me tell you....So the story begins.....
Miss Gracie, 98 years of age, came to my mom's nursing home about 2 years or so ago. I would hear my mom talk and talk about this lady and I could not wait to just see what the whole thing was about. So about two days before Christmas, I went and gathered up some Hersey kisses and put them in a pretty basket and drove up to Clinton (where my mom works) to go visit the residents and most of all..Gracie. So I get there and start walking and all of a sudden I hear this old woman hollering at a CNA saying, "you better get your nasty N***** hands off of me, or I'm going to beat the hell out of you" So i'm thinking to myself Lord, that's not Miss Georgia Bee, definitely not Mr. Thomas, or Ms. Lilly, or any of the other residents whom i'm familiar with...sounds like a racist old white woman. So I keep heading towards the dining hall and out pops from the room and old COLORED woman. She has one leg, and little bitty braids, and the biggest smile with about 2 teeth total still intact to her gums. She wheels herself towards me and the first thing out of her mouth was "Lord honey child, you could have made some good money back in the day." I, startled am thinking I KNOW that she's not talking about what I think she is. Right after directly my mom walks and says now Gracie, this is my daughter Ashley Rose. Right then I definitely believed everything my mom had said. Turns out this little ol' firecracker of a woman was the driver of the Kennedys and was what we like to call a 'madame' back in the day...yes, you heard right...a madame...aka over the prostitutes.
If that wasn't enough in itself when I started to have a convo with her I would have thought I was in sex ed....well...I take that back...more like a sex rehab trying to solve my problems. I would ask her how she made so much money and she would say "girl I would bring in the money" and I'd say Ms. Gracie how, and she said "I would just moan and make a little noise and boy that brought in the dollars". I could have fell out of my chair. After talking to her for about two hours I began to realize that the reason she sounded so racist against the African American decent was because she SWORE i mean swore up and down on her mammas grave that she was WHITE....so here I am, having a conversation about sex with a 98 year old woman, WHO drove for the Kennedys, is a millionaire, and was over all the prostitutes in Washington.....AND on top of it all...claims she is white. whew, that is a mouth full.
Even, though, Gracie was a big ball of mess, and old as dirt she was actually a pretty sweet lady...to me at least, I think the CNA's at NHC would have another opinion. She was a kind of her own. If you were not dressed up, she plain out told you you looked like shit. But she did teach me that "honey you never know who you are gonna see or meet". Sadly, Gracie passed away last year. Hated to see her go but Lord I know shes kicking it up there in heaven.....well I just pray she made it there.
But here is to you Grace-face. I miss you, and you were a joy to be around and definately have given me some memories I shall take to my grave. I love you and would have you know I am making lots of money and will be making even more come 3 years but in a more so "non-prostitute" way ;)
Monday, December 19, 2011
A hooker is cheaper....I need a warmer....HUH?!
This lady comes up to the counter and is enquiring about Caverject, which you may not know is sort of like liquid viagra that you have to inject into the male penis. Yes, you read correctly...inject!!
She apparently has been having a hard time finding the stuff because there has been a short supply of the injection. Yes, again you read correctly, there has been a short supply of a medication that is injected into the penis.
So we looked it up on our suppliers website to see if we could get any in stock for her. And by george we could! We let her know it could be in the next day no problem. So she asks how much it is because her insurance will not pay for it since it isn't medically necessary, even though her husband strongly disagrees with that (I should note that this lady is kind of scary looking and the fact that her husband thinks caverject is medically necessary is a little too much information for me). So we look up the price and let her know that a package of two injections is $170.00. Her eyes open to the size of...well, never mind we don't need to be comparing sizes do we, and she yells, "How much did you say?"
"Um, well $170 dollars."
"I don't think so, he can get a hooker for cheaper than that for all I care. It isn't worth that much to me."
Well after this chaos the women begins to look at me 'sneakily' and says "come here honey I have a private question". I already and thinking woman get out of here but now I'm thinking Dear Lord what is next. So I lean over the counter and she whispers in my ear..."Do y'all carry warmers?"
When she said this I was like oh this isn't so bad and I was like yes on the isle right behind you we have some heating pads hanging up on the shelf. And she looks at me frustrated and says "NO! Do you carry VAGINA WARMERS"? I about fell to the floor. I looked at this lady and said excuse me? a vagina warmer? and she proceeds to explain to me what it looked like.
She claimed it was a big red bag thing and you would heat it up and literally insert it in your vagina. After explaining it to me I was thinking to myself....why the hell do you need to warm that sucker up? It's always warm last time I checked.
I still to this day have no idea what in this world the woman was talking about and I told her "no ma'am we do not carry that type of stuff" and she got soooo mad and began to tell me that we should.
Honestly I think she got the pharmacy and the Nancy's Nook mixed up together. But oh well. People like her is what makes my job interesting.
I'm just glad her husband wasn't there.
She apparently has been having a hard time finding the stuff because there has been a short supply of the injection. Yes, again you read correctly, there has been a short supply of a medication that is injected into the penis.
So we looked it up on our suppliers website to see if we could get any in stock for her. And by george we could! We let her know it could be in the next day no problem. So she asks how much it is because her insurance will not pay for it since it isn't medically necessary, even though her husband strongly disagrees with that (I should note that this lady is kind of scary looking and the fact that her husband thinks caverject is medically necessary is a little too much information for me). So we look up the price and let her know that a package of two injections is $170.00. Her eyes open to the size of...well, never mind we don't need to be comparing sizes do we, and she yells, "How much did you say?"
"Um, well $170 dollars."
"I don't think so, he can get a hooker for cheaper than that for all I care. It isn't worth that much to me."
Well after this chaos the women begins to look at me 'sneakily' and says "come here honey I have a private question". I already and thinking woman get out of here but now I'm thinking Dear Lord what is next. So I lean over the counter and she whispers in my ear..."Do y'all carry warmers?"
When she said this I was like oh this isn't so bad and I was like yes on the isle right behind you we have some heating pads hanging up on the shelf. And she looks at me frustrated and says "NO! Do you carry VAGINA WARMERS"? I about fell to the floor. I looked at this lady and said excuse me? a vagina warmer? and she proceeds to explain to me what it looked like.
She claimed it was a big red bag thing and you would heat it up and literally insert it in your vagina. After explaining it to me I was thinking to myself....why the hell do you need to warm that sucker up? It's always warm last time I checked.
I still to this day have no idea what in this world the woman was talking about and I told her "no ma'am we do not carry that type of stuff" and she got soooo mad and began to tell me that we should.
Honestly I think she got the pharmacy and the Nancy's Nook mixed up together. But oh well. People like her is what makes my job interesting.
I'm just glad her husband wasn't there.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
This weekend was rather fun. Made me see honestly even with all the complaining why I am glad I'm still in Grad school because...i get a whole month off, but when Jan 10th comes around that shall all change more than likely about being happy I'm still in school let alone grad school. Oh well...at least we all know it's ONE WEEK TILL CHRISTMAS!!! Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Let's talk about sex...sorry girls and even women...you're going to be disappointed
I'm not going in to the freaky deaky kinky stuff for the time being ( my grandmother would kill me) but I do want to address a growing and sad issue: Plan B. Multiple times each work week that I've worked as a tech and now as an intern, I see panicky scared little girls come in for Plan B or send in their boyfriends to buy it because they are TERRIFIED that their parents will find out what dumb ass little teenage loser they let wallow in their baby gutter. This needs to stop.
If you are so afraid or too embarrassed or too immature to have an open adult dialogue with your parents about sex then you have NO business screwing...better terms of the french word...F******(you know what that word is) !!! My parents (well my mother, lord help i couldn't imagine my father discussing this with me) made sure I knew about baby making and venereal disease and got on birth control at an appropriate age. What is an appropriate age? That has been debated by religious and parent/teacher groups for years. I recommend operating on the "old enough to bleed, old enough to breed" paradigm.
Upon a girl's first menstruation it is imperative that parents have a discussion about dealing with blood, birth control, and venereal disease. Let's face it, being a girl is disgusting and it helps to have a good home support system. Parents should have the talk with boys when they start getting "morning wood" and "nocturnal emissions" aka acting like a dog in heat. It is up to the parents how detailed they want to get and if they want to take the mom tackles daughter, dad tackles son on the talks. They also need to agree on rules for dating for their children and please allow them to take the health course at school that goes over reproduction and social responsibility for their offspring. It seems this education has been lacking on all fronts worldwide.
Sadly I saw this quote about teen sex and it resembles and refers to the HORRENDOUS most annoying and disappointing show I have ever watched in my entire life...Teen Mom. So here it is and sadly this is beyond true in MANY cases:
Teenage girl from the 1990's who just found out she was pregnant-"OMG! My mother and father are going to kill me! What am I going to do!?!?"
Teenage girl from the 2010's who just found out she was pregnant-"OMG YES! I can be on Teen MOM now and get $200,000!!!"
Like I said this is sadly true, and MTV is pretty much promoting teen pregnancy in my opinion by having this show. It is nothing but a bunch of little bratty girls who are disrespectful to their parents and everyone surrounding them. Little do people know, these "girls" get paid ample amounts of money for being on this show so pretty much MTV is saying "hey high school girls...get pregnant and you can make mega bucks" its disgusting and sad and those people need a good punch in the face!!!
well if that isn't enough negativity for you girls who solely depend on Plan B every time you are dumb and have unprotected sex and do God knows what else....it isn't as effect as our perfect world would hope it to be. Look it up in clinical trials its quite scary how it really doesn't have an affect with preventing pregnancies. So, girls...if you do bad things and aren't smart about them, then that stork we all thought was the "baby bringer" when we were little is going to come visit you. Plan B or not. Sorry!!!
well if that isn't enough negativity for you girls who solely depend on Plan B every time you are dumb and have unprotected sex and do God knows what else....it isn't as effect as our perfect world would hope it to be. Look it up in clinical trials its quite scary how it really doesn't have an affect with preventing pregnancies. So, girls...if you do bad things and aren't smart about them, then that stork we all thought was the "baby bringer" when we were little is going to come visit you. Plan B or not. Sorry!!!
Knowledge is power and with the potential to make a baby teens should have greater responsibility and knowledge for planning a baby at an appropriate time in life instead of having one and dropping it in a dumpster or using it for a welfare check. I guarantee many of your children are having sex and not telling you about it. Make sure you have a good little sit down chat. If you are uncomfortable with it there is a Planned Parenthood where you can make an appointment for your child to talk to a health care professional for any questions they are uncomfortable asking you. Let's take the fear out of growing up and bring RESPONSIBILITY back to our baby-making!
So it's the Holidays and of course everyone is rushing in to get their meds all filled to get out of their 'doughnut hole' and or use up the rest of their Medicare money. Sadly the people who regularly come into the small pharmacy I used to work at who always ask me for their weekend pills or reassure me if I don't fill their prescription (which was not a prescription it was just a sheet of paper the doc wrote telling her to take ibuprofen WITH her prescription) she was going to call the governor on me....Mark Sanford to be correct (Sorry Mrs. he isn't the gov anymore and he probably is in Argentina having a couple of tall ones with his young lady love now a days) are the damn people I always remember. But anyways since it's Friday...AKA the WEEKEND and all my sweet little old men who look like they would never do such a thing..come to the pharmacy and ask for their weekend pills...better yet their "root toners" ew. disgusting I know...but anyways I figured I'd share a wonderful and hilarious story to be exact about a sweet old man who I had grown fond of and who shocked the shit out of me one day acting like a 17 year old boy going through puberty.
Just at the ending of the year, one of my sweetest and favorite customers (we'll call him Mr. Tom...late 70's) came in and asked me if I had used hydroxycut wondering if it worked. I told him I had never tried it, and that I had no idea if it worked but that I was pretty sure just proper diet and exercise would work just as well. He then went on and explained to me that he needed to loose his gut. Now a couple months before, his wife had passed so I was thinking maybe he had gained his gut from depression (you know how we all especially us women loveee to eat when we are depressed...bring on the dove chocolate). So I just started talking to him asking you know if he was feeling sad and un-active and just seemed to be eating more than normal and that if he were, he may need to go see the doctor. He began to tell me "Lord honey no, that's not the case at all." So then he dropped the bomb that I NEVER thought would come out of sweet old Mr. Tom's mouth...he began to inform me that now when he has sex he cant be on top because his gut gets in the way. I shocked at the world had no clue what to say. I told him that maybe diet and exercise may be better since Hydroxycut causes your heart to race and since he's SO OLD he may not need it. (I didn't tell him the old part but i was thinking it). He said he would get it anyway and let me know how it went.
Up until this time I had helped this gentleman out on numerous occasions to the point where he calls me "his honey". He comes in and requests a refill on his cialis. (who could've thought) He then asks me if my boyfriend had tried it (he is 24 BTW). I told him no, and he then explains that cialis is way better than "That Damn viagra crap". He explained that when he was married, he took viagra and have only one go around. But with cialis, he can go all night. As I listened in disbelief and horror and since he would CEASE TO QUIT talking to me about his 'Golden ager sex life', I ring him up he tells me he has a "nice little mexican girl" going over to his house right now.....he gives me a wink....and takes off.
The surprising thing is that this guy can hardly walk and he cant remember his address to the point that he looks at his licence every time I ask to verify it. I have to give him respect though....When my mamma always told me all men were the same...I sure as shit believe her now. Doesn't matter if they can walk or can HARDLY walk. I still love my Mr. Tom though.
Happy WEEKEND EVERYONE!!! (I know Mr. Tom sure is ;D )
Just at the ending of the year, one of my sweetest and favorite customers (we'll call him Mr. Tom...late 70's) came in and asked me if I had used hydroxycut wondering if it worked. I told him I had never tried it, and that I had no idea if it worked but that I was pretty sure just proper diet and exercise would work just as well. He then went on and explained to me that he needed to loose his gut. Now a couple months before, his wife had passed so I was thinking maybe he had gained his gut from depression (you know how we all especially us women loveee to eat when we are depressed...bring on the dove chocolate). So I just started talking to him asking you know if he was feeling sad and un-active and just seemed to be eating more than normal and that if he were, he may need to go see the doctor. He began to tell me "Lord honey no, that's not the case at all." So then he dropped the bomb that I NEVER thought would come out of sweet old Mr. Tom's mouth...he began to inform me that now when he has sex he cant be on top because his gut gets in the way. I shocked at the world had no clue what to say. I told him that maybe diet and exercise may be better since Hydroxycut causes your heart to race and since he's SO OLD he may not need it. (I didn't tell him the old part but i was thinking it). He said he would get it anyway and let me know how it went.
Up until this time I had helped this gentleman out on numerous occasions to the point where he calls me "his honey". He comes in and requests a refill on his cialis. (who could've thought) He then asks me if my boyfriend had tried it (he is 24 BTW). I told him no, and he then explains that cialis is way better than "That Damn viagra crap". He explained that when he was married, he took viagra and have only one go around. But with cialis, he can go all night. As I listened in disbelief and horror and since he would CEASE TO QUIT talking to me about his 'Golden ager sex life', I ring him up he tells me he has a "nice little mexican girl" going over to his house right now.....he gives me a wink....and takes off.
The surprising thing is that this guy can hardly walk and he cant remember his address to the point that he looks at his licence every time I ask to verify it. I have to give him respect though....When my mamma always told me all men were the same...I sure as shit believe her now. Doesn't matter if they can walk or can HARDLY walk. I still love my Mr. Tom though.
Happy WEEKEND EVERYONE!!! (I know Mr. Tom sure is ;D )
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I Realize Today I've Done You A Disservice
WARNING: This post may be painful for those in the profession to read.
The first thing anyone visiting my little blog garden seeing the profession I'm in may have the question of "why does my prescription take so damn long to fill"...well my friends..that will be answered. Tonight I looked over this blogs archives and realized it was a promise not kept. While many topics have been covered here, and you have been provided with ample evidence of how drugstore workday life does indeed warp the mind, the question of why it took 2 hours for you to get 20 Vicodin has remained unanswered. I can't help but to think there may be someone out there who has been logging on every day for the last 18 months hoping in vain for this mystery to be solved. Should such a person exist, I offer my humble apologies. To everyone else, I offer the following prescription scenario:
You come to the counter. I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me. Your doctor hasn't, and you're unwilling to wait until he does. Being in a generous mood, I call your doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we've ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that "for you" means "for your cousin" and you answer my question with a "yes", whereupon I go the computer and see you are not on file.
The phone rings.
You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription.....
The phone rings.
......only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you're allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what exactly codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down "no known allergies" You tell me......
The phone rings.
.....you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An asshole barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.
The phone rings.
I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn't working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in fact handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.
The phone rings.
A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfied though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who rejects it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother's'....
The phone rings.
.......life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I call Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.
The phone rings.
It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instructions. I call your doctor's office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It's time for my pharmacy tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes though. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.
The phone rings.
At the cash register you sign....
The phone rings.
......the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for new prescriptions. You remark that you're glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn't take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you're taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don't believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making out a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you'll be back to tell me they don't work as well.
Now imagine this wasn't you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you'll start to have an idea why.....your prescription takes so damn long to fill.
A year and a half late, but a promise kept. I feel better about myself already.
The first thing anyone visiting my little blog garden seeing the profession I'm in may have the question of "why does my prescription take so damn long to fill"...well my friends..that will be answered. Tonight I looked over this blogs archives and realized it was a promise not kept. While many topics have been covered here, and you have been provided with ample evidence of how drugstore workday life does indeed warp the mind, the question of why it took 2 hours for you to get 20 Vicodin has remained unanswered. I can't help but to think there may be someone out there who has been logging on every day for the last 18 months hoping in vain for this mystery to be solved. Should such a person exist, I offer my humble apologies. To everyone else, I offer the following prescription scenario:
You come to the counter. I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me. Your doctor hasn't, and you're unwilling to wait until he does. Being in a generous mood, I call your doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we've ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that "for you" means "for your cousin" and you answer my question with a "yes", whereupon I go the computer and see you are not on file.
The phone rings.
You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription.....
The phone rings.
......only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you're allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what exactly codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down "no known allergies" You tell me......
The phone rings.
.....you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An asshole barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.
The phone rings.
I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn't working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in fact handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.
The phone rings.
A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfied though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who rejects it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother's'....
The phone rings.
.......life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I call Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.
The phone rings.
It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instructions. I call your doctor's office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It's time for my pharmacy tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes though. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.
The phone rings.
At the cash register you sign....
The phone rings.
......the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for new prescriptions. You remark that you're glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn't take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you're taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don't believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making out a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you'll be back to tell me they don't work as well.
Now imagine this wasn't you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you'll start to have an idea why.....your prescription takes so damn long to fill.
A year and a half late, but a promise kept. I feel better about myself already.
here are some pictures I just came across on my phone from finals week....
This little ol' Thing
Last night I was chatting with one of my past teachers whom I more so consider a dear friend of mine today and as usual I was venting about Pharmacy School and how I'm relived I finally get 30 days off. yes, exactly a month which is a gift from God. Believe me people, this compared to undergrad is a whole new ball game and I understand why now they give us longer breaks. Your brain is so tired and fully compacted with medications and pharmaceutical calculations and how this pathway and that pathway works in your body or how if this pathway stopped working this would happen to your body till where you think Sundays are Tuesdays and sadly forget to take showers because you are too exhausted to remember. Yes, I'm sorry Mom, I wasn't the brightest looking cookie last week during finals. But anyways Melanie, or to be more proper, Mrs. Hamilton, suggested that I create a blog posting little snip-its of my daily and INTERESTING days within the pharmacy I've worked in and also the pharmacies in which I will be doing my rotations and of course if that isn't enough drama and quirkiness...stories directly from the infamous pharmacy school. So welcome. and I hope you enjoy this niffy little thing!
Dedicated with many butterfly kisses to Melanie Hamilton who always inspires me
Dedicated with many butterfly kisses to Melanie Hamilton who always inspires me
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