A lot of people probably remember when Tom Cruise jumped up on a couch and proclaimed that depression wasn't a myth, that it was a made-up disease so that drug companies could make money off of unsuspecting people who *thought* there was something wrong with them.
I remember watching the lunacy, then reading the follow-up remarks he made about it with a sense of disbelief, that someone as smart as Cruise would make those remarks.
Then I found out he followed Scientology, and it all came into focus.
This isn't about them though. I don't even like to acknowledge that they actually exist.
This is about the fact that mental illness is very real and a big problem, not just in this country, but around the world. This is about the fact that when people are treated properly for it, they stand a chance of getting better. This is about what happens when they don't receive proper treatment, or fail to follow their treatment plan.
This is also inspired by a client here.
When the pharmacy first opened, this client, we'll call him Mr. Kitty since he loves his cat so much, was in bad shape. He was ornery, he didn't like anyone, and if his meds weren't ready when he was, he was particularly cranky about it. It got to a point where I would dread seeing his name come up on the refill report.
He was one of those that demanded brand name, demanded three months at a time, and demanded that they be ready when he was ready to pick them up.
In short, he wasn't in great shape. You could tell from looking at him that he wasn't happy. When he wheeled by (Mr. Kitty is in a wheelchair), he wouldn't say anything to anyone who happened to walk by.
Then one day he went out and got a kitten. At the same time, some of his meds were changed up every so slightly, just enough to tweak his mood a little bit. Combine this with the kitten, with whom he reportedly played with constantly, and you could see his mood almost immediately start to change.
Fast forward more than a year and the change is incredible. He comes in and has a smile on his face. He says hi to everyone, making sure to stop by each pharmacy window to talk to all of us that are here. He and the courier have become especially buddy-buddy, sharing stories and talking about his cat.
One day he sat and played a card game with a little kid that was here for counseling, telling the kid about some of the things that he had endured. He then cracked jokes with us before heading back to his counseling session.
The other day, he stopped the CEO and said he had a suggestion for a group therapy. Now, the CEO is generally good at listening to all proposals to begin with, but you could tell that he was especially interested in Mr. Kitty's proposition. When Mr. Kitty was done with his proposal, the big boss said that he thought it was a great idea and that they were thinking of doing something similar to begin with. He then asked Mr. Kitty if he would be interested in leading the group session he suggested, saying that they wanted clients to take charge like that.
Mr. Kitty was ecstatic.
Now granted, this is a rarity. Most people don't turn around so dramatically as he has. Most, if they show any improvement, only show a slight bit of improvement. Some show no change whatsoever, and a few even regress further.
There are a lot of reasons, but very few solutions to that problem, which is what makes mental illness so difficult to comprehend.
Like all other things, what works for one person won't necessarily work for the next. This is especially true when it comes to medications. When you hear someone say that everyone responds differently to different medications, they aren't lying. It's just how it is. One person could take just Sertraline (Zoloft) and be fine. The next could take it and become worse. Sometimes it just takes adding one other drug to the mix, but on the other hand, that could make things even worse as well.
Treating mental illness is such trial and error that it's hard to come up with a simple solution, or "one size fits all" method of treating it. Some people respond really well to counseling just because they need someone to listen to them, others don't.
I had one mother-son combination in the facility today that demonstrates this. He was standing there, expressionless, while she dropped of his prescription. As I was entering it, she started to ask him why he was so silent, if something was wrong. He didn't react at all, not even a blink of his eyelids. There was no acknowledging that she had even asked him a question. I could look at him and tell something was amiss, but he was refusing to say anything.
She told him this was his problem; he had something bothering him, but he refused to talk to anyone about it, instead choosing to internalize it. She asked him if things were moving too fast for him, and he mouthed "Yes." I didn't hear the rest of the conversation because they started to walk away from the pharmacy, but she had at least received a response from him, which is often the most difficult part.
The most common thing I've seen amongst the kids that come in here, particularly the preteens and teenagers, is that they have the earbuds in either listening to music or playing a game on their phone/Nintendo DS/PSP. They've chosen to tune the outside world out, keeping everything to themselves for one reason or another.
Chances are, they've never tried to talk to anyone about what's bothering them, or if they have, whoever they tried to speak to just didn't care or listen very well, thus destroying any confidence they might have had in talking to someone about their problems.
**Column Intermission**
Every now and then, someone finds a way to surprise you, albeit in a not-so-satisfying way. Right now there is a client in the waiting room who looks like they are ready to let loose with the contents of their stomach. It happens to be one of the dependency clients, which makes me wonder just what's causing the queasy look.
One of the perks of having a job like this is being able to see what everyone is here for, not to make fun of them, but to understand better why they're here and why they're on the meds they're on.
**End Intermission**
The sad truth about mental illness is we still don't understand it well enough to properly get a handle on it. With many other conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, you can find a way to effectively control the problem without too much of a hassle (of course this isn't always true, I know that better than anyone else). Try a couple different things and 90% of the time, you're good to go.
Not so with mental illness. First you have to figure out what the specific problem is before you can even start giving out meds, and even when you do, it's not likely you're going to nail it on the first try. In a lot of cases, it takes trials with a few different types of meds before you find the magic combination that makes a person feel better.
I dated a girl many years ago who epitomized this problem. When I met her, she was taking Cymbalta for her depression and Adderall for her attention issues. Of course, some of her problem was created by herself because she didn't take the adderall the way she was supposed to. She was on the extended-release capsule, which is supposed to last all day as long as you take it right. Well, she was opening the capsule and taking the contents directly, giving herself an immediate boost, but it didn't last as long.
This was directly related to the fact that she could NOT get up in the morning until she took her medication, which was only made worse by her reliance on the meds themselves. In essence, she took a minor problem and made a major one out of it, which ended up becoming worse because of her reaction to the Cymbalta.
She ended up developing severe bruising, which is one of the rarer side effects of Cymbalta, which combined with her developing Ovarian Cysts, made things rather testy for a while. She wasn't getting the help for her depression like she needed because the bruising made her uncomfortable, her ADD wasn't being treated properly because she wouldn't take her meds right, and she had cysts on her ovaries to complicate things more.
After it was determined that her Cymbalta was causing her problems, she was switched to Wellbutrin XL, which helped with her mood tremendously. She felt good and was more alert than she had been in a long time. This came with one drawback though; her libido didn't just go down, it completely disappeared (a common side effect amongst anti-depressants along with drowsiness and weight gain). In short, she had no desire to have sex, which ended up causing her depression to return.
Then shit hit the fan with her after that. She got into a fight with her mom's best friend, I ended up getting fed up with all the different things going on, and we went our separate ways and I figured that was the end of it.
A few months later we somehow ended up chatting again and she told me how she finally was on a medication that not only made her feel better, but didn't kill her sex drive or make her overly sleepy. She had started dating someone else and was finally starting to feel happy with life overall.
It took over a year of trials, tribulations, and errors for her to finally find a combination that worked for her, which is what my main point is.
Trial and error is such a big problem with treating mental illness and is why a lot of people never get the help they need. They give up because nothing's worked and they feel nothing will. They stop listening because everyone that's been telling them things will get better have been wrong to that point. They stop caring because, well, they don't care.
They feel lost and alone. Some end up angry, some end up sad, some end up some freakishly scary combination of both.
Now this doesn't apply to everyone. As I've said, everyone's different. Everyone's circumstances are different. What one person considers to be terrible, someone else might think "eh, that's not that bad."
In the long run, there isn't much a pharmacy technician can do. We can fill their scripts, answer their questions, and listen to them when they try to talk, but ultimately, we're just a person behind a counter. We don't have all the answers and we can't give them all the help they truly need.
Maybe one day we'll figure out a way to help people in a much easier fashion, but I doubt it.
Unless that day comes, all someone like me can do is fill their script quickly and hope they take it like they should.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
from the refill line
Mr. Husky: "I got a fucking answering machine...."
*click*
This indeed confirms this is one of those days.
*click*
This indeed confirms this is one of those days.
back away from the machine
One of my favorite moments during the day is when I hear someone beating on the vending machine because their snack was snuck.
Today, the first beating took place at approximately 8:38am after a woman's snack item became stuck.
Normally, all this entails is going over to reception to inform them of the problem and they either give the money back or have a guy come down with a key to open it up, but no one ever does that. They beat on the thing first, then come over to the pharmacy and complain.
This same woman was also *cheering* on my pharmacist as she opened the gate and keeps peeking into the window in the door to the offices to see if it's her turn.
I believe it's going to be one of those days today.
Today, the first beating took place at approximately 8:38am after a woman's snack item became stuck.
Normally, all this entails is going over to reception to inform them of the problem and they either give the money back or have a guy come down with a key to open it up, but no one ever does that. They beat on the thing first, then come over to the pharmacy and complain.
This same woman was also *cheering* on my pharmacist as she opened the gate and keeps peeking into the window in the door to the offices to see if it's her turn.
I believe it's going to be one of those days today.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
changes, oh how I hate you
Before I say anything else, I have to make a big correction to my last post in which I talked about the changes since I started working. I omitted a very big, very important change that took place recently.
I forgot to mention how I am now involved in an amazing relationship with an amazing woman who absolutely completes my life.
The error is being corrected not because of pity, but because it was a huge one that should not have happened. My apologies to her.
Now then, back to the task at hand.
All of us who have worked in a pharmacy for any amount of time know that insurances often change things up at the beginning of the year, often throwing a huge wrench in things for the first month of the year as we try to figure who changed to what, what is and isn't covered anymore, and whether we want to reach through the phone to strangle the customer service rep, or just drive there instead to do the job.
To understand where the recent problems stem from, you have to understand a couple of things about my state's Medicaid system. Where I live, it's broken down into four different branches. There's Medicaid and 3 off-shoots, who up until 3 years ago, were processed by various insurance processors. One was processed by WHI, anothe by Express Scripts, and the third by US Scripts. 3 years ago, Medicaid decided to combine them all into one processor, thus creating the first set of issues we had, mostly with the Express Scripts one since that one let you get all kinds of OTC stuff that regular Medicaid didn't cover. For a few months, all we heard was people scream at us because their OTC ibuprofen was no longer covered because "MY INSURANCE COVERED IT BEFORE!"
Well after getting everyone used to that system and the formulary that Medicaid used, things were relatively fine.
Then about a few months ago, word started to spread that later in the year, Medicaid was going to split the three other versions off again. We didn't hear much else until my girlfriend received a newsletter telling her that her daughter's version was going to be processed under a new company and to be on the look-out for the new card (as of this writing, she still hadn't received and the changes took effect on the 1st).
It wasn't until right before the end of September that we started to see new cards. Much to my surprise, two of the three are back to their original processors, WHI and US Scripts. The other one was now going to be done by CVS/Caremark, and that's where things get interesting.
Before getting into that, a special shout-out to WHI for not notifying us or are insurance coordinator that we weren't contracted with your version of Medicaid. It was real nice going through half the day Monday getting the message "Pharmacy not contracted on date of service."
Now back to CVS/Caremark's Medicaid. This one was a spectacular fail, mostly because there was no consistency as to whether a claim was going to go through or not. The first couple went through like they should. I added the new plan in, put in their ID, the proper group, and voila! Success.
It was downhill after that.
First was the 25 minute phone call that ended in us adding a "1" at the end of the ID (that wasn't on the card), making sure the first name wasn't shortened, and adding their middle initial into their profile. Then it went through. After that, it was the double-bill debacle. See, we should be able to bill their primary insurance, then send the copay to whichever Medicaid they have so that their copay is $0. Well, it didn't work. It told us to submit to a different processor that CVS/Caremark uses for this reason, only to watch it reject again for non-matched cardholder/group reasons. After an hour and no resolution from the help desk, my pharmacist gave up and allowed the patient to try and take it somewhere else, where I'm sure they still had a ton of problems.
In short, it was a mess and we aren't very busy. The pharmacist at my retail job posted on Facebook how he was swearing the whole way home because of this particular version of Medicaid, thus confirming my belief it was the insurance's fault for all the problems, not ours.
Today has been better as we've discovered we can use the original Medicaid ID to run them through with less hassle than trying to use their new ID. I'm convinced this wasn't working yesterday and was implemented overnight because they got tired of all the phone calls they received.
Oh, and let's not get started on the formulary changes that have taken place now that the three Medicaids have split off. Stuff that was covered a month ago under the regular Medicaid is not covered anymore, even something as simple as Seroquel. Medicaid itself decided to kick us in the pants and change some of their formulary items just because, well, we don't know. I guess they think it's fun to watch doctors and nurses call in to request prior authorizations on things that had been covered for the last three years.
This is all taking place a month from open enrollment for Medicare Part D, which hasn't been as bad the last couple of years as it was when it was first introduced.
Then in January, a lot of pharmacies get to endure the "my insurance changed at the beginning of the year but I never got a card" circus.
Luckily in my job, we don't do a lot of private insurance so that's not too much of a concern. Most of our clients are Medicaid/Medicare recipients, so once we get past November, we're generally in the clear.
Except for the spenddowns.
I hate spenddowns.
I don't mean to sound bitchy about some of this stuff, but it's much more complicated than it needs to be.
Hopefully there are no more curveballs thrown our way.
I have enough trouble with fastballs.
I forgot to mention how I am now involved in an amazing relationship with an amazing woman who absolutely completes my life.
The error is being corrected not because of pity, but because it was a huge one that should not have happened. My apologies to her.
Now then, back to the task at hand.
All of us who have worked in a pharmacy for any amount of time know that insurances often change things up at the beginning of the year, often throwing a huge wrench in things for the first month of the year as we try to figure who changed to what, what is and isn't covered anymore, and whether we want to reach through the phone to strangle the customer service rep, or just drive there instead to do the job.
To understand where the recent problems stem from, you have to understand a couple of things about my state's Medicaid system. Where I live, it's broken down into four different branches. There's Medicaid and 3 off-shoots, who up until 3 years ago, were processed by various insurance processors. One was processed by WHI, anothe by Express Scripts, and the third by US Scripts. 3 years ago, Medicaid decided to combine them all into one processor, thus creating the first set of issues we had, mostly with the Express Scripts one since that one let you get all kinds of OTC stuff that regular Medicaid didn't cover. For a few months, all we heard was people scream at us because their OTC ibuprofen was no longer covered because "MY INSURANCE COVERED IT BEFORE!"
Well after getting everyone used to that system and the formulary that Medicaid used, things were relatively fine.
Then about a few months ago, word started to spread that later in the year, Medicaid was going to split the three other versions off again. We didn't hear much else until my girlfriend received a newsletter telling her that her daughter's version was going to be processed under a new company and to be on the look-out for the new card (as of this writing, she still hadn't received and the changes took effect on the 1st).
It wasn't until right before the end of September that we started to see new cards. Much to my surprise, two of the three are back to their original processors, WHI and US Scripts. The other one was now going to be done by CVS/Caremark, and that's where things get interesting.
Before getting into that, a special shout-out to WHI for not notifying us or are insurance coordinator that we weren't contracted with your version of Medicaid. It was real nice going through half the day Monday getting the message "Pharmacy not contracted on date of service."
Now back to CVS/Caremark's Medicaid. This one was a spectacular fail, mostly because there was no consistency as to whether a claim was going to go through or not. The first couple went through like they should. I added the new plan in, put in their ID, the proper group, and voila! Success.
It was downhill after that.
First was the 25 minute phone call that ended in us adding a "1" at the end of the ID (that wasn't on the card), making sure the first name wasn't shortened, and adding their middle initial into their profile. Then it went through. After that, it was the double-bill debacle. See, we should be able to bill their primary insurance, then send the copay to whichever Medicaid they have so that their copay is $0. Well, it didn't work. It told us to submit to a different processor that CVS/Caremark uses for this reason, only to watch it reject again for non-matched cardholder/group reasons. After an hour and no resolution from the help desk, my pharmacist gave up and allowed the patient to try and take it somewhere else, where I'm sure they still had a ton of problems.
In short, it was a mess and we aren't very busy. The pharmacist at my retail job posted on Facebook how he was swearing the whole way home because of this particular version of Medicaid, thus confirming my belief it was the insurance's fault for all the problems, not ours.
Today has been better as we've discovered we can use the original Medicaid ID to run them through with less hassle than trying to use their new ID. I'm convinced this wasn't working yesterday and was implemented overnight because they got tired of all the phone calls they received.
Oh, and let's not get started on the formulary changes that have taken place now that the three Medicaids have split off. Stuff that was covered a month ago under the regular Medicaid is not covered anymore, even something as simple as Seroquel. Medicaid itself decided to kick us in the pants and change some of their formulary items just because, well, we don't know. I guess they think it's fun to watch doctors and nurses call in to request prior authorizations on things that had been covered for the last three years.
This is all taking place a month from open enrollment for Medicare Part D, which hasn't been as bad the last couple of years as it was when it was first introduced.
Then in January, a lot of pharmacies get to endure the "my insurance changed at the beginning of the year but I never got a card" circus.
Luckily in my job, we don't do a lot of private insurance so that's not too much of a concern. Most of our clients are Medicaid/Medicare recipients, so once we get past November, we're generally in the clear.
Except for the spenddowns.
I hate spenddowns.
I don't mean to sound bitchy about some of this stuff, but it's much more complicated than it needs to be.
Hopefully there are no more curveballs thrown our way.
I have enough trouble with fastballs.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Memory lane
I read a post recently from Phat where he was thinking about things that have changed since he started up in the pharmacy and got me thinking about the same thing, but on a couple of different of levels.
First off, I'm proud to say that I've helped the pharmacy I work in become semi-successful. There have been bumps in the road since we opened last year, but it's been a rewarding experience overall and I feel I've contributed greatly to the success that has been achieved.
You never know how things will change from day to day, so the job being a success is a big deal to me at this point in time.
Of more interest is the fact that September was my 14 year anniversary working, 13 of which have been in a pharmacy. While it's still not long enough to qualify for a "back in the old days" kind of story, I still have unique perspectives on how much things have changed over the years.
First and foremost, when I started in a pharmacy, the computer systems weren't nearly as sophisticated as they are now. Back then, the labels weren't coming out of a regular printer like they do, they were part of a big sheet and you had to carefully separate things out.
The biggest difference back then was how much easier it was to process prescriptions in the aspect that there weren't prior authorizations, there weren't 18 different types of meds for the same illness, and everything was either $5 or $10.
Sure, birth control was rarely covered, but there weren't 76 different options either, and one of them was a cheap generic.
Zestril, Neurontin, Zoloft, Paxil, and many others didn't have a generic available. E-scripting wasn't even in the topic of conversation. Back then, we didn't have baskets, queues, immunizations, and telemarketing calls. There were no automated calls telling people their meds were ready, no automatic refills. Hell, we didn't even fax much back then.
When I started, the internet was still young and an uncertain thing for most people who had computers. Sure, I started blogging back in 1998, but for a few years before that, the only way anyone ever knew how to connect through the internet was AOL or Compuserve via a dial-up connection.
Cell phones still hadn't completely caught on and I don't even know if the original Playstation was out yet.
The world was a much different place, I was a much different person. I was wide-eyed and figured it would be a nice way to make some extra money while in high school. I didn't know it would stretch out many, many years down the road and entail so many changes in my life.
When I started, I was still living in my hometown. Shortly after starting, we were forced to move and I continued to make the trip to my store before finally transferring to my current location in 2000. Along the way I've dated a few girls, lived in a few different places, watched the house catch fire, and had people come and go.
There have been a few constants, for instance, my cat has been there for the ride since before I started working (she's almost 18 for those keeping score), and a few of my closest friends I've known for at least 9 years or more. So there has been some stability along the way.
Other things that have occurred since I began working:
* Myspace came along and took the social website title away from AOL's service.
* Facebook came and took Myspace's social website title away.
* Google+ is trying to take Facebook's social website title away.
* Twitter has become the most annoying way to communicate.
* Cell phone's destroyed the art of conversation (since everyone texts instead)
* Nintendo fell off due to the Playstation, Xbox came into the world, and Nintendo came back with the Wii.
* HD is now the standard in television with 3D attempting to catch up.
* Our cars talk to us
Sure, there have been a lot of other events that have taken place, but frankly, I don't care to sit and think about all of it at this point in time.
All I know is that in the 14 years that I've been working, I've gone from a shy, slightly neurotic guy to a boisterous, sarcastic, still slightly neurotic guy who's seen just about everything that can be seen.
The biggest thing working did for me was help break me out of the shell I had been in. Up until I had started working, I had trouble conversing with people, was incredibly socially awkward, and avoided opportunities to go out. Once I started working, it got better, but after transferring and a couple of my close friends were hired, it really started to come together for me.
I still have quirks with my personality, but overall I'm much different than I was back when I started working.
That includes a jaded view of the world since I've seen people at their worst a few too many times.
The one thing I've come to realize is that it's easy to whine about our jobs, easy to whine about what went wrong, and laugh at the expense of others just to make ourselves feel better. It's an entirely different thing to stop and take the positives out of life and what you've seen.
So while I've seen numerous people try to use fake scripts, try to get their meds early, try to scam us in any way they can think of, I've also seen a number of people go out of their way to help us, help others, and make working a little bit easier.
I've had customers buy us food and drinks, tell us funny stories, share with us why they are in a good or bad mood, and we've all had the occasional customer hit on one of us at any given time. For every person that pisses you off, there's someone who appreciates the effort that you give.
And that's what makes me think I can endure a few more years of this at the least.
14 years is a long time, but only if you think about it in the wrong way.
First off, I'm proud to say that I've helped the pharmacy I work in become semi-successful. There have been bumps in the road since we opened last year, but it's been a rewarding experience overall and I feel I've contributed greatly to the success that has been achieved.
You never know how things will change from day to day, so the job being a success is a big deal to me at this point in time.
Of more interest is the fact that September was my 14 year anniversary working, 13 of which have been in a pharmacy. While it's still not long enough to qualify for a "back in the old days" kind of story, I still have unique perspectives on how much things have changed over the years.
First and foremost, when I started in a pharmacy, the computer systems weren't nearly as sophisticated as they are now. Back then, the labels weren't coming out of a regular printer like they do, they were part of a big sheet and you had to carefully separate things out.
The biggest difference back then was how much easier it was to process prescriptions in the aspect that there weren't prior authorizations, there weren't 18 different types of meds for the same illness, and everything was either $5 or $10.
Sure, birth control was rarely covered, but there weren't 76 different options either, and one of them was a cheap generic.
Zestril, Neurontin, Zoloft, Paxil, and many others didn't have a generic available. E-scripting wasn't even in the topic of conversation. Back then, we didn't have baskets, queues, immunizations, and telemarketing calls. There were no automated calls telling people their meds were ready, no automatic refills. Hell, we didn't even fax much back then.
When I started, the internet was still young and an uncertain thing for most people who had computers. Sure, I started blogging back in 1998, but for a few years before that, the only way anyone ever knew how to connect through the internet was AOL or Compuserve via a dial-up connection.
Cell phones still hadn't completely caught on and I don't even know if the original Playstation was out yet.
The world was a much different place, I was a much different person. I was wide-eyed and figured it would be a nice way to make some extra money while in high school. I didn't know it would stretch out many, many years down the road and entail so many changes in my life.
When I started, I was still living in my hometown. Shortly after starting, we were forced to move and I continued to make the trip to my store before finally transferring to my current location in 2000. Along the way I've dated a few girls, lived in a few different places, watched the house catch fire, and had people come and go.
There have been a few constants, for instance, my cat has been there for the ride since before I started working (she's almost 18 for those keeping score), and a few of my closest friends I've known for at least 9 years or more. So there has been some stability along the way.
Other things that have occurred since I began working:
* Myspace came along and took the social website title away from AOL's service.
* Facebook came and took Myspace's social website title away.
* Google+ is trying to take Facebook's social website title away.
* Twitter has become the most annoying way to communicate.
* Cell phone's destroyed the art of conversation (since everyone texts instead)
* Nintendo fell off due to the Playstation, Xbox came into the world, and Nintendo came back with the Wii.
* HD is now the standard in television with 3D attempting to catch up.
* Our cars talk to us
Sure, there have been a lot of other events that have taken place, but frankly, I don't care to sit and think about all of it at this point in time.
All I know is that in the 14 years that I've been working, I've gone from a shy, slightly neurotic guy to a boisterous, sarcastic, still slightly neurotic guy who's seen just about everything that can be seen.
The biggest thing working did for me was help break me out of the shell I had been in. Up until I had started working, I had trouble conversing with people, was incredibly socially awkward, and avoided opportunities to go out. Once I started working, it got better, but after transferring and a couple of my close friends were hired, it really started to come together for me.
I still have quirks with my personality, but overall I'm much different than I was back when I started working.
That includes a jaded view of the world since I've seen people at their worst a few too many times.
The one thing I've come to realize is that it's easy to whine about our jobs, easy to whine about what went wrong, and laugh at the expense of others just to make ourselves feel better. It's an entirely different thing to stop and take the positives out of life and what you've seen.
So while I've seen numerous people try to use fake scripts, try to get their meds early, try to scam us in any way they can think of, I've also seen a number of people go out of their way to help us, help others, and make working a little bit easier.
I've had customers buy us food and drinks, tell us funny stories, share with us why they are in a good or bad mood, and we've all had the occasional customer hit on one of us at any given time. For every person that pisses you off, there's someone who appreciates the effort that you give.
And that's what makes me think I can endure a few more years of this at the least.
14 years is a long time, but only if you think about it in the wrong way.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Story time never gets old
I have to admit, I love a good story.
So you can imagine how happy I was when someone called with not one, not two, not three, but four different stories as to what happened to the meds he picked up last week.
First, he noticed that his Xanax wasn't in his bag the day he picked them up, but didn't want to bother us so he didn't tell us immediately. Depending on the call, he either was completely out, still had some, was having a panic attack and needed them, or it wasn't the Xanax, it was the Suboxone that went missing.
Then his story changed to him noticing it at home, not in the parking lot.
Long story short, we don't know what he overdosed on, but the nurse, the doctor, and other pharmacies are not going to be filling his meds any time soon.
Imagine our surprise when we discovered that he was already on a short leash before this incident.
Moral of the story is get your story straight first before you call us. Then you stand at least a slight chance of us possibly thinking about maybe believing your crock of shit.
So you can imagine how happy I was when someone called with not one, not two, not three, but four different stories as to what happened to the meds he picked up last week.
First, he noticed that his Xanax wasn't in his bag the day he picked them up, but didn't want to bother us so he didn't tell us immediately. Depending on the call, he either was completely out, still had some, was having a panic attack and needed them, or it wasn't the Xanax, it was the Suboxone that went missing.
Then his story changed to him noticing it at home, not in the parking lot.
Long story short, we don't know what he overdosed on, but the nurse, the doctor, and other pharmacies are not going to be filling his meds any time soon.
Imagine our surprise when we discovered that he was already on a short leash before this incident.
Moral of the story is get your story straight first before you call us. Then you stand at least a slight chance of us possibly thinking about maybe believing your crock of shit.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
leave the politics out of medicine already
I don't like getting stuck in long, drawn-out debates.
Some of it is because I don't feel I should have to sit and defend every little opinion I have. It is my opinion, it shouldn't matter to you why I think the way I do.
It's mostly because I have found that 75% of the time you get in a debate with someone, it ends with them telling you how stupid you are for thinking the way you do and that you are the reason this country is in the shitter.
Look, I have plenty of opinions. I think the country is in the shitter because every politician in this country is more interested in seeing their face on tv than actually trying to fix the problems we have. Everyone has the answer and it's better than everyone else's. In essence, politics is all about me, me, me nowadays.
I can't stand it.
I can't stand when it weasels its way into medicine even more.
I recently read that a doctor had to make it clear that there are no studies that show that the HPV vaccine can cause autism or mental retardation.
Why does someone have to do that? Because some politician opened their fat mouth and blurted about how it causes that and people shouldn't get it until more studies are done.
No, I don't care about the specifics of who said exactly what.
One of my big pet peeves is people who aren't doctors, nurses, or pharmacists giving medical advice like it's the gospel. This includes politicians and pseudo-celebrities who attach their names to things in the hopes that it gets their name and picture on tv for even just a few minutes.
I personally wouldn't follow the advice of someone who didn't get some kind of medical degree. That's my opinion and you can stutter and stammer all you like if you feel it's okay to take the advice of someone who isn't a professional.
Why? Because it's an opinion what I just said. Not a fact. Hell, the politician in question could know a little something about it for all I know. That celebrity could know a little bit about certain vaccines causing autism. I would rather believe what someone says who went to school for several years personally, but that's just me. If you're fine with following someone's advice who's biggest claim to fame is the girl with big boobs on a dating game show on MTV, then so be it. That's your call.
If you disagree with me, fine. You're allowed to. It's what makes this country great. I can think one thing and you can think something ENTIRELY different.
That said, don't present to me what you think as an actual fact. It's not.
I personally can't stand people who try to act as if their opinion is the end all to any discussion. This applies to the vaccine issue, to sports, to whether you think pepper is amazing on food. It's an opinion. Not a fact.
I only get like this because after reading the post, I read some of the comments on the post. Some were intelligent, but many were pretty much of the name-calling variety, calling people who thought differently of their opinion stupid.
In regard to the HPV vaccine, if you choose to get it for your child, more power to you. If not, same story. It's up to you. Me? If I am lucky enough to have a daughter, she's getting it unless a study comes out that proves that it's completely unsafe.
In the meantime, the world in my opinion would be a better place if some people just kept their mouths shut, particularly politicians. It seems like they're on a roll of late with the level of insane things I've heard them say.
But then that goes against the concept of free speech doesn't it?
I'm all for a good debate on an item of importance. All I want is for the other person to be informed before they open their mouth.
Some of it is because I don't feel I should have to sit and defend every little opinion I have. It is my opinion, it shouldn't matter to you why I think the way I do.
It's mostly because I have found that 75% of the time you get in a debate with someone, it ends with them telling you how stupid you are for thinking the way you do and that you are the reason this country is in the shitter.
Look, I have plenty of opinions. I think the country is in the shitter because every politician in this country is more interested in seeing their face on tv than actually trying to fix the problems we have. Everyone has the answer and it's better than everyone else's. In essence, politics is all about me, me, me nowadays.
I can't stand it.
I can't stand when it weasels its way into medicine even more.
I recently read that a doctor had to make it clear that there are no studies that show that the HPV vaccine can cause autism or mental retardation.
Why does someone have to do that? Because some politician opened their fat mouth and blurted about how it causes that and people shouldn't get it until more studies are done.
No, I don't care about the specifics of who said exactly what.
One of my big pet peeves is people who aren't doctors, nurses, or pharmacists giving medical advice like it's the gospel. This includes politicians and pseudo-celebrities who attach their names to things in the hopes that it gets their name and picture on tv for even just a few minutes.
I personally wouldn't follow the advice of someone who didn't get some kind of medical degree. That's my opinion and you can stutter and stammer all you like if you feel it's okay to take the advice of someone who isn't a professional.
Why? Because it's an opinion what I just said. Not a fact. Hell, the politician in question could know a little something about it for all I know. That celebrity could know a little bit about certain vaccines causing autism. I would rather believe what someone says who went to school for several years personally, but that's just me. If you're fine with following someone's advice who's biggest claim to fame is the girl with big boobs on a dating game show on MTV, then so be it. That's your call.
If you disagree with me, fine. You're allowed to. It's what makes this country great. I can think one thing and you can think something ENTIRELY different.
That said, don't present to me what you think as an actual fact. It's not.
I personally can't stand people who try to act as if their opinion is the end all to any discussion. This applies to the vaccine issue, to sports, to whether you think pepper is amazing on food. It's an opinion. Not a fact.
I only get like this because after reading the post, I read some of the comments on the post. Some were intelligent, but many were pretty much of the name-calling variety, calling people who thought differently of their opinion stupid.
In regard to the HPV vaccine, if you choose to get it for your child, more power to you. If not, same story. It's up to you. Me? If I am lucky enough to have a daughter, she's getting it unless a study comes out that proves that it's completely unsafe.
In the meantime, the world in my opinion would be a better place if some people just kept their mouths shut, particularly politicians. It seems like they're on a roll of late with the level of insane things I've heard them say.
But then that goes against the concept of free speech doesn't it?
I'm all for a good debate on an item of importance. All I want is for the other person to be informed before they open their mouth.
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