A Bad Day for An Allergist Appointment

Junior had an allergist appointment today. We have never seen this "Doctor" before. They mailed me the new patient packet, which I got earlier in the week and filled out as completely as I could. (To the point of explaining a few things on the questionaire).

We arrived early. About 20 minutes early. I wasn't asked for my insurance card when we signed in, I just handed the nurse my packet signed the sign in sheet and sat down with my mother in law to attempt to entertain Junior for what I thought would be about twenty minutes till our appointment. A full forty minutes later, we were told it would be just a few more minutes (and that was only because I asked.). Yes, you read that right - 40 minutes after we arrived we were seen. Actually it was more like 45. Either way by then I was mad, Jr was ready to do something else and Grammie was running out of ideas to entertain him. Not once were we addressed in the waiting room - which was tiny and PACKED. Most where there to get their allergy shots and where more or less in & out fairly quickly.

Once we gotten taken back to the exam room there was ANOTHER patient in the room waiting for his shot. The nurse told him to STAND BEHIND THE DOOR, and she would give him his shot, and told us to sit down in the chair. I thought "Okay, maybe there was a little bit of a miscommunication here, they will get it sorted out and we can get on with our time with the Dr." I should have known that something was wrong. They funneled in, one after another (with the nurse) during our ENTIRE visit! Easily there where atleast 6-10 other patients that got shots IN THE SAME EXAM ROOM as us. DURING our visit! And to top it off, the Dr seemed to write off any of the things I was telling him about Jr. He wants Jr to go on a decongestant for the congestion he has (something I've been saying to our family practice Dr for a while which I will go back to him and pass on), but he wants him to that in place of the zyrtec we are currently on in addition to that he wants us to use Nasonex on Jr twice a day for the next two days and everyday after that to see if it helps the congestion. IF Jr's sinuses are like mine, he may not actually be allergic to anything - he just has overactive sinuses who literally over react to everything like mine and would need to take something different that Nasonex (it doesn't work for me.)

Either way, this visit felt like a waste of an afternoon. I did not feel that the Dr valued anything I had to say let alone put his full attention on my son and what we are concerned about. Not to mention the constant distraction of having other patients in the room. I could be wrong, but I would think that discussing symptoms, family history etc with other patients in hearing range (i.e. door not being shut) is a HIPA violation.

So my plan of action is this: I am calling the insurance company tomorrow to get names of OTHER pediatric allergists (Grammie thinks I should wait till I get back to TX so any tests don't have to be repeated) here in our area and seeing which one would work best for us. I may be willing to walk away from a Doctor appointment feeling a little unsettled about a visit like this one if it were about me, but I'm sorry my son deserves better. And quite frankly I'm not going to tolerate it. (And in the future will probably not tolerate it when it comes to myself either!)