Let’s go back to mid-October 2009…whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…Are you with me? Good.
After many accolades about Dr. Caputo and Dr. Wagner (the Pediatric Ophthalmologist Gods of Essex County, apparently), Josephine was scheduled for an initial visit.
Dr. Wagner was wonderful, no doubt. But there wasn’t much to go on. Just initial observations that were to be followed up with in 6 months. Josephine had exotropia in both eyes (when the eye wanders outward, like a lazy eye). But because of her hypotonia, Dr. Wagner wanted to wait 6 months, after Josephine improved her muscle tone through natural development and EI therapy.
Now…let’s travel to early April 2010…whoosh, whoosh. Wait, I think we left someone behind…nope, they’re here…
Without going into detail, let’s say Mommy accidentally damaged her phone (hey, the coffee got in the way!), thus rendering the calendar and all contact information unavailable. I knew Josephine had a follow up with Dr. Wagner sometime in April, just not a clear date.
Now…a short trip to Tuesday, April 27…whoosh.
I called Dr. Wagner’s office at 8:30 AM to confirm if Josephine had an appointment THAT day and if so, the time. I left a message asking these questions, along with my cell phone number.
No return call.
It’s now 10:00 AM and no call from the office. I make another call.
“Yes, her appointment was at 9:30”, says the receptionist.
“Oh, sorry. I called at 8:30 this morning and left a message, but nobody called me back. Can I reschedule for next week?”
Slight laugh of irritation from the receptionist. “Uh, no. The next appointment is June 15 at 12:00 PM. Would you like that?”
“Why didn’t anyone call me back?”
“We have too many patients to call and remind them. Would you like to schedule that time?”
Really? No, really?
So, I took the appointment, with obvious hesitation for the lack of consideration from this lovely receptionist.
Needless to say, I am now searching for a different doctor. A doctor that actually cares about the patients and not about the numbers.