Just keeping a record here of my distressing journey to safety during my cataract surgery journey.
The hospital has been very helpful, the Patient Experience Specialist, and the Pre-op Nurse have listened to me, and responded in a timely, compassionate, and helpful way. They have responded in writing. I have confidence in them, and we are almost there with the list of medications and substitutions.
This morning I was sent a list of medications that could be used, from the hospital.
I carefully researched each one. The wording on one needed clarification, I am confident that will be properly sorted out. One of the medications is inappropriate for me, because I have vascular issues. It needed to be replaced with a similar drug that is not a fluoroquinolone, and does not contain my allergen. Simple enough request, or so I thought.
I called the surgeon’s office. I got the answering machine, so I left a message with the information about my vascular issue (they have in on record on the sheets I filled in at their office), and the need to change one of the medications I was prescribed by the surgeon. I anticipated it would just be taken care of. I am very foolish that way, at times, and this was one of them.
I received a call from a staff member at the surgeon’s office, who curtly told me that they knew about my allergies, and that the medication was fine. Good lord, the allergy thing was sorted out, at first I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to tell me. I mentioned that I had not called about my anaphylaxis, I had called about the aneurysm and medication. She repeated again that they knew about my allergies, that they were not in the medication.
It is rare for me to say this, as I usually try to be diplomatic, but I did say it, “you are not listening to me, I am not calling about my anaphylaxis”. Again she stated that she had spoken to the surgeon and the medication was fine.
Her tone seemed that of one admonishing a misbehaving child.
I continued to make my request.
She then told me I had to contact my pharmacist, it was the pharmacist who must take care of the issue.
The call was going nowhere, so I agreed to call the pharmacist, it had to be played out AGAIN, we had been here before with the anaphylaxis.
I offered to send an email with the information they needed, no thank you was the answer. Well, I sent an email anyway, attention to the surgeon explaining the issue, what I had requested, and that wondered if my request had been misunderstood. Since their office did not receive the email message about the anaphylaxis, sent from the hospital, I doubt they received my email either. There is no other way to contact the surgeon with information until the day of the surgery.
This office warns you when you call that “abusive” behaviour will not be tolerated, in a confrontational tone. Maybe they wind people up to the point that they get frightened and emotional, then call the patient abusive.
I called the pharmacist. The pharmacist said that this was something the surgeon had to take care of. He recommended I call the surgeon’s office. I agreed with him that is was the surgeon’s responsibility.
I felt caught in the middle of this silly game, once again.
I told the pharmacist that the surgeon’s office insisted that I call the pharmacist, they told me it is his responsibility. So, again unusual for me, as I try to be diplomatic, I said to the pharmacist, “they don’t care what I have to say, they do not listen to me.”
The pharmacist asked me what I wanted him to do. Then he answered himself, and said he could try sending them a fax asking for a new prescription based on the contraindication. And that is what he did, he sent them a fax.
And the surgeon responded immediately by sending a new suitable prescription that ticks all my boxes.
I am calm now, this is my second round caught in the middle between the surgeon’s office and the pharmacy. This time the pharmacy came through for me on the first try, no mistakes were made at the pharmacy.
As I was going through all this, it took hours to slog through the process, remaining calm in my communications, my body went into fight or flight mode. This is an extremely unpleasant physical state. It took hours for my body to return to normal.
So now almost all of the medications are checked, and appropriate, with one that I need some further information about, and one substitution that the pharmacist at the hospital is ordering for my surgery.
The surgeon’s office does not like my pharmacy, this was stated during the first round of misery with the anaphylaxis. The staff member said that other patients have switched from that pharmacy, as a result of the “problems” the surgeon’s office had with the pharmacy.
We have been with this pharmacy for around fifteen years and this is the first time we have every had issues with prescriptions. They did make one mistake, which I caught, during the first round of monkey in the middle between the pharmacy and the surgeon’s office. But so did the surgeon’s office make a mistake. No other doctor has had any issues with this pharmacy.
It feels like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
Worldly
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23°C
Date: 10:00 PM EDT Friday 7 August 2026
Condition: Mist
Pressure: 101.7 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 22.6°C
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Wind: SW 11 km/h
Humidex: 32
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Quote
“In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
1769 – 1821
Oh my gosh, Maggie! What a nightmare! But you did it, you prevailed and got it taken care of. I’m so proud of you!
I know exactly what you mean about how you felt. I’m the same way and with the worst of the worst happens it can take me a full day to work through it all and get my emotions in check. It can make me sick to my stomach and it can take hours of quiet time for me to feel better.
I hope you’re back to your normal self now and won’t need to go through something like that anymore with these people. *hugs*
Thank you Teri for your kind wishes!
Yes, your experience sounds oh so familiar. What a horrid feeling that is! The gratuitous attitudes of the two opposing forces is disgusting to me, that adds to the intensity. It is not an intellectual response, it is visceral, as you know, and beyond the realm of intellect to prevent. I too need down time to let my body return to normal functioning, and to let my mind calm after the experience.
I am almost back to normal, thank goodness. I know though, that there is much more to come on this, the day of surgery is coming up, and I pray it will be an anticlimax!!!!
And then there is the second surgery, on the other eye, with a different surgeon, BUT thankfully the same hospital, and I know the proper prescriptions I am going to need going into the appointment with the new surgeon. I am hoping the new surgeon is more patient oriented!!
Funny how you can feel hugs through the ether… thanks for that!
Need to remember the paper trail of pharmacist if you need something similar again. For that matter, I wonder if that would work for the doctor’s office?
That will be very important, I will be discussing this topic with both of the pharmacists at the pharmacy.
It is hard to avoid stress, which is recommended to keep the aneurysm from growing, when “professionals” are not being thorough. Two of the three medications prescribed by the surgeon, who has my complete medical history, were harmful. Advocating for oneself involves pushing through when you know you are right and it matters enough to challenge mistakes. And as I’ve found out the hard way, weak egos are easily bruised.
It occurs to me that the person you spoke to at the doctor’s office may have thought you were using the word aneurysm by mistake and that you meant anaphylaxis. If so, she should have questioned you on the term instead of assuming you were still talking about your allergy.
Teri, she did not listen carefully to the original message, and she would not listen to what I had to say during the call back… I agree, she should have listened. Her behaviour was shocking in my opinion.
Frankly, the Mad Hatter’s tea party makes sense by comparison. Given the nonsense you’ve been through with this surgeon’s office, I strongly suspect they “don’t like this pharmacy and have had trouble with them in the past” is directly related to the pharmacy catching them out in prescribing errors and refusing to put patients at risk.
I think you might be right Wendy!
At the end of the day, it is the surgeon’s signature on that prescription, they are responsible for the choice of drug, no one else.
The reviews on this particular surgeon indicate the quality of the surgery is good, but outside of that there are serious issues.
I will be in a steering committee assessing cataract surgery quality of outcomes, on an international panel, so this experience will be shared. I have a voice, I will use it. I have constructive suggestions to go along with the story, the story will merely illustrate why my suggestions hold merit.
Wow! So frustrating! I’m glad you finally got it resolved. But, wow, what a struggle!
Thanks Joan! The experience beggars belief. Thank the universe that the hospital is listening, and interacting with me with patience and compassion. That part of the experience is so refreshing! What a contrast though, between the surgeon’s office and the hospital!!