Queen Awesome's Adventures in Cancerland: World 5

The first time I called Dr Baliski’s office, it was not open yet. I tried to go back to sleep for an hour, but I just kept checking the clock. The second time I called, his receptionist answered. I told her who I was and that I had been told by Dr Baliski to call today for my test results. The reason I was told to call on June 1st was that it was a Tuesday and Dr Baliski told me he was only in his office on Tuesdays. I wasn’t expecting the response I got. I was told that Dr Baliski would not be in today and that I could leave my name and phone number and if he checked in, she would let him know I had called. I was mad. I told her that the doctor had specifically told me to call today. Finally I asked her to check that my results had been forwarded to Dr Bobyn. She told me they had. As I did not want to wait for possibly another week, we agreed that I should try Dr Bobyn’s office.

I called Dr Bobyn’s office and told the receptionist that I needed to speak with Dawn, Dr Bobyn’s nurse. She gave me the standard “she’s busy” response and asked why I was calling. I told her that I was waiting for test results from my surgeon and that he was not available. I said that I wanted to talk to Dawn to have her check that Dr Bobyn had my results before I made an appointment. The receptionist told me that she could pull my file and check to see if the results had come in. She took my name and phone number and promised to call me back soon. It was 9:15 am. By 11:45 I still had not received a call and I was getting frustrated. At the risk of being one of “those” patients, I decided to call Dr Bobyn’s office again. The receptionist answered and told me that she hadn’t had a look yet. I had reached my limit. I told her that I had been waiting for 2 weeks and that I was being tested for cancer. I needed to know if the results were there. Wow, dropping the C word really gets things done! Suddenly she agreed I’d waited too long, put me on hold and went and checked right away. She came back to the phone and her response made my stomach sink. They weren’t there. I felt sick. In that moment, all confidence that I had built up that everything was okay disappeared. The receptionist told me to call Dr Baliski’s office and ask that they fax the results over right away. She also booked me an appointment for that following Monday. I wasn’t thrilled about having to wait almost another entire week.

After hanging up with Dr Bobyn’s office, I immediately called Dr Baliski’s office again. This time it went to voicemail. I left an emotional message with my name and number asking that they please fax my results over to Dr Bobyn as he had not received them. Again I stressed that I had been waiting 2 weeks for these cancer results and I just needed to know. I was fighting back tears.

Not long after, I received a call back from Dr Baliski’s office. Kim, his receptionist, was surprised that Dr Bobyn had not received the results. While I was on the phone, she brought up my test results on her computer and noted that they had been forwarded to another specialist. Once again my heart sank. This was not good. Kim promised me that she’d fax a copy of the results to Dr Bobyn right away. I hung up and started to cry.