I sat in the clinic, anxiously waiting for her to enter the tiny room to ask her to fill out a medical form for me and get a refill on my pain medication. As soon as she said a little hello to me and my girls, I knew that my nurse practitioner was in one of her "moods." I was trying to tread lightly and was hoping to keep things light and quick so that I could get out of there ASAP. I politely asked her for what I needed and she fired back at me and told me that I had to take the medication that she had suggested a few months prior and that she wouldn't prescribe anything else to me. I told her my concerns and the opinions of other specialists that I had seen and asked about that very medication and how they were all against it as well. It only made it fuel her anger more towards me. She told me she had to grab a form and would be back. When she came back, she slammed down a prescription paper in front of me and said, "Here KEY-ANNA, I will not give you any pain meds. By the way, I put a prescription refill for the medication that I already prescribed to you." Her face was cold towards me with this restraint of annoyance mixed with rage and as she spoke she glared at me. It took all that was within me to hold back my sass, having my girls in the room helped keep me restrained because I was ready to fight back and give her a what for, but I didn't. I politely said, "Thank you," and then walked out of there.
As soon as I got into the vehicle, I called my husband up and told him that I would never step back into that clinic and see her. I didn't care if I'd have to go to a gazillion different walk in clinics, I would not take the bullying and abuse from this woman ever again. I had made up my mind and knew that I didn't deserve that type of treatment. I had a letter all prepared in my head to give to her boss and let them know that she shouldn't be in that type of position. Parts of me wished I would have followed through with that letter, but at that point in time I was already under a ridiculous amount of stress from dealing with the car insurance company, lawyers, and some personal family stuff. I just knew if I rocked the boat, then I would need to be prepared for more intense meetings and conversations and I wasn't ready for all of that to go down.
My husband had asked around at work to some of the guys to see if they knew of any openings and this one guy warned Brandon about the same nurse practitioner that I was having issues with and told story after story of many others with similar stories. In hindsight, it was a little too good to be true to get her right away and now we knew why.
Brandon had been introduced to this dad's group in our little town. It was a place for dad's to enjoy a free breakfast with their kids and to be able to connect with other dads. This one friend that he made told him about this particular clinic and raved about all of the doctors there. He said the care was phenomenal and he had never had a bad experience. Brandon came home and told me about it while I was already researching clinics with good reviews. We had to go grocery shopping, which was a full day event because we lived a little out from the bigger shopping center. As we were driving, Brandon had it in his mind that we were going to head to one of the clinics that I had researched and I thought we were going to go to the one that his friend told him about, within the last second I voiced my thoughts and we just made the turn off in time.
I walked into the clinic and had to wait for a chunk of time. I looked over and one of my girlfriends was also waiting patiently to get into a doctor. I shared with her my situation and how it was my first time at this clinic. I just really needed help and direction with my current medication that I was on and guidance with my pain. When my name got called, my friend looked at me and said, "I'll be praying for you while you are in there." It brought a wave of peace over me, as seeing a new doctor and having chronic pain, you just never know what you are going to be met with.
I sat down in this brown chair made of pleather and wood. He sat down at his little side desk with his computer in front of him and said, "What can I do for you today?" His gentle voice and demeanor put me at ease. "I'm on this nerve pain medication but I don't find it helping and I'm running low on pain medication. I know the signs on the doors say that you don't give pain medication to walk in patients but I have no where else to go and wondered if you could give me some advice." He sighed and said, "I'm really sorry but this type of stuff isn't meant for the walk in clinic. You need a family doctor to oversee this." He asked me about my situation and I tried to do a fast tracked version and explained the situation with the nurse practitioner. "I've got no one." I said. He hesitated and then said, "You really need someone to walk you through this and help you with a health plan and to be able to oversee your care. Is it just you?" I was kind of confused with his question but figured he was asking if I had a family and so I told him about my two girls and husband. "Well, if you'll have me, I'll help you the best I can and walk along side of you." He said. I was taken back and couldn't believe what I had just heard! At the same time, I could've hugged and kissed him in that very moment. I wanted to make sure that I had heard right and said, "You'll take me on?" and he nodded. "Oh my goodness, thank you, thank you so much!" He told me that I needed to go to the front desk and get an appointment set up and also fill out a form. The lady behind the desk stood and looked at me and just as I was about to explain, the doctor came up behind me and whispered to the woman, "I'm taking her on. Please book an appointment and get her to fill out the necessary paper work." The lady shook her head and looked at me and said, "Do you know how lucky you are? He is already so full of patients. He is one of the good ones."
My girlfriend was still sitting in the waiting area and asked me how it went. I whispered to her about how he offered me to be his patient and she yelled out, "WHAT! I can't believe it. Do you know how hard it is to get a doctor here?" I thanked her for covering me in prayer and walked out of the building in a dazed state. I felt like I was on cloud 9 and tears began to flood my eyes with relief and joy, but also so much gratitude on how my Heavenly Father knew what I desperately needed and He provided. I got back to the vehicle and Brandon could see the tears and he asked with a concerned look on his face, "How did it go?" I told him the whole story and he too choked back the tears. "It's time we celebrate this! Let's go get something to eat." He said with excitement.
It's amazing to me when I look back at how each little encounter we had, played a huge role in my life. If it hadn't been for us taking our girls to this kids club at this church where we met some friends that became like instant family, and then that new friend took Brandon to the Dad's group, which is where Brandon learned about this clinic. Then to be driving and in the very last minute take the right turn off to go to that very clinic and to then have this amazing doctor take me under his wing. It just always blows my mind every time I think about it
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