Technology...

I know technology has improved many things, but sometimes I wonder if an old-fashioned slip of paper wouldn't work better. This morning I took Ben to the doctor to check out his blood-shot eye. The doctor diagnosed allergies and wrote a prescription for some eye drops to help clear the irritation. She told me that she would send the prescription electronically to my pharmacy. A few hours later, I went to this pharmacy but they didn't have any record of a prescription for Ben. I called the doctor's assistant. Yes, she said she can look online and see that it was sent. Back to the lady at the pharmacy. Well, she doesn't have any record of it. Can the doctor resend it? Another phone call to the doctor. This time I spoke with a different lady who said that the prescription was not sent yet and the doctor was in the file so it couldn't be sent yet. I drove home from the pharmacy without the medicine and no clue when I would be able to pick it up. By the time I finished running around today, the pharmacy was closed, so I need to drive over there tomorrow to see if I have better luck.Yup, sure would have been nice to walk out of the doctor's office with a prescription written on a piece of paper.

A similar thing happened when I tried to schedule my echo this time. I walked out of the doctor's office this time with the paperwork but handed it off to scheduling who was supposed to fax the request to Evergreen Cardiology. I gave a few minutes and called them to set up the appointment. Nope, don't have paperwork yet but she said she'd call me as soon as she got it. This was on a Friday. By the following Wednesday, I still hadn't heard from anyone. After a phone call to Cardiology, I was told they still haven't receive the necessary paperwork. So I called my doctor's nurse. She transferred me to scheduling. I spoke with someone there and gave an additional fax number she could use. Thursday....no phone call to schedule an appointment. Still nothing on Friday. Keep in  mind that the two offices are just on the other side of the hospital...not across town. I called again on Monday to the Cardiology office. "Nope, no paperwork." Back in touch with scheduling... "We faxed it to both numbers." Fortunately at this point, the lady in scheduling said she would call cardiology directly and see what is going on. I willing gave up my middle-man-status. Waited for the rest of the afternoon, but still no appointment. Finally, on Tuesday, the scheduler for Cardiology called and asked if this was a good time to schedule an appointment. I told her of course it was (I didn't dare let her off the phone!) We scheduled an appointment for the next day and it should be plenty of time for the cardiologist to look before my scheduled Herceptin infusion next Thursday. For something that should have been so simple, technology certainly complicated it.

Despite my mini-rant on the "joy" of technology, I am very thankful today. Because I deserve to die for my sins. Jesus didn't have to, but He stepped in and took my place. He died a cruel death. Wretched. Good Friday. A day for thankfulness. A day of grace and mercy. A good day to pause and reflect...