MD Anderson has scheduled four appointments for me without my knowledge or consent. A representative, the nurse that I spoke to and made my original appointment with, left me a message yesterday asking why I cancelled my follow-up appointment. Odd, don’t you think, that they would call to ask why I cancelled, but not call for permission to schedule?
Of course I was angry!
I let my anger subside by visualizing all of the things that I wanted to say and feeling the lava bubble up inside of my chest, rising through my throat, spewing out all of the things I wanted to say. I felt the injustice of having my life arranged or scheduled for me. No one at MD Anderson bothered to ask me what I wanted. No one bothered to ask me if it was okay to schedule an appointment for me. And that DOES NOT work for me.
Slowly, but surely, the thoughts I was mulling on lost their heat and I began to think of what to say that the MD rep could hear. And this morning I felt calm enough to call her back.
She answered on the second ring. I identified myself and after a slight pause she recalled who I was. “Oh, I was just calling to find out why you cancelled all of the appointments that we scheduled with you, including your follow-up appointment,” she said with curiosity.
I countered with,
I find it ironic that you would call to find out why I cancelled my appointments, instead of calling to ask if it was okay to schedule them.
She described how the Team works and the protocol they follow. I explained that my appointment with the doctor was an interview to see if I was interested in working with her. I didn’t feel that I was on the same page with the surgeon and that the surgeon didn’t communicate well; nor did the team, as evidenced by the appointment scheduling. I told her that I would not work with MD Anderson at all after what I had experienced.
She was sorry to hear it and hoped that I had found what I was looking for.