My Day (and welcome to it.)

   I made a list of stuff to do today. Actually it's a list of leftover items from yesterday, when I'd emailed Remington, returned bottles, filled the gas tank, and had a new battery installed in my watch. Phew, what a day! As usual, I knew  I wouldn't get to everything on my list, but I try. The first items  were  to mail a package and cash a check. The mailing was easy. I never did get to the bank, but tomorrow will come.
   Next item was to call J.H. They request past medical records for consideration of second-opinion visits. I wanted to know how far back the medical file should go, a simple request, I'd thought. I had the phone number and called--into a series of questions: what department, who have I already spoken to, etc., and finally a transfer to someone who transferred me to someone else who asked the same questions. I gave up and said I'd call back.  Maybe Monday is not a good day for this.
  And next, another simple task, to get copies of my surgical reports which, for reasons no one can explain, have failed to show up on my otherwise very reliable patient portal. I have emailed, called, faxed to no avail, and have had several conversations with Carol, Patient Representative for Samaritan Hospital. She has "checked" several times, but so far with no luck. So I decided to get my medical results the old-fashioned way, by picking them up at the Medical Records Office located in Samaritan Hospital, as I have in the past. Just to make sure, I called and was assured they were open, until 4 p.m. and ready to comply.
     A little past 11, I drove to the facility, hoping to arrive before their lunchtime, though they said they remain open. I filled out the release, requesting all information after June 5, 2018. I wanted paperwork only from the time of my surgery. Everything else is already on my portal. After a short wait, the representative came out and handed me an envelope with the information, she said. Because there were 56 pages, she said, I would be charged $4.56. OK. I said and took the packet, which seemed awfully thin for 56 pages. And 56 pages in 3 weeks!
    In my car, in my own space, I opened the packet to find not the information I'd requested, but only stuff that was already available in my portal, and not 56 pages, but 25. Back in I go to Medical Records, envelope in hand, and explain the situation.  First step they took was to check the copier to see if some of the other 26 pages were there. No. They had no answer. They called a supervisor. She didn't know either.  She made several calls and after a while, told me they  had no explanation as to why they had not appeared or if they ever would. She did find one page of the report, so partial success anyway.
    I'd previously  been told the Pathology Reports are not entered on the Portal. I knew this was not true, though I diplomatically say it's incorrect. Someone else told me there is a 15-day wait after receipt. Again, I know this is not true, as per the Portal's own site, but I don't say untrue, or stupid. I say incorrect.
   I still want/need the  other pathology reports, so I ask if Carol is in. She had told me before, after a series of calls, that she would like to meet me in person. I decide this might be the time, so I ask at the main desk if she is in. After they are told who she is and what capacity she serves in, someone contacts her, and she does indeed meet me at the desk. I recount my plight once more and she calls the woman in charge of the patient portal. The portal expert asks me to sign in to my portal, on a borrowed laptop in an empty office, because her office is across the street. She intends to link my portal with their portal and Voila! my portal should show the results.
     In the meantime, Carol has made a trip to Medical Records and returns with the copy of report #2. She said the person there didn't know where to look; she was new. So now I have the hard copies of 2 pathology reports and the portal expert is still trying to link my portal. I dislike being ageist, but I was not surprised. She has white hair and tends to mutter to herself while trying to enter data. And she insists that there is a 14-day wait, though not the 15 days she previously claimed. (It's 7 days according to the portal itself,)
    She's still trying to link, but I say I have to leave. I need to tend to the dog my family has left, while on a trip to Baltimore that I could have accompanied them on for a second JH opinion if only I'd had access to my reports. Or something like that.
   And I arrive in Schaghticoke at 2:30, in time to let the dog out. She exits somewhat reluctantly and wants to come back in right away. That was easy.