American Medical Care, Gotta Love It

So my mom is in the process of having cataracts removed. I say "in the process" because so far it's been a 3-hour "examination" by the doctor in an office roughly an hour away to confirm what the local eye doctor already told her (that she needed cataracts removed) followed by surgery on one eye, followed by driving up there the next day to be examined again, followed by the other eye being done a week from today.

Or so I thought. My sister stepped up and drove her there the first two times while I babysat younger nephew, and I drove her for the next day look-see. I was fine driving here to the August 13th surgery because I knew about it in advance. I like knowing about things in advance. I suspect most people do.

So of course I find out today--literally, just now--that this clinic called yesterday afternoon to say she needed to go up there at 11 AM TODAY for...ANOTHER LOOK. Not to actually do anything, just to look at the same eyes that were JUST EXAMINED SIX DAYS AGO. Just a random phone message, out of the blue. When she wasn't even home, of course. Why they couldn't have told her this when she was IN THEIR OFFICE LAST FRIDAY I have absolutely no idea.

Needless to say, she's not making that appointment because it's a bit too late now for me to drive to the school where she teaches and tell the principal or whoever that hey, she needs to leave right now and go to the eye doctor You know, because bosses just *love* hearing that one of their employees is going to miss work on less than 24 hours' notice.

I went through this same kind of BS with my granddad and now it's starting up again I love how doctors genuinely believe they're literally the only ones in America with lives and jobs and things to do, and the rest of us are apparently unemployed drooling idiots who have nothing better to do than sit by the phone 24/7 waiting for them to randomly call and order you to be at their office the next morning. I'm wondering if they have to put up with this kind of garbage in Canada or any other first world nation for that matter. Oh, not to mention that if I had driven her up there now it would've been in a freaking monsoon.

Damn doctors...