Mammogram 2000

As always I arrive a little early. When am I going to learn? It was 2:10 when I signed in and there was one other woman in the waiting room. The receptionist gave me the paper work to change info. Completed the paper work and returned it to the window. Returned to my seat. I fell asleep twice. 2 more women arrived.

I heard in the hall a woman say, there's 4 up. Shortly a nurse came to the door and called the lady that had arrived before me and myself. They put me in the first waiting room on the left and the other lady in the second on the left. Instructing me to removed everything down to the waist and put on one of the gowns laying on the shelf. This little room was 4' x 4' which contained a chair, hanger for your clothes, mirror (painted in southwest paints decor) and a small shelf under the mirror which contained a stack of gowns to cover the upper part of your body, two magazines and a binder with copies of a health newsletter.

As you are waiting in this little room you can hear the nurse get the other lady and ask her all the quesitons that were on the form that you filed out. I got to hear about her eye surgery, upcoming arm surgery because there is two broken bones in her arm. The pain of the mammogram and then she was escorted back to her room to wait for the results of the mammogram.

Again I wait. Finally the door opens. The nurses shows me to the exray machine. Her total conversation with me was. "Is this a routine check up", Stand here, put your arm here, turn, and OK return to your little room." Not a real conversationalist with me! This procedure couldn't have taken 5 minutes.

As I again wait in the waiting room, again looked thru both of the magazines. Counted the designs around the mirror. As I countinued to wait the room got smaller and hotter. I could feel the sweat run down my sides. Then next patient came into the exray room. I could here all the conversation. Where did she work? I got the whole scope on charter middle schools. The lottery to get in, parents have to volunteer 50 hours. How you can get in the lottery. Do kids get kicked out, etc, etc.

The room is getting smaller and smaller. I just want out. The first lady in the other waiting room was taken to an examing room. As I look at the clock on my cell phone it reads 3:23 pm. It has been an hour and thirteen minutes. I look at the magazines again. BORED, tears starting to well up in my eyes. WHY does this always happen to me? Will someone please just come to the door. I am seriously thinking about bolting. I guess it's clostraphobic. Again, I look at my clock it is now 3:47 pm. another painful 24 minutes has gone by. Now I begin to worry, will I be able to make it to the bank and over to get Abigail?

Finally the knock scares you. A little Iranian doctor escorts you to an examing room. He tells you to sit on the edge of the examing table. And leaves. Now at least I have a window. The shades are pulled and you have to look throw the cracks of the shade, but there is life out there.

Finally he returns with a nurse for the examination. Everything is OK with the mammogram. There is no change from the last one. He then tells me I can get dressed. After dressing, I exit to the waiting room to pay and leave.

The receiptionist is on the phone. I wait. She gets off and doesn't have my paper work, I try to tell her I will go back and get it if she would like me to. But she is calling someone and they are not answering. She is talking to someone the whole time that she is waiting on me. There was NO customer service on this deal. So this whole experience took a total of 2 hours for a 5 minute procedure.

Why does this always happen to me? Do I have invisible written on my forehead? It is just my Karma. I guess I will just contine to cry, and feel that they totally forget that I am here.