Early morning schedules at BMT clinic not to my liking.

My schedule for Day-One of the new cycle (number 26) at the BMT clinic called for me to be there at 8:30 this morning, which required me to get up at 7:00 and by so doing I had only time for a skimpy breakfast, and experienced very heavy traffic particularly on Foothill Boulevard. I have complained about the early arrival times in the past and had hoped that the new patient coordinator, Pam, would do better for future visits.  I had been told that she would meet me this morning with new schedules for this cycle of visits, but she had not showed up by the time that Kristy had finished with the Velcade infusion at about 11:00 so I asked Kristy to learn, if she could, when I might expect to see Pam.  She soon came into the Infusion Room accompanied by Francesca, the former coordinator, and showed me the schedule for the next 3 months in this cycle.  The began apologizing before even showing me the schedule, which has many arrival times at 8:00 or 8:30 and even one at 7:45.  They think that they can get Dr.Atanackovic to write an order for me to regularly come in at 10;00, but if not the best thing for me to do is to come in on Tuesdays instead of Mondays, which along with Fridays are the busiest days at the clinic.  I told them that we have too many conflicts on Tuesday, but they had also suggested coming in at 2:00 on Mondays and after discussing this with Emma I may accept a change to Monday afternoon.

After registering and having a line put in my port and 2 vials of blood drawn I had only a short wait for Bethany to come get me from the waiting area and take me for weighing and then on to an Exam Room to wait for Mary to come review my meds and condition.  I had told Bethany about my dietary restrictions due to the looming surgery and she had told Mary so we talked about the schedule for the surgery and its intention and I told her that I am not supposed to use Alka Seltzer for 2 weeks prior to the surgery on April 10th and I had taken the Plus variety this morning to ward off a possible cold and she told me the prohibition against it is because of the small amount of aspirin that it contains.  It is early in the abstention period and as long as I don't take any more I should be okay.  I have charged my weekly pill box and left out the Baby aspirin and the VitaminE both of which are on the abstention list.  Mary listened to me breathe and looked at the results of the blood work on the computer and told me all the elements looked good.  I usually am escorted form the Exam Room to the Infusion Room but Mary left me to find my own way, not difficult although I have gotten lost in the part of the second floor, Kristy met me to tell me the Velcade had been ordered and she would prepare for the infusion so that as soon as it comes up she can finish the job.

Francesca and Pam invited me to call them if I have any questions about the schedule they gave me today, and after looking at it carefully, I do indeed have questions.  The schedule has me coming in every month for an Aredia infusion and I haven't been doing that for almost 2 years.  When I stopped it was because the Pharmacist had said I was getting too much.  I have tried to call but had to leave a message; when, and if, I get a call back I will also tell them that Emma and I have talked about this new schedule and agree that an afternoon visit on Monday would be better if Dr. Atanackovic does not write an order to change it back to 10:00 every time.  My last Aredia infusion was on January 17.