I m writing this at 5am not because I m an early r...

I m writing this at 5am not because I m an early riser but because I m stuck with an 8/10 pain with no meds to help. I normally tell people never to write these kind of things because they don t help but sometimes yelling at the wall is good for you, even if it s only you that hears.
My Simple Story Ended up in the local ER with horrible side and back pain which was most likely caused by Gallbladder Sludge. They managed the pain and referred me to a surgeon. Being a good net citizen, I did my research and found that Wake Forest Baptist was rated highest in my area for the surgery I was told I may need. Had to wait a few weeks to be seen but suffered that wait assuming it would be for the best in the long run. Had my appointment on 5/16 with Dr. Clancy Clark and surgery was set for 6/10. Pain is a funny thing when you re not in it for some reason waiting nearly a month didn t seem too bad at the time. Well two acute attacks later and I m calling to see if we can move up that date and if any pain meds can be called in to tide me over. My first call was on Friday morning 5/20 and I had to leave a message for Dr. Clarks Nurse, I never received a call back. My 2nd try was on Monday morning 5/23 and this time talked to scheduling, explained my situation to a very nice women who promised to talk with Dr. Clark and call me back no call came. My 3rd attempt was late yesterday and again went to scheduling because I could actually talk to someone and explained my now lengthening situation. I was put on hold for a few mins and then was mistakenly hung up on. I did receive a call back within a few mins and it was explained to me that they haven t even tried to move up the surgery and won t call in any meds. Apparently Dr. Clark needed a fax from my cardiologist giving his OK before he would look at moving the date. This seems like a reasonable request and I had gotten that approval the prior week but no one told me they needed it in writing or where to even send it if I had. The next item of news was the no pain meds. Apparently the head of the VA is not the only one that thinks waiting for care is like being in line at Disney World. I was told simply that Dr. Clark doesn t prescribe pain meds and I would have to see someone else for that .wow.
If this is the kind of pre surgery care you provide, I don t want to find out what post surgery could be like. These may seem like small everyday issues but when you re double over in pain they sure don t seem that way to me. Like any other process, I expected a few bumps and hurdles but this is ridiculous. At every chance a red flag has been thrown and for me to just continue on headless of the warning signs and expect a perfect outcome seems foolish. In my opinion this was a total failure of the Baptist Medical System, from the Dr. Clark to the Nurse and finally customer service. I don t expect, but I do hope that this letter helps kickstart some change in the process.
Sincerely
Patrick Golimowski