Isn't MY Time Valuable Too???

Today I had to bring Tater Tot for a follow-up due to his asthma problem. Being that we've been to the doctor so often the last few months, I knew that Wednesday was Dr. Con's day. Now I really like her, but she is ALWAYS running late. In May, we were the first appointment of the day, and when we checked in, the receptionist said she wasn't even there yet. She made the comment like this was commonplace. (I soon found out it is.) The boys and I had to wait in the waiting room for approximately 15 minutes before Dr. Con even walked in! So when I had to make an appointment for Wednesday morning, I knew that I would have to wait some.

I did come prepared. I had bags of fishy's, as S. calls them, a sippy cup for Tot, books. You get the idea. However, there is only so much you can do when the wait turns out to be far longer than it has before. Guys, we were there so long that the next doctor came in for the afternoon shift! My appt. was at 11:20. It was 12:45PM before the second doctor even came in to see us. The boys were getting antsy, and I must admit that I was too! There was a 2 week old baby that was there due to catching the illness the older brother had. I have no problem with the baby being seen first, as I realize the possible problems that could pop up with a baby that young. But come on! The first appointment was only at 10:00. If it were the afternoon, I could understand more how she could have gotten backed up like that, but my appt. was for only 1 hour and 20 minutes after the very first one.

I think having the nurse or receptionist tell me that it is going to be awhile would have been nice. That way I'm aware of the situation, and don't expect her to walk in at any moment, and when she doesn't, get frustrated. If that was done, I would have at least felt like they cared. The nurse did manage to tell me I would be seeing Dr.Con., but I ended up seeing the male Dr.C. when he came in. I knew it was getting late when I saw him walk in! Now I know there were a lot of sick kids, but having experienced delays every time I see Dr.C whether it is the first appt. of the day or not, it's hard for me to believe it was simply because there were that many sick kids.

My question is, do doctors think our time is not as valuable as theirs??? I would never think of being 1 hour and a half late to an appt., at least without calling first. And we all know what would happen if we were that late, our appt. would be cancelled and have to be rescheduled. Why? Because we were late, and the doctor's time is valuable. There are other people waiting. I know this, I understand this. I'm also not talking about a 20 minute wait either. I expect that. But come on, one hour and 30 minutes??? Maybe I should leave my kids there next time and go out for a cup of coffee. Maybe then we'd get in sooner, because who wants to sit with kids who have been waiting THAT long. I knew I didn't.