I fell asleep at 5 AM CST and had to get up at 10 AM CST to get ready for my scheduled
appointments. I had to sit through 1-1/2 hours of questions by my new case manager to update my treatment plan. We have to do this every six months. I was not pleased that my new case manager was wearing blue jeans and sneakers on a Tuesday. I like my treatment team to look professional. My last case manager that retired never dressed like that. He even had his shirt untucked. Then I had an appointment with my new pdoc. The main reason for seeing him today was so I could start back on something for insomnia. I had been using Ambien but had a reaction to it last week. My allergy specialist did not want me back on Ambien because I also have angioedema. My pdoc said he thinks the Ambien just should be lowered that if I’ve taken it in the past regularly and had no problems I should be fine. I reluctantly agreed. This evening I went to a support group meeting and ended up at the anxiety group. I thought today was bipolar group. I stayed for group and I could see the differences in the group facilitators. The anxiety group facilitator is organized and comes prepared with resources. She had a binder with a typed list of mental health resources. There was a lady that attended and it was her first meeting. There were only four of us in the room. The lady was in such distress that she cried throughout most of the meeting. She was dealing with a lot mentally and physically too. We started talking about coping skills. The lady that had been crying asked what coping skills might help her. The facilitator is a licensed psychologist. She gently told her that from watching her during our meeting and how she is in distress that coping skills will not do the trick for her. She explained that she would recommend her start with one-on-one therapy and talk with someone about what she is dealing with. That later once she’s more stable coping skills will help. The facilitator for the bipolar group would have never been honest with the lady. She would have named some coping skills and said how great they help. She’s a nice lady but is not willing to speak up and tell you what you need to hear. She’s also not a licensed psychologist. She was going to school to get her therapy license and her bipolar flared up. She never finished and became licensed. When she shows up for meetings the only thing she has is her phone. She has no binder with copies of community resources. The anxiety group facilitator even had flyers of when each group meeting was. Then at the end of the night I called my pharmacy about my meds. The pharmacist states that my pdoc has not called in anything. I sent an e-mail to the assistant manager of my pdoc’s office. This is the second time I was seen by this new pdoc and could not get my meds the same day. When I joined the clinic I had another pdoc and seen him for three years. He was organized and got things done the same day. I told her to figure out what happened and iron it out. Then have someone call me.