Doctors would never make it in the business world...

On Wednesday, I had a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. This means I had my tonsils removed and my uvula reshaped.

The procedure was easy enough. Because I have been wearing a CPAP (used to treat sleep apnea), the surgery was a very simple procedure. It was an out patient surgery that really only took about an hour.

Fast forward to this morning.

I had been eating my applesauce, soup, jello, and ice cream without any issues. In fact, this morning at 6 AM, I got up and ate my applesauce with crushed up drugs without problems. Then about 7:30 AM, I woke up with mouthfuls of blood. I know, pretty gross.

My future wife was kind enough to drive me to an INOVA Access center. To make a long story short, the whole experience was terrible. We waited a while in the reception area (immediately before walking in to the waiting room, I spit out a mouthful of blood). The "customer service" aspect from the receptionist to the "emergency" doctor was very negative. There was only one nurse who seemed like she cared.

In their defense, both of us were somewhat hostile, mainly due to the fact that they didn't seem to be too concerned with me spitting blood into their mini bed pans.

After talking to my ENT, the "emergency" doctor didn't feel comfortable performing some procedure, so they made us drive to the regular hospital. After waiting around for an hour and a half, we finally saw a frustrated ENT. I felt bad for the ENT, because it wasn't her fault we waited so long and she lacked the information and tools to complete her examination in a timely fashion.

My thought throughout this entire process?

Other than being bummed out about having to fork over TWO $100 copays, it is a good thing doctors aren't in the business world. This sort of inefficiency would never be tolerated and put the doctor out of business. Grey's Anatomy is totally fake and the real world of medicine is not a well oiled (Wal-Mart like) supply chain.

My advice to anyone living in the Fairfax County, VA area? Unless you are dying, don't go to the INOVA Access center on Chain Bridge Road. Even if you are dying, if you can make it to the hospital ER, try to hang on just to avoid Dr. Hermes.

I also find it ironic that the whole procedure to get my tonsils removed (approx. 4 hours) took about as long as this morning's debacle.

I'll survive. But, spitting up all that blood this morning did kinda freak me out.
I will leave you with a snippet of what my bathroom sink looked like after I got back from the hospital this afternoon.