Whoops . . Sorry, Dr. Sherman

"Identity is such a crucial affair that one shouldn't rush into it."
- David Quammen, American nature & science writer

I found out something very funny yesterday. Originally, I was scheduled to see Dr. Eric Sherman. He's a big deal in head/neck cancer and chemo. He's in the TopDocs database where they asked Philadelphia area doctors from various hospitals who they would want to treat their family if they had head/neck cancer. He's very well respected. Well, I found out a week before my appointment that Dr. Jared Weiss, who works under Sherman would be my doc. I was disappointed, but was assured Dr. Sherman would still be involved in my treatment and had very close contact with Dr. Bar Ad about my case.

Anyway, when I went in to see Dr. Weiss, I checked in on the 15th floor as instructed. They checked me in, had my chart, gave me a pre-stamped card with my name, and put me in the waiting room. 45 minutes after my appointment was supposed to begin, I walked back up and asked for a reason for the delay. The quickly put me in an exam room and told me the doctor would be right with me. 30 minutes later, still no doctor, so I went back to the front. They said they'd paged Dr. Weiss a bunch of times and he wasn't responding. I'm shocked to learn that he's not even seeing anyone else right now, he's MIA.

I was never crazy about seeing anyone but Sherman, so I tell them that I need to see Dr. Sherman instead and that I'm done with a doctor who blows off his patients. The admin people then admit that they should have sent me to the 12th Floor and send me down there right away. They put me in touch with Dr. Sherman's secretary who greets me and tells me Dr. Weiss will be right with me. They also have a social worker there. I tell them I will not see Weiss and must see Sherman, that I'm fighting for my life and don't want to work with a doctor who is not making me a priority. I insist on Sherman, but they say they'll have to see what they can do.

About 15 minutes later, I'm in an exam room with this guy who is very apologetic. I'm pretty rough with him, but I quickly put that aside and focus on moving forward and being positive. The entire time I had this appointment, as I describe above, I think I'm dealing with Dr. Jared Weiss. It wasn't until last night that Kristina told me it was Dr. Sherman. She saw it on his jacket and my prescriptions were written on Dr. Sherman's pad.

Oddly, I felt a lot better knowing retroactively that this guy is Dr. Sherman.