Murphy's Law

Is it Murphy's Law that says "if anything can go wrong, it will"? Well, I was so certain that the problem had been solved- it should never have been a problem in the first place, you know. If someone works in Medical Records, then he or she knows that there are frequent requests for transfer of records- and it should not be looked upon as rocket science. When Kelley Fry called me from Methodist Hospital, it was to report that she had gotten a 26-page report covering my heart catheterization- period. ONE TEST. Of course when Stratton heard that is was a 26-page document, and they gave him a paper copy, he didn't read it- he was just going to send it, along with the CD, to me. Neither one of us would have expected one report to be 26 pages long! Sooooooooo, back he went yesterday to Medical Records, still working with the same man who helped him before. This time he had my entire schedule- I sent him what Baylor sent me in June, prior to my visit, showing the date & time & location of each test for the entire 5 days. Blood chemistry alone accounted for 21 tests- remember all those vials? And there must have been at least 25 x-rays; I don't know how they send that information except to send a report that it was normal or abnormal, because they certainly don't fax the film. I had many tests in the imaging department, one in nuclear medicine, plus an EKG thrown in for grins. Why the person helping Stratton didn't see the rest of my tests is a mystery, because even though he didn't have the schedule, he had my letter saying that I was there for 5 days of tests and wanted my entire file sent to Methodist. So yesterday, they tried again, and this morning, Stratton called me from Baylor, and he said that the 32 pages (all the rest of the tests) had been faxed to Houston last night. I called Kelley, got her voice mail, and asked her to call me when she returns from wherever she was. I checked yesterday to make sure she was working today, and she said that she was- so I guess I'll know something by this evening. I am really having to learn patience in this process, and I am having to practice staying calm. When I get news like I have had twice this week- that things didn't go the way I planned, I get angry inside, and I hyperventilate, and it is all VERY counterproductive in terms of my blood oxygen level. I think of those hormones and enzymes that get released into the bloodstream when you are upset, or in a panic, or just mad- things like cortisol and adrenaline, and I wonder what all happens in terms of the oxygen, because even normal, healthy people hyperventilate when they are angry or upset. It's really difficult to stay in neutral- really. Breaking News- I just received a call-back from Houston. Kelley did not receive the fax. So I called Stratton, who was en route to Fed-ex to send it all to me, and I told him to fax it to Kelley first. Then one of them will call me. And here's the funny part- he has a confirmation from the Baylor fax machine! On the Houston side, it is an e-fax, meaning it goes to a computer file, but Kelley has that file under her name, and while she did receive the first one (the heart cath), she received nothing from Baylor last night. Go figure. As I always told my customers- "Technology is wonderful when it works." More later- probably after I have an appointment to return to Methodist.