When my husband had his first visit with a new doctor, one of the things he was able to get was a renewed prescription for one of his pain meds.  It comes in two forms; quick and slow release.  Because it’s an opioid, different rules apply.  Only hand written prescriptions, on a triplicate pad, are used, and they get signed for when they are picked up.  My husband had had a 3 month prescription, but could only get 30 days worth at a time.  As his files were to be transferred from his old doctor to the new, he got only a 30 day renewal, and was to book a follow up appointment for a month later.  That would be enough time for his files to get out here.

Well, the two versions aren’t in sync.  He was able to refill one of them right away, then the second one a couple of weeks later. Yesterday, the first one was one of several refills he called in to the pharmacy.  As he’d already used his 30 day renewal and didn’t have anymore refills left, the pharmacy needed to fax the doctor for a refill.  So I made arrangements to borrow my brother’s van to pick them all up today.

Except it still wasn’t there.  The doctor had never responded to the fax.

Even if he had, they could not fill it without the physical prescription.  Previously, the doctor had been able to fax the prescription to the pharmacy, but that’s not good enough, here.  They could get a fax and start it, but would not be allowed to give out the medication without the physical prescription.  This is one of those things that, once the doctor gives out the prescription, it must be brought to the pharmacy within 3 days. The clinic is close enough that the pharmacy can sometimes just send someone out to get it, though, which is good to know.

However, my husband is to see the doctor in less than a week.

Chances are, he’s not going to get the updated prescription until he sees the doctor.

Meanwhile, he’s out of the medication.  It’s one of the primary pain medications he uses.  One version of it is not enough.

Theoretically, he could have phoned the doctor and tried to make arrangements, but then I’d have to borrow the vehicle again to pick it up tomorrow, because it wouldn’t be ready by today.  Then I would need to borrow the vehicle again for the medical appointment a few days later.

What a pain.

For my husband, literally.

The Re-Farmer