Scheduling

As any responsible patient knows, who has arrived for a doctor's appointment five minutes early, only to sit in the waiting room for an hour and a half, accompanied by out of date magazines that seem to yellow while time crawls on and on and on, medical scheduling is an inexact science. Maybe that's why we're called "patients."

Scheduling has its peculiarities here at Loma Linda, too, but here things are a little different. Here's how it worked today in my case.

My treatment was set for 2:15. Monday's also the day when Dr. Bush sees patients in clinic, and I knew from past experience that my visit with him would only take about five minutes. So I checked in at the reception desk on Level A (the clinic level) at 1:30. I figured I might be able to see Dr. Bush sometime before 2:00, meanwhile drink my 24 ounces of water at about 1:45, and be down to Level B (the treatment level) 15 minutes early for my 2:15. What great planning!

My butt had barely touched the waiting room chair when I heard the receptionist say, "Mr. Bert, they're ready for you down on Level B." I gulped down three cups of water, took the elevator down to B, and walked out just in time to see Nancy the Tech gesturing for me to go back and dress out.

Chop chop.

"You guys are ahead of schedule," I said as I climbed into the pod and assumed The Position. "We're trying," Nancy replied, and inserted the balloon.

Minutes later, I was on my way back to the dressing room, and they were sending my chart upstairs for my consultation with Dr. Bush.

This time, I waited maybe five minutes on Level A before they called me back to see the doctor. Everything seemed to be in order. "See you next week," he said, and I left.

I checked my watch as I exited the building. 2:05. Ten minutes before my scheduled treatment, and I was done. Beats the hell out of waiting an hour and a half.

The picture at the head of this entry is a schematic of Level B. The circular apparatus in the lower left hand corner is the synchrotron (accelerator) that whips the protons into lightening speed. When called for, they shoot down the long tube that runs along the lower edge of the picture. Depending on where they're needed, they make a 90° left to one of the three blue gantries. Mine, #3, is on the far right. And in 30 seconds another treatment is accomplished.

Treatment count: 15 down, 30 to go. One third of the way through.