Sitting in a drug store

My mother was released from the hospital today, to go home and start hospice care. It was a tough decision to decide to start hospice, as it meant deciding that there were no other aggressive treatments to pursue against the breast cancer she has been battling for the last 12 years.

An ambulance transport brought her home and we got her settled comfortably in a hospital bed provided by hospice. My sister came over to help out and then it was time for me to go to the drug store to pick up all the medicines my mother had been prescribed by the doctor upon discharge.

Normally you'd think going to the drug store and picking up a prescription would be no big deal. Most of us do it either regularly or when we have a cold or the flu. For me, it's no different. But this particular trip would turn out to be an exception. For starters my mom was given 10 different prescriptions upon the leaving the hospital. I was sure that alone qualified for a volume discount. But I was undeterred and went off to the drug store and dropped off the prescriptions where I was told they would be ready in 35 minutes.

I went off and shopped for other things I knew we needed, like flexible straws (a necessity for someone who is bed-ridden and can't really eat). 35 minutes passed and I went back to the pharmacy desk. No, it wasn't ready yet. Undeterred I went on and paid for the few things I had already picked up, put them in the car and went back to the pharmacy waiting area and sat down. I waited 15 more minutes before inquiring again, no still not ready. At this point sitting in the pharmacy waiting area, I started to have strange thoughts. Somehow it came to me that I was in a drug store waiting on a pharmacy when my dad passed away. I hadn't thought of that since his funeral. At that point I just prayed that I wouldn't be in a drug store waiting on a pharmacy when my mom passed away.

In total I waited almost 2 hours before getting the medications, because of a problem in one of the prescribed medications. The dosage prescribed wasn't available and the pharmacist had to consult with the doctor to get a different strength prescribed. I kept the hospice nurse waiting, and only to find out I didn't need to go to the drug store at all, as the hospice service could have provided all the drugs we had been prescribed by the doctor. Luckily, my mom was oblivious to my entire wild goose chase. At home she was resting comfortably when I returned.