Tim is coming home this Sunday for a few days. This is his first home visit since his transfer to Allendale, thirty days ago. The honeymoon is already over at the RTC. Last week he hit a classmate, slammed a door so hard it hit a teacher’s aide, and threatened a housemate. Sigh. But what really got me hot was Tim telling me he met with the pdoc and told him that his voices were particularly bothersome, and the pdoc told him he didn’t hear voices, he was just angry.
Um, what? Did he not read the notes that were sent from his last RTC? The 30 pages of history I wrote for them? His diagnosis, for jeebus’ sake? It’s highly unusual for Tim to open up to anyone about his voices so quickly. Telling him that he isn’t hearing them is tantamount to calling him a liar. It’s a sure fire way to be positive he won’t tell the doc about symptoms again.
I called his caseworker and was annoyed but polite. I didn’t even think about having to start over from scratch, bringing a new RTC up to speed on Tim and his quirks. I figured that, as medical professionals, they’d at least read his file. Why do they take so many notes if they don’t plan on ever reading them again? Can someone answer me that? We have a popular acronym in technology-land – ok, we have a lot of acronyms in technology-land, but this one is relevant. RTFM. Doctors would do well to follow that one.
Oh geez, Chrisa, really? I'm so sorry that they aren't getting it at all – that is so discouraging. All we want is to be hopeful that things will go well, and relationships will be established, and when they don't even take the time to read his files, that's a huge problem. UGH! Hopefully they will get with the program soon!
Great! How do you do polite, I ask? You know I have issues with that one. I've already figured they do not read anything. How can a pdoc read his mind? I'm so very sorry for Tim and you. It's so hard to advocate under those circumstances. I hope the weekend pass goes well. I know you will be able to assess his frame of mind…. Go mama bear 😉
That's really annoying. Even if they hadn't read his notes, surely they have experience working with people who experience voices and things? It's common to recommend that you don't start out by flat contradicting people anyway – it's just no way to get anyone's trust. These things are hard enough to experience without being told its all your fault.