Bad Interaction with Scheduler
 

[BG] About 6 weeks ago, when I had a checkup on my arthritis, my blood pressure was pretty dang high. Like 190/110. (I’ve been treated for high blood pressure for over a decade.) But I wasn’t having any symptoms, so they had me follow up with my GP asap. Unfortunately for me (good for her), my GP is on maternity leave. So I saw a different doctor. Because of the pandemic, it was a telephone call. From my home testing, my BP had dropped to about 145/105. Still high. The doctor was naturally concerned. She changed my meds and said she’d have a dietitian call me to set up an appointment.

3 weeks later, I hadn’t heard from the dietitian, so I messaged the doctor. She sent in the referral again. I got a call, got an appointment set up (which finally happened this morning), and I thought we were hunky dory. Also, my BP has dropped to 125/93, so better again, though I understand the bottom number is still high. [/BG]

Here’s where I get confused and annoyed: Yesterday, I got a call from someone at the “weight management team” at the clinic. They said they had a referral to make an appointment for me from the doctor I spoke with last month. The first question I had was, was this from the referral a month ago or last week? She couldn’t answer that.

Me: I have an appointment with a dietitian tomorrow.
Her: They’re not going to tell you the same thing we are.
Me: Huh?
Her: Let me tell me what we do. Then you can decide whether to keep the appointment you have or make an appointment with us. [starts to explain what a carb is]
Me: You don’t have to talk to me like I’m 12. :mad:
Her: Well! We have a lot of clients who don’t understand what carbs are or how they work.
Me: Ok, whatever.
Her: We have a plan that’s backed up by research [what is this, clickbait?] and developed by doctors [red flag #2] that will put your body into a ketogenic state [red flag #3] so your body burns fat instead of muscle.
Me: So you’re promoting a keto diet?
Her: No, we won’t have you reduce carbs by that much.
Me: Ok…. What about sodium? The doctor said she wants me to reduce sodium, too.
Her: Well, we don’t actually recommend reducing sodium, since most of the things we suggest you cut out are high in sodium, like pasta, and, um… [she seemed to have a hard time coming up with a second example]
Me: Maybe I should just keep the appointment I have.
Her: Our plan is backed up by research. If you want to lose weight, this is the plan we recommend. [Yes, she started repeating herself. I decided to end the call.]
Me: I’m going to talk to the dietitian tomorrow, and if I need more information, I’ll call you back to make an appointment. Goodbye.

Later, I was thinking about the whole “the things we recommend cutting out are high in sodium” thing. Like beef jerky? Cheese? Nuts? These are good low-carb snacks, but tend to have a ton of sodium.

Also, why is the receptionist (I assume - she was the one calling me to make an appointment) trying to convince me of the efficacy of their diet plan? Isn’t that the job of the person who I actually have the appointment with?

I’m still kind of mad about the call, even a day later. I’m just not sure if there’s anything to be done about it. I have the woman’s first name and the name of the person whose office she works in, but I’m not sure if what she said was particularly inappropriate, even if she seemed rude to me.

On the nice side, my appointment (virtual visit) with the dietitian went well. She gave me some good advice and numbers to shoot for as far as carbs and sodium. And she didn’t talk down to me about any of it.

WMT girl sounds like a total idiot. I'd stick with the dietitian and let WMT girl's boss know just how stupid and condescending a person they have as first contact with their team and how bad an impression she made on you. To start with, pasta is not a high-sodium food on its own (depends on sauces, etc.). Also, when she sounds more like online spam than like a medical professional, not a good impression.

Little receptionist is going WAY above her pay grade AND education/expertise with that crap. Is she trying to sell an outside plan to patients of the clinic? (Major 'oh HELL NO', if so)

I can see being helpful, but if you can't get it right and/or don't know what you're talking about, STFU and/or get someone who KNOWS what they're on about.

Yes, I am being just a little bit abrupt here, but this kind of shit hurts people. Needlessly.

Pasta is literally just flour and water. WTF?

Most pasta recipes I've seen do include egg, but that could be worked around for vegans and others not wanting egg, I think.

Pasta is very high in carbs. I think it's 42grams per serving, and a serving is only 2/3 cup. I'm carb limited, and only eat it when I can't stand not having some

True, but that's not what she was saying. She was saying pasta was ALSO high in sodium, which isn't true.

When she called, I was already stressed out about having to significantly change my diet, about having to keep track (and reduce) both carbs and sodium. And then she brings me an unexpected call wanting me to make an appointment with her department? :confused:

More than a week later, I'm still stressing about my diet, but it's starting to get better. The worst part is trying to find fresh vegetables locally. We have one small grocery store with a limited selection of vegetables, and they're often nearing the end of their shelf life when I buy them. The next grocery stores are 10 miles and 30 miles away. It's a pain, both in terms of time and gas money, to keep my fridge stocked. And with shorter hours due to COVID-19, popping over to the grocery store after work feels impossible.

I'm carb-reduced as well, and it's so hard because I absolutely love pasta. I've tried gluten-free and the so-called healthy pastas but I don't like the way they taste. And I'm not a fan of pasta-izing veggies either. But I'm managing as best as I can, largely by not eating the huge portions I usually do and not going back for seconds.

As for fresh veggies, I end up not buying a lot of these due to the fact that they don't store well. I go shopping once a week, and I'll pick up fresh veggies but they start going mushy after about three days. So I only buy what I know I'll go through in those three days, and stick to frozen veggies for the rest of the week. It's better than canned at least.

Due to being diabetic I had to see a dietician to find out what was safe for me to eat and what was verboten. So many fruit and veggies are filled with sugar, so even when I thought I was eating healthy it turns out that I was causing my blood sugars to sky-rocket. Bleh -_-

My SIL has started her own veggie garden as a way to get veg for her and the fam. Problem is, as soon as any of her tomatoes turn red, the local bird population attacks them. Often, just one bite and then they're apparently like "Ew, no, f*** that" but the damage is done and they keep coming back to do it again. Just one bite per 'mater. Ever.

Just like a sucky customer. They never learn.