My pulse is too low.. my doctor put me on new meds... blah blah

[bean]

I usually fill all of my prescriptions at a grocery store across the street from my own grocery store. Mine doesn't have a pharmacy and closes promptly at 10pm... competition (owned by Safeway) is 24/7, including the pharmacy, and they're pretty cheap.

I feel sorry for the pharmacist that was on tonight. When I walked up there was an older lady (70ish) playing a million questions with him about her new blood pressure med. Loudly. She mentioned several times she hadn't yet taken it today. This went on for... 15 minutes? after I got there, with the pharmacist encouraging her to speak with her doctor about any concerns with the new medication. She finally looked behind her and ... "oh, I didn't see all those PEOPLE behind me! *huff* I guess I'll go check my blood pressure at the machine over there" and shuffled off to the self service blood pressure thingie.

Pharmacist greeted me, I asked how his night was going... he told me "Well it could be a lot better" and rolled his eyes in her general direction. I chuckled and told him I understand. Then told him up front "Hey, I have a couple of questions about my scripts, and the guy behind me probably just wants to pick up his scripts.. why don't you handle him first?" and moved out of the way.

Guy behind me picked up his scripts, paid for them, and left, pharmacist got back to me. Mainly I just had questions about how much my scripts would cost, since one of them was for a new med. Wanted to make sure I had enough in my FSA to cover it before he filled it (I did) and how much insurance would pay. While he was entering my scripts into the computer, the older lady came back up and started banging on the counter and yelling "BEN HOW LONG WILL YOU BE? I HAVE A LOW PULSE!". He rolled his eyes again, though she couldn't see him, which made me chuckle a bit. Apparently she's a regular there too. He called back "I'll be with you as soon as I'm done with this gentleman!" and... answered all my questions politely and professionally.

Keep in mind the older lady... stated several times she had NOT started the new meds yet, so if she really had a low pulse (the way she was banging on the counter, I seriously doubt it), it was due to other issues. I told him "Hey, I'll wander around the store for awhile and come back.. she's obviously more important than anybody else here" and he laughed a bit.

So glad I don't work in a pharmacy.. we get enough nutjobs in our herbal supplements area as it is.

Also, I wandered past the self service blood pressure thingy after she had used it. Normal pulse, normal blood pressure.

Sidenote: I have high blood pressure, one of the meds I was picking up was a beta blocker... which controls blood pressure. Go figure!

[AccountingDrone]

LOL I have my own BP cuff and use it [actually tuesday I took my BP every 30 minutes from 5 am to 10 PM to track how sucky a new med was working ...]

You should get your own, it is neat seeing how your BP can change over the course of the day, some are not overly expensive - I got a basic one at the pharmacy for about $20US, and added the self-reader [automatic] from my dad after he died that retails around $80US [they are both pretty accurate]

Does the selfreader at the pharmacy have signage as to what the correct range for a BP is? otherwise I have no idea if most people actually know what the proper range is supposed to be =)

[LillFilly]

I wonder how she was reading the numbers? Or if she knows what they're even supposed to mean. Poor Ben.

[bean]

Does the selfreader at the pharmacy have signage as to what the correct range for a BP is? otherwise I have no idea if most people actually know what the proper range is supposed to be =)

It does, but I really have my doubts as to its accuracy. It has to be at least 15 years old - probably as old as the store itself, which was built in the mid 90s and remodeled a couple of times since then. It even has this TINY CRT display on it.. it's like 3" x 3", and slowwwwwwwwwly updates the text on it.

And a low pulse isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you're physically fit. When I exercised daily mine was in the mid-upper 50s while sitting. My blood pressure is a little on the high side even with beta blockers though.

I went back in tonight to pick up my scripts - he had told me he had a couple ahead of me last night, so I just told him I'd get them the next evening and to get everyone else taken care of. When I walked in he immediately recognized me and greeted me by name, so I guess I made some kind of impression on him. I asked him if anybody had complained about a low pulse tonight, and he told me she's in there CONSTANTLY... and calling constantly as well.

Poor "Ben". I assured him we get our share of people like that in our supplements area as well, including some that think holistic therapy can cure cancer (... I wish I was making this up, a friend of my mom's died from cancer while refusing chemo/real doctors and insisting on only holistic stuff... she lasted 9 months from diagnosis till death).

edit: I just wandered over to Safeway's website (the parent company of the store "Ben" works at) and sent a customer feedback message with a glowing review of Ben. Honestly, that particular store is very well run, very well maintained, and I actually enjoy shopping there... even though they're a little expensive and they're considered my store's nearest "direct" competition. I did have a little fun buying some produce tonight though, I saw a pretty new cashier and bought some obscure stuff. When he asked me "Okay, you'll have to help me a little here... what IS this?" and I just said "3125" and he blinked, typed in 3125, and asked me "How'd you know 3125 was the PLU for a habanero?". Then when he looked at a jicama I had, he started to ask what it was and I just said "oh, that's 4626". He looked confused until I told him "Oh, I'm a cashier at the Whole across the street. Your store just happens to be a bit cheaper than mine for some of this stuff, and I'm waiting to pick up a prescription, so here I am!".

(he was the only cashier on duty, and also beyond incredibly hot, so I figured I'd pick up some obscure stuff, hehe)

[Pagan]

It does, but I really have my doubts as to its accuracy. It has to be at least 15 years old - probably as old as the store itself, which was built in the mid 90s and remodeled a couple of times since then. It even has this TINY CRT display on it.. it's like 3" x 3", and slowwwwwwwwwly updates the text on it.

Also depends on how often it's calibrated. We have no clue how often they do the one where I work. The pharmacist and I were about to die laughing a the line for it two Saturdays ago! Guess all those people in for the Balloon Fiesta just had to see what their pulse and bp were at 5300ft!

(he was the only cashier on duty, and also beyond incredibly hot, so I figured I'd pick up some obscure stuff, hehe)

Along with that cashier....

[bean]

Along with that cashier....

Oh I can only dream. Unfortunately, there's really not that many gay guys around here, and far fewer of them are remotely attractive.

I'm one of the "not remotely attractive" types, but I can dream, right?