for WOHM or WAHM - when do you have time for multiple dr. appointments?

[Anonymous]

for WOHM or WAHM - when do you have time for multiple dr. appointments? It is not that I don't have the allocated vacation or personal hours, I have a ton; but I don't have time during working hours to take off because of meetings, workload, etc. Off working hours are busy with kid's scheduled activities and other home duties. I have a medical issue that I have struggled with for years and I want to find the root cause and get it fixed, but I don't have time for all the dr. appointments. How do you manage multiple dr. visits per month or per week (like physical therapy, etc).

[Anonymous]

...with great difficulty and stress.

Right now I do a therapy appt on noon on Wednesdays, grab lunch on my way back and eat at my desk.

I do another ongoing appt (usually every other week) at 6:00pm on Tuesdays. Normally I pick up the kids (one in school; one in daycare) but DH leaves early on those days to do it for me. (Tuesday is literally the only day that works - I have an exercise class on Mondays, DH plays softball on Wednesdays, DD has dance on Thursdays)

I have periodic trips to the chiropractor - sometimes I do that on Saturday morning, but otherwise I schedule late enough in the day that I just leave work a little early but can still go pick up the kids afterwards.

It's a huge juggling act and it sucks. I also am dealing with a long-term, chronic issue that I would like to fix once & for all. It is extremely difficult.

The upside for me also is that I have a ton of sick leave and a fairly flexible workplace (but a big workload - so if I wind up with too many appointments too close together, I sometimes have to work in the evening to catch up).

Good luck, OP

[Anonymous]

It is a bitch! I am just keeping up with dental, pap, mammogram, routine DR...(add in hair for personal). Then- the kids. yikes--it sucks.

I wah so I end up making up work in evening hours even when I take sick leave for the appointments. If I woh I don't know how I'd do it.

[Anonymous]

I schedule the appointments during lunch time and also find new doctors closer to my office for convencience.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks everyone! My problem is I don't have an official lunch time every day. If I want to schedule an appointment during lunch, I still have to put it on the shared calendar and send email notification at least one week in advance because my customer or boss expect 100% availability (unless on calendar) in case of last minute meetings or calls even around lunch time. I am concerned with putting all these appointments on the calendar (even though they're lunch time appointments!).

[Anonymous]

I find it easier to be the first appointment of the day than the lunch appointment. The waiting room is usually not as backed up, and if I haven't been in the office yet, I don't feel as though I am "behind." Lots of docs have 7:30 or 8 AM appts, but they're the first to get booked, so you have to plan in advance.

[Anonymous]

Ugh - that's why I hate the whole shared calendars thing. Luckily my office only does that in a limited manner - you record when you're going to be out for a whole day. But you don't have to provide your availability all the time.

I just have to email my boss and my assistant to tell them I'll be out. I keep it as low key as possible. And, to be honest, my boss travels a lot and I try to schedule appts when he is traveling. That way I often can by without even telling him.

I agree about the early morning appts! Also take the first appt immediately after lunch (if the doc office does an official lunch break).

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting this OP. I struggle greatly with this. I have a chronic condition which causes all sorts of weird symptoms and seems to be able to affect basically every system in my body (fun times). Every time something new crops up it is appt after appt to rule out all sorts of scary stuff, and then everyone just scratches their heads in the end. I WOHM full time, and all I can say is that it is a good thing my job is flexible and that my boss does not work out of this office.

Because of my physical problems, my emotional well being has taken a huge hit. I'm constantly anxious about missing something awful because my threshold for pain is so high. I distrust doctors because I had so many BS diagnoses for years before someone thought to give me an MRI, where there was an obvious huge problem that lined up exactly with my symptoms. I have chronic health anxiety for sure, but the problem is that I simply cannot miss more work to go get therapy. My PCP will put me on drugs no problem, but I feel like I don't want to go there without talking to an actual therapist.

Anyway, sometimes I feel pretty alone because I work with mostly young people who have zero health problems. Feels good to anonymously connect with others and to vent. .

[Anonymous]

This is sad state of companies these days. I work for a large, family friendly fortune 500 company. I just tell my boss I'll be out of the office and go to my appt. No big deal. Same thing for events at my kids schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is sad state of companies these days. I work for a large, family friendly fortune 500 company. I just tell my boss I'll be out of the office and go to my appt. No big deal. Same thing for events at my kids schools, etc.

This is just what I was thinking. How can you put your health second in line to your work?

[Anonymous]

I try to cluster my predictable appointments--like get my teeth cleaned the same day as my Pap smear and just take the whole day off (or the whole morning or whatever). That makes it easier when something unexpected arises healthwise or something that requires a series of appointment or therapies.