What makes all the shit OK

The other day, one of my regular customers was staring at me. He is a bit odd, but nice. I asked him if he had a question, and he shook his head no and said " they're gone". I was afraid his dad had died. As I am staring back at him puzzled, he finally said " the headaches....they're gone."

Oh.....I remember now. Several weeks ago this man had come into the pharmacy with rxs for a triptan and narcotic. He looked like pure Hell. I asked if he was OK. Barely able to speak, he said no. He had cluster migraines. Had had them for 2 years. They were very cyclical and he was in the middle of a whopper. I asked if he had ever tried a preventative med. He said no as he didn't have insurance. I shared with him my husband's similar story with cluster migraines. A doctor put him on amitriptyline and atenolol. After a couple of months, my husband was pain free. He has a twinge now and then, but has not had a full blown migraine in 15+ years. And these meds are cheap!

After I shared this experience, he asked for the names of the 2 meds so he could ask his md. I wrote them down for him, but I did caution it might not work, nor did I know his history. He said, he understood, but he needed to try something. Apparently the doctor agreed and my patient is able to live his life again. His pain was down to a manageable 2/10 and he could handle that. He is supposed to write a letter to my corporate office and give me a copy.

I did not do this for a corporate kudos. I did this to help a man in horrible pain. One customer made my whole month worthwhile.

Thank you, Mr Cluster.

Better now

This summer, I was given a new lead tech. She is a Godsend. She has helped me and my staff turn our pharmacy from the bottom of the district with one foot out the door into one of the highest performing pharmacies. She has saved my sanity and I cannot thank her enough.

Priceless

So, we have this kid that comes in nearly every day to steal something. He is always high as a kite. Sometimes he has me identify mystery pills (usually some sort of narcotic). The other day, he asked if we gave away free condoms, which we don't. At least he wanted to protect himself and others. But otherwise, this guy is bad news.

Today, he comes in and tells my tech that he feels awful. My tech gets me. He says he thinks his blood pressure is really low and he feels like throwing up. I asked if he felt weak..yes he does. I suggest he go to the ER to get checkd out. He mumbled something in response (he mumbles a lots). I thought he said he wanted to check his BP so I told him where the machine was. His response........................................................


"No, I just need to get a syringe."

"You don't need a syringe to check your blood pressure"

"Yeah, my thing I have at home needs a syringe to work right."

"No it doesn't and I'm not selling you a syringe"

Does he think I am stupid??? This exchange kept going with him finally yelling at me that I need to give him a "fucking" syringe over and over. I told him to leave the store and finally had to call the store manager to escort him out.

I know some people are in the camp of sell the syringe to protect public health. But I'm not. You can be and I see the point. I work in a very drug riddled area and refuse to sell syringes to anyone without a prescripton. Let them share needles and get Hep C, etc. I don't want any more of these types in my store. There's enough as it is.

I hate junkies.

New Year in Hell

I know every other pharmacist is going through the same thing today but I need to vent. I asked the 100 millionth customer if they had a new insurance card.....of course not. Luckily (maybe), she has Med D, so I ran a Med D check through the computer. Oh, yes new bin...ID...group...the whole works. I explained that her plan has changed and she should have a new card; if she doesn't she needs to call and get one for future. Then she says "OH, well, I haven't checked my mail in a while. Maybe it's in there." I just wanted to strangle her.

Why can't people check their plans and realize this is a NEW YEAR. This means you might have a deductible to meet even if you've never had one before. Plans change, copays go up. READ YOUR DAMN MAIL. I know some elderly persons just cannot grasp this, but they are not the ones I am complaining about. I can see the "old person fog" and I am patient. But the rest of you should know what the fuck is going on.

On another note, I had a lady ask me what to do about her ultra red eye. Apparently, she had an itch and had scratched a bit too hard. I told her to get an eye wash and see the MD Monday if it's not clearing up. After I showed her where the eye wash was, she asked me if she should apply it with a cotton ball. To her EYE...not the lid....the EYEBALL!!!! WTF?????? Great idea, lady.

And on the same theme of eyes, if your eye looks like it is swimming in dark red blood (not bloodshot...actual blood) and the eyeball looks nearly separate from the socket, get to the ER immediately.....I do not have any eye drops to give you. No amount of doe-eyed (with the good eye) begging is going to help. It's your sight for crying out loud!!!!

just so tired

I am so tired of all the corporate bullshit. I just want to use my techs to ring the register instead of me. Maybe then I could get the fucking phone that's been holding for me for over 5 minutes. They aren't interested in customer service, only in their numbers. Which by the way are WAY WRONG. According to their magic sheets, we do between 200-300 LESS scripts per week than we actually fill. So, if I'm really filling 1500 scripts they think we only fill 1250 or so. I must budget my tech hours on THEIR reports. Supposedly they have fixed this but might take a month or two until the reports correct. Meanwhile, I have to schedule according to their stupid numbers. During our busiest season. And with a new computer system coming on board in 2 weeks.
I need a new job. I have to get out of retail before it kills me. I am tired of being just a number cruncher and not valued as a person. Getting my resume ready.
Just when exactly did running a pharmacy ((A MEDICAL PROFESSION) turn into the same as running a taco bell>??????

Little surpise in a prescription

Today, I was handed a birth control pak by my tech to transfer from another pharmacy. The patient had dropped it off in the drive thru. When I opened up the pak to take down the pharmacy's info and I got a little surprise. Inside was a tiny baggie filled with white powder. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......are we keeping salt or Equal in tiny baggies in our b/c paks now? I think not.

I promptly called the police who showed up 2 hours later to confiscate the baggie. The officer immediately knew the name since they've been out at the house so often arresting everyone. Half of the family is in jail.

Unfortunately, the police cannot prosecute since they did not catch it themselves, but they did get the drugs out of the pharmacy.

I called up the 'patient' to inform her we would not be able to fill her prescriptions. When I told her I found a baggie inside the pak, she said 'I figured that's what you were calling for. Never mind just throw the rx away."

Can you imagine the conversation in the car after they left the drive thru????

Fucking druggies...........get out of my store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prank Calls Can be Funny, but not this one

Saturday I answered the phone after the tech tried to talk to this girl. A teenage girl by the sound of her voice.

'Pharmacist, what can I do for you?'

"Yeah, what kind of lube do you recommend?"

'Well, they're pretty much the same. It's really a personal preference issue.'

'You have to recommend one. I hear some are better than others.'

'KY products are all good.'

'Is this from personal experience?'

now, I pretty much know this is a crank call, but just in case, I stay professional.

'No, this is from sales data. It's what we sell the most of.'

'What are the largest size condoms you carry?'

I go out to the aisle and look.....

'Trojan Magnum XL'

'Are you sure that's the biggest ones you have?'

"yes"

mumbling in background....guy's voice

'You're sure you don't have any bigger condoms."

'Yes'

It gets better .......................

'Do you carry sex toys?'

still trying to maintain my professionalism but I'm getting irritated....................

'No, this is a pharmacy. You'd have to go to a specialty shop for that.'

'So you have them at the pharmacy?'

'NO!!!!!!!!!! I said we ARE a pharmacy and you need to go to a specialty shop for those products'

'Well, can you recommend one?'

'I have to go now. I have another call holding.'

Then the teenage douchebag says.................................

'Bitch, don't hang up on me.'

WTF??????????????

I say, 'I am hanging up now.' Click.

This would have been an amusing little story if not for the very last part. Made me really really really angry for the whole rest of the morning. Crank call if you will, just don't get nasty when people who have a real job to do need to cut your ass off.