Entitled jerk at dialysis today

[Alexysis]

So, I got in at my usual time today, and just as I was hanging my coat, this new 'older guy' patient barges right past me to the scale for weigh-in. As if THAT wasn't enough to annoy me, as soon as he was weighed and shown his seat, he stated complaining: "There's a cold air duct right over the chair, and I'm cold. I want a different chair!" Well, a few people snickered, and I suggested he bring a blanket, you know, just like everybody else at dialysis does......

But, he kept up his little tirade, until the charge nurse told him that she'd need some time to see which other seats were available. I guess his time was SOOO important that he just sat in his seat, complaining the whole time. It's obvious he has money; he was wearing a yellow premium long sleeve polo, the type that sells for like $80 or so. Seriously, who wears a GOOD shirt in YELLOW to dialysis? And who doesn't bring at least 1 pillow and a blanket?

[Michael Murphy]

I used to sit next to a patient who thought if he got to the clinic first he should be put on first.  Now as usual every one had a assigned start time based on length of treatment, and it was scheduled to make sure no two patients being treated by the same person got off at the same time.  Now what  funny at this time is my wife worked at this time so I avoided the time would get up and shower.  So I went in early, about  5 AM and he started coming in just before me so he could claim his mythical first on position.  So I began coming in earlier and earlier.  Each time I came in 5 minutes earlier so did he.  He brought his wife every day and eventually I got them coming in at 4 AM.  Now I didn’t care who went on first but if I went on first I was subjected to 4 hours of him complaining and moaning he did not get put on first.  This continued till another patient told the wife what I was doing.  Oh well it was fun while it lasted.  I just wonder how much I could have pushed the starting time.  He is the reason I own a set of beats headphones I used them to drown him out.

Edited to fix substitution error by my iPad editor

[iolaire]

Good story Michael Murphy.  Once you are around enough people or read about them it becomes obvious that many people are very odd and others are just nasty.

[iolaire]

Sorry modified not editing.

Good story Michael Murphy. 

Once you are around enough people or read about them it becomes obvious that many people are very odd and others are just nasty.

[GA_DAWG]

It is likely we all know of people at our centers who are completely unfazed by such behavior. There are those as noted here who think they should always be first. Recently I watched a patient throw a fit because the person in the seat before them bled longer than normal and the staff did not toss him from the seat anyway to make room for her. there are the gum poppers. There are those who figure out how to make the TVs play without earphones and play them looud enough for everyone to hear what they are watching. There are the ones who demand to be taken off early and those whose time has been run completely ignored while they are. There are the ones who cuss the staff for not getting them off sooner. There are those who accuse the techs of causing them to cramp when they came in 6 kgs above dry weight. Strange thing is, most of the time it is the same people who are all of these things.

[Michael Murphy]

The one thing that the obnoxious patients wonder how do they think annoying the people about to stick big needles in them is a good idea. Personally I wan the nurses and techs in a good mood when they stick me.  When I started over 6 years ago i got tired of the patients who figured out how to play TVs without headsets blasting Maury Povich all I could hear is “You are not the Father.” This lead me to invest in a good set of noise cancelling headphones.   

[Charlie B53]

I come in early, set my stuff out in and around my chair, weigh, ask my Tech if I should stay or go stand out on the porch and smoke a cigarette.  Depending how soon she's ready she will tell me which to do.

Once seated I rarely notice a thing.

With my laptop and headphones snacks and Lifesavers I am off in a whole different world.

I am often surprised when my Tech touches me telling me it's time to get off.

[PrimeTimer]

The one thing that the obnoxious patients wonder how do they think annoying the people about to stick big needles in them is a good idea. Personally I wan the nurses and techs in a good mood when they stick me.  When I started over 6 years ago i got tired of the patients who figured out how to play TVs without headsets blasting Maury Povich all I could hear is “You are not the Father.” This lead me to invest in a good set of noise cancelling headphones.

You are so right about this! My husband always praises the techs and especially the "stickers". He says he'd rather they be happy to see him and not mad. He also tries making them laugh so that they will be a little less tense about things.

[Riki]

Those who think they will get on early if they show up early are a peeve of mine.  I used to do the early morning shift, so I was off a little before lunchtime.  The waiting room was always full of afternoon patients wanting to get on right then.  Some of them just didn't seem to get that the machines need to be cleaned and set up, along with the chairs and tables.  Plus, the nurses need to have their lunch.  There are reasons they give us assigned times.

[Simon Dog]

There is a mandated "prep time" between seat times, since it takes time to clean the chair, setup the machine, etc.

If you are intent on getting on quickly learn to do your own needles.  When I was on D in center (was at home, wife had a big surgery/injury so I went back to the center) the staff knew my routine and when I walked in there was a little hospital type table set up with all the supplies I needed, so I just went in at my time, needled up, and someone always hooked me up quickly since they knew it did not take much time.

Now, I goto Quest to get stuck with 21 gauge needles for post-xplant testing, and using their online appointment system gets me in and out in 12 minutes.  They have not yet acted on my request for a drive up blood draw window with a hole in the side of the building.