Yeah, fingers crossed. Jesus.

Dr. S is also calling them--he did some detective work and found that there's a regional shortage of 2 mg tablets, so the wording of the prescription might be the problem--controlled substance, must be dispensed exactly as written, so if it says one to two 2mg tablets and all they have is 1mg or 4mg tablets, they have to hand it back and say, "Not in stock."

He also found that almost nobody has updated the pharmacy hours listed on their websites since Covid, so the on campus one I thought closes at 7 closes at 6, as do most of them, and a lot aren't open at all over New Year's weekend. The best option may be to call an entirely new carefully worded prescription to the 24-hour Walgreens on Castro. He's on hold waiting to talk to the practice manager now.

I haven't worked for him for at least a dozen years; he's just doing this out of sheer goodness (and cantankerousness; nothing refreshes and invigorates him like fighting a bureaucracy). One of the greatest strokes of random good luck in my life was getting assigned to him as a temp worker back in '92.

Redundant!

The fact that you can have contacts throughout the local medical establishment and still have to work so hard to get proper medication is terrifying. I’m glad it looks like it’ll work out for JZ. I’m just thinking about the thousands of people dealing with cancer who didn’t temp for a bureaucracy-fighting doctor and who don’t have a Hec to run to multiple pharmacies or a granny bag of replacement meds. Could someone please tell the powers that be that the War on Drugs is over (we lost), and doctors and pharmacies should be able to hand out whatever they deem necessary, 24/7?

Seriously. Jesus fuck.

Timelies all!

I hope your resources come through for you, JZ, and I'm pissed off on your behalf that you've had to do things this way.

Another part of the problem is that these pills sell for a lot of $$$ on the street, so it’s another layer of control that makes it all impossible. Similar to the reason that certain OTC meds are now under lock and key and ID must be shown when purchasing.

Anyone who hasn’t read the outrageously good EMPIRE OF PAIN, I I highly recommended it. Fuck the Sacklers indeed.

Different post to say I made an enormous detour from my drive from Albany to the cabin up near Yosemite to see Jacqueline yesterday and I am SO GLAD that I did. I got to see Hec, JZ, and the new beautiful and perfect-for-them home, and even met JZ’s utterly lovely mom. Best detour EVER and one of the best hugs too.

I am so enraged on your behalf, JZ.

It's a New Year's miracle!

Actually, it's the miracle of a gloriously stubborn 80-something Brooklyn not-quite-retiree who speaks so softly you can barely hear him most of the time but who will coldly and remorselessly mulch you if he believes you're standing between one of his patients and the care that patient needs. Dr. S was a detective, a magician and a relentless pain in the ass of every pharma-adjacent individual in the entire city of San Francisco today, and the result is that in about an hour we'll have enough Dilaudid to get me all the way to my first visit with the oncology team, comfortable and well-rested instead of fully unstrung.

David did a lot of calling himself, shaking down phone systems with which he's much less familiar, and I clocked in a lot more phone time than my phobic self was happy with, and Dr. Reddy started with the first small push first thing in the morning, and somehow all that monumental effort turned this fucker around.

For one prescription. For a palliative band-aid that will only just get me through to the point where the truly difficult, grinding work begins. A glowing triumph that throws the greater systemic failure into stark relief.