Looking for a new eye doc

The eye doc proclaimed my right eye healed. That is after he remembered that he had seen me a week ago today.

Dr. R. Lowell Hardcastle gave me a followup exam this morning that involved dilating my pupils. After putting the dilating drops into my eyes, he left the room, saying he’d be back in a few minutes.

The walls are thin in that office and I could hear him in a nearby examining room with another patient. When he finished up and exited the other examining room, I supposed he would be back with me.

Not so. Instead I had to listen to some woman from their corporate office jabbering nonstop about insurance procedures for another half-hour.

Finally, after sitting there for 40 minutes, I decided I’d had enough. I stepped into the hallway where I could see the woman sitting in Hardcastle’s office still rattling on. Fixing my dilated pupils on the doctor, I announced, “I hate to interrupt, but I have to be somewhere at 10:30 (it was 10:10 a.m. at the time).”

A chubby officious little woman hustled me back into the examining room, saying, “The doctor will be with you in a minute.”

“I hope so,” I said. “I’m ready to walk.”

Hardcastle came into the examining room about 5 minutes later, apologizing for the interruption from “corporate.”

I acknowledged his apology and pointed out that I very much mind that they took my time to have their little chat.

I don’t doubt the guy’s competence, but his distant brusque manner and disregard for a patient’s time is unacceptable. I’m done with him and with that practice.

The good news is that now, more than four hours later, my eyes are back to normal and I a fresh set of contact lenses in for the first time in more than a week. That means I can finally see my computer screen properly.