It's a Pharmacy not a Chemist

I had to go to the hospital today to collect anti epileptic medication for Cameron. Oh joy of joys.

When Cameron was young I was in and out of the hospital six days a week so I would fit a visit into the pharmacy between appointments. As he got older we were either an inpatient or had an appointment often enough that we would always plan to stop at the pharmacy while we were in the hospital. This last year has been a bit confusing.

Cameron hasn't had a seizure for twelve months so we haven't been an inpatient for twelve months. Our other appointments have been inconveniently spaced so that we actually ran out of medication six months ago and I had to make a series of phone calls until someone took me seriously and organized a script for me. By the time this was achieved we had 24 hours of medication left.

When Cameron was young you could chose if you wanted a hospital or outside script from the hospital doctors but years ago somebody made the decision that the hospital doctors could no longer write outside scripts. This means you have to go to the hospital to get your medications.

They also used to have a really wonderful rule that said you could only have one month's worth of medication at a time. Thankfully someone changed that rule a short while ago and they are now allowed to dispense three months worth of medication at once but for years people had to go into the hospital once a month to fill their children's scripts.

Going into the hospital once a month may not seem that bad until you remember the drama you have to go through to park at the hospital and most of the parents have to take their children with them.  Something that would take ten to fifteen minutes at your local pharmacy takes hours and usually ends up costing you, petrol, parking, food and drink. Todays trip took me two and half hours, a panicked phone call to my parents to collect My Little Angel from school and I narrowly missed a parking ticket.

Some things however, never change such as the cashier closing for one hour for lunch and you can not collect your medication unless you have paid so if the cashier is closed when you drop off your script you just have to wait.

How long you have to wait has also never changed. Today I was told I would be waiting around half an hour but it was over an hour. That was actually pretty good because I have sat there with Cameron for two to three hours. You can not see where the pharmacists work and I often sit there staring at the wall wondering what is going on behind that wall.

Sometimes there is a TV to stare at, if it is turned on. Quite often there is nothing, not even a magazine. You spend your time people watching and pondering life, the universe and everything. I would love to have back all the hours I have spent sitting on those uncomfortable chairs, staring at that wall but they are gone.

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You may be wondering why I titled this blog post It's a Pharmacy not a Chemist. My Marvellous Man is a Chemist but he can not dispense your medication, he is an Industrial Chemist and knows all about  metals, rocks and chemicals etc. You go to a Pharmaceutical Chemist for medication and they work in a pharmacy while an Industrial Chemist works in a laboratory. It's a standing joke amongst our family and friends - if anyone calls a Pharmacy a Chemist they are immediately corrected - It's a Pharmacy not a Chemist!