I have chronic nausea. I take a prescription nausea medication to keep it under control so I can eat and function. The nausea is related to stress, as well as my diagnosed depression and anxiety.

Six days ago at the time of writing, two days before Thanksgiving, my grandmother, who has to handle most phone calls for me due to my hearing issues, called the pharmacy to request a refill of my meds because I was almost out. Later, we got a call telling us that the refill request had been denied because my doctor’s office said I had to see the doctor before I could get a refill. I called the doctor the next day and was told that they had sent in an approval, but they would send another one to be sure.

Pharmacy still said they had no approvals, only a denial.

Thanksgiving came and the office was closed. I checked the pharmacy again, and they still said they only had a denial and couldn’t fill it.

Black Friday, same deal, but we got a call from someone at my doctor’s office informing us that they’d be closed until Monday. I only had enough of my meds to get me through Black Friday. I ended up skipping my second dose so I would have one for Saturday morning, and was unable to eat dinner on Friday.

Same deal with the pharmacy on both Saturday and Sunday. No approvals received, only one denial, and they still couldn’t fill it even though I was unable to eat or drink without it at this time. I even got on the phone myself and cry and beg the pharmacist to give me an emergency three-day supply that the law allows, and was told no because of the “denial.”

This morning, Cyber Monday, after going the entire weekend feeling like I was in Hell since eating was pretty much impossible, my grandmother called my doctor’s office to set up an appointment for the first time slot they could fit me into today.

She was informed that they absolutely did not send in a denial, I did not need to see my doctor before getting a refill, and that their system says I don’t have to see my doctor for a refill on my medication until sometime next year. My doctor knows that I need the medication every single day to be able to eat, and I’m about twenty pounds underweight right now due to stress-induced illness that lasted for three months solid, so I need to be able to get a refill at any time until I gain some weight back.

It turns out that someone at the pharmacy put it on my file that they were sent a denial and got no approvals whatsoever. A few hours ago, I got a text saying that I had a prescription ready for pickup, which would be done first thing in the morning because we couldn’t get to the store.

I have filed a complaint with corporate for the store the pharmacy is in, and my complaint has been forwarded to the store manager with the assurance that the incident will be investigated and that this absolutely should not have happened. The person I conversed with — via chat — was horrified about it.

I hope that pharmacist gets fired and feels proud of themselves for giving a disabled woman no less than five panic attacks over the course of three days and causing her a lot of unnecessary stress that has likely set back her recovery from illness. I won’t be able to fully enjoy Christmas with my family now because I’ll still be recovering and having trouble eating much food.

(I have a massive kidney stone trying to pass. I’m in the hospital, waiting for surgery to reduce the size. I suddenly have massive pain, bad enough my vision goes fuzzy. I’m crying, unable to really form words. I press my call button. After a moment, a nurse comes in.)

Nurse: “Can I help you?”

Me: “Pain… bad…”

Nurse: “On a scale of one to ten?”

Me: “Ten!”

(Because of the pain, I practically shout the number.)

Nurse: “You don’t need to raise your voice! I’ll get you something!”

(She leaves and comes back a minute later with a pill.)

Nurse: “Here’s some Tylenol.”

(All I can do is look at her, since that won’t be anywhere near enough for how my pain is.)

Nurse: “Well?! Take it!”

Me: “Need more…”

Nurse: “Ugh, you’re probably just a drug seeker! I’m not giving you anything else!”

(At this point, I just break down sobbing. She storms out. A few minutes later, my doctor comes in.)

Doctor: “Are you okay?!”

Me: “Pain bad… help…”

Doctor: “Okay, sweetie, I just need to know if you can tell me what number you’re at.”

Me: “Ten…”

Doctor: “All right. Do you want me to wait here while I have someone bring you medication?”

Me: “Please!”

(She does stay with me. After she calls the pharmacy, she holds my hand and talks to me to calm me back down. Once the medication is brought up and put into my IV, she makes sure it starts working.)

Doctor: “Your nurse said you were asking for drugs?”

Me: “No, I pushed my call light and told her I was in pain. She yelled at me saying that’s all I wanted and then left.”

Doctor: “She apparently thought you were faking something to get pain meds for an addiction. There’s no way you could fake a kidney stone on the imaging results. I’ll make sure you don’t have to deal with her anymore.”

(True to her word, I didn’t see that nurse for the rest of my stay.)

(I’m an associate about to clock in from break. I don’t work in produce, but when I walk by, a customer gets my attention.)

Customer: “I need a two-pound bag of oranges.”

(I think that’s what she said. It sounded like “tuber pack.”)

Me: “Oh, oranges are over there.” *points*

Customer: “I need a two-pound bag of oranges.”

Me: “Okay, well, I need to clock in, as I’m technically on break right now, and then I can help you.”

Customer: “A two-pound bag of oranges!”

(I give up and walk over to the oranges, pick up a bag, don’t care how heavy it is, and hand it to her.)

Customer: “Oranges. Oranges!”

Me: “These are oranges!”

(The customer sighs.)

Customer: “I guess these will do.”

(She was standing in front of a display with multiple types of bags of multiple types of oranges and somehow wouldn’t handle them herself. And yes, I was late clocking back in.)

(It’s usually quiet but a rush of people just came in and a big queue has formed. A customer just came in and stared at our self-serve fridge where we keep sandwiches and such for a good few minutes before joining the queue empty-handed.)

Customer: “What paninis do you have?”

Me: “They’re in the big fridge there.”

Customer: “Oh. Are any of them vegetarian?”

Me: “Yes, the mozzarella one is, if we have any left.”

(We have a very large number left.)

Customer: “I couldn’t see any.”

Me: “I guarantee you we have them.”

Customer: “Well, can you get me one?”

Me: “They’re in the fridge over there.”

(The customer looked like she was about to protest but I ignored her and served the next customer. I have a low tolerance for people who want to be waited on hand and foot. That’s not how the place is run, but some people don’t seem to get that.)

(I work for a small family chain of four fish and chip shops, with takeout or sit-down service. Everyone here is just a general “assistant.” We all know how to serve customers, fry food, and do general tasks.)

Me: *serving a table of twelve* “I have one kids’ chicken nuggets and chips.”

Customer: “Oh, that’s Emily’s.”

Me: “Who has the chicken nuggets and chips?”

Customer: “That’s for Emily!”

(Who the f*** is Emily? Why can’t she shout “here” or someone else point to her?)