Measure Twice, Cut Once...

I love the builder/craftsman's axiom "measure twice, cut once." I learned this from Norm Abram's New Yankee Workshop. Yes, I have watched that show occasionally, but I have not built anything...yet! I appreciate the percision and pride that craftsmen and craftswomen put into their work.

My first request for records was on April 1st. Today is April 12th ,and I finally received my last report via fax this morning. I made at least 20 phone calls, faxed three record release requests, and drove to two locations to gather reports, films and disks. I thought that everything could be sent electronically because doctors within Bev. Hospital system has access to everything electronically, but no. The other oddity was that the records people seemed a little deffensive, like I was asking them to give me copies of top secret information. Since I pay for the tests, don't I own them?

Last week I drove all over the North Shore, picking up medical reports, disks and films. My last stop was Beverly Hospital in Danvers where the majority of the "stuff" was located. After I was handed a large, official looking envelope from the reception desk, I decided to sit at a table in their little cafe and check the contents against my checklist. Guess what? The ultrasounds, the bone scan and the CT scan were missing. When I went back to the receptionist, a 60 year old woman right out of a sitcom - the clothes, the hair, the make-up, the nails, the perfume, the heavy accent, and told her that I was missing some disks, she handed me the phone to call Ms. Perfect, the woman in charge of records. Ms. Perfect walked out of her office and over to me as if she was going somewhere with a definite purpose. She pointed to the two enclosed disks and said that all the information is on them. I very nicely - which is not always easy when you are donkey hanging over the edge - explained that the labels on the two disks read, "MRI" and "MRI Biopsy." She told me to wait a minute, and returned with two more disks that read "Ultrasound" and "CT Scan and Bone Scan." She apologized and said that she has never made this mistake before and that she had to run to take her daughter to an appointment.

It's a good thing that Ms. Perfect works in the medical field and not the building business. Or is it?

Whacky thought for the day...
Why is it so hard admit when we make a mistake? I find people who make a mistake and own up to it are much more intelligent and capable than those those that make a mistake and hide it.