Could I ask if this was regular eye doctor, an eye specialist or an a eye super specialist? I ask because my husband has had appointments with one of Toronto's super specialists - appointments were booked for 9:00 a.m. and those in the know take lunch and dinner with them - they often turned into all-day events. But this specialist does Vitrectomies, detached retina eye surgeries, that type of thing and there aren't that many Toronto doctors who perform these surgeries. Most of the patients are diabetics - my husband is one of the few who is not, so on a first visit a person with diabetes has a problem with food. Food sharing then happens. Then we have the various levels of more junior eye specialists - some being too senior to do say cataract surgery so you are referred to a lower specialist. Quite the ordeal. The wait times differ depending on the specialist. The optometrist is very good - usually on time. She does Part 1 of the exam, then puts in the drops and has people return to the waiting room for a few minutes while she takes care of a few other matters and then is ready to see the patient with the drops as soon as the drops have done their bit. Of course with me, the drops burn off immediately and I never get blurry eyes. I think you should sleep on your letter and then decide what to do. Years ago I had to see a specialist - every time you would swear that you were in a bus terminal full of people. The receptionist would always tell people that the doctor had been called out on an emergency. So one day one of my fellow patients stood up and asked how many of us had an appointment booked for 5:00 p.m. - every hand in the room was raised. The receptionist looked scared - not her fault though. It is very common for a few people to have the same appointment time - I think doctors hope that some appointments will be quicker than others. Doesn't always happen though.

I need a new primary care MD and a new dentist. It's no use asking for referrals from people who have always enjoyed good health -- or good teeth! We've rocked along with our present (barely adequate) MD and our (convenient) dentist since 2000. The MD failed to admit me to hospital last month when he saw me a day and a half before I was in the ER at 4 a.m., resulting in a four day stay. ER docs rushed to improve my oxygen uptake and stabilize my erratic heart. I had not *suddenly* become seriously ill. I was ''whooping' when I saw him -- same as when I got to the ER. My DDS has now twice failed to adjust for bite. I have a cracked root on one lower molar (pounded by the new bridge above it). A thrown crown he just reset fractured a day later. ("Oh, you'll need a new crown! $$$$) Is there a shortage of MD's? We only took this one because it was so hard to find anyone taking new Medicare patients in 2000. We saw right away that he was marginal, but the group practice (since absorbed by a hospital group) was efficient -- and we were younger, with few ills! Our prior, excellent doctors retired.

Nicole, please let us know how it turns out. it is such a strange situationthat i can’t help but wonder if the neighbor is confused and thinks that you also had lots of pine needles to dump and the guy helped you. but even that wouldn’t explain it, would it? They needed a way to get rid of the pine needles. You and DH provided that AND you both drove with him AND you did it twice. You got no benefit out of the day (except for the pleasure of helping a neighbor, and now I’m guessing that that pleasure is greatly diminished). It is simple: you did a favor. THEY should thank YOU. Wacky as all get out. There must be a misunderstanding on your neighbors’ part.

Someone finally did contact me regarding the sleep test, but it took them 10 days from when I started leaving voice messages. By this time, I already had a referral from my sleep doctor for Sunset Sleep Labs (not UCLA affiliated), and I had not bothered to try to get my insurance approved for this, since I was unable to make an appointment with them either. The person who finally responded to my request noted that I have two sleep test referrals and mentioned that my UCLA referral expires on May 24. However, she offered me dates from May 9-14, and I requested that I get the May 13 appointment. Since today is Saturday, I probably won't hear back from her until Monday. I much prefer to arrange my appointments through the portal (which is identical to MyChart), since I don't have to worry about what time of day or day of the week it is, but the UCLA portal gave me no option to make this appointment, and I tried. I have a feeling that they might be responding to the letter that I mailed to them, since I included a copy of my referral. Anyway, I am now awaiting the confirmation for the May 13 appointment. Incidentally, they perform sleep tests seven days a week, which is nice, but their office is only open M-F.