This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:51 pm**

hope410 wrote:
NotFound wrote: I tried when I gave up my spot.
Just curious, why did you give up YOUR spot?

Because Poland responded with an earlier date.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:23 pm**

Cece wrote:
NotFound wrote:They will not accept "giving up the spot" for somebody else. They will only shift the line one person ahead in the order already scheduled. So one person giving up would only "shift the line" ahead by a few hours.

I tried when I gave up my spot.
Good to know...but I don't think they are shifting all appts forward when a cancellation happens? They are scheduling someone new on the list into that spot, so someone who might've had to wait for a few months suddenly gets an early spot. This happened to someone posting here in June, I think.

That's what I thought too and even tried to argue this very point when trying to give "my spot" FOR someone.

Apparently it does not work that way is what Dr.Siskin told me. Here is his response to my inquiry (replacing my name with my board user name and the person I was trying to schedule in my stead as XXX):

NotFound,

I am very sorry to hear that you have to reschedule your appointment with us. However, it cannot work the way you have proposed. We have hundreds of people on our list for this procedures, many of whom are likely as affected with the symptoms of MS as XXX. From your perspective, if you have to reschedule, we will gladly consider you for a date every time we establish our appointments for a given month. For example, we are going to be working on our September dates this week and next week. I will gladly reserve a date for you in September and then offer the person next on our list your appointment for July. I cannot, however, allow for any patient to jump ahead on our list simply because they are a friend, relative, etc. of another patient. That is too unfair to the many people waiting for this procedure at our institution. I am sorry about that, but hope that you understand. If you would like to reschedule your appointment, please let us know.

Gary Siskin

Then when I tried to pose the very same argument you are using, this is what he said:

Thank you, NotFound. Just to clarify, the reason it would affect patients other than yourself is that there are many patients ahead of XXX on our list. Suppose XXX formally contacted our office on May 20 and 75 other patients contacted our office before her and are waiting for procedures (the dates and numbers are made up). Moving XXX ahead is great for her but not really fair to those other patients who called us earlier than she did. They are just as anxious, just as sick, and just as deserving of an opportunity as she is. Because of your cancellation all 75 of those people would get to move up one date, which will make all of them happy as opposed to moving XXX up over them, which only makes XXX happy. In now way is this anything against XXX. It's just unfair to the many people who are ahead of her on our list.

I then let them know that I will not be re-scheduling because it seems that was the first impression.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:09 pm**

NotFound wrote: Because Poland responded with an earlier date.

Oh, ok, thanks.

Are you from Europe?

I'm just curious, since your appointment in the U.S. was still quite quickly occurring. If you are from the U.S., wouldn't you have preferred to go here just for follow up reasons (if not for other reasons) even if you might have to wait a little bit more time for your appointment?

Was there another reason you chose Poland or was it strictly when you could get in somewhere, anywhere?

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:14 pm**

NotFound wrote:
Cece wrote:
NotFound wrote:They will not accept "giving up the spot" for somebody else. They will only shift the line one person ahead in the order already scheduled. So one person giving up would only "shift the line" ahead by a few hours.

I tried when I gave up my spot.
Good to know...but I don't think they are shifting all appts forward when a cancellation happens? They are scheduling someone new on the list into that spot, so someone who might've had to wait for a few months suddenly gets an early spot. This happened to someone posting here in June, I think.
That's what I thought too and even tried to argue this very point when trying to give "my spot" FOR someone.

Apparently it does not work that way is what Dr.Siskin told me. Here is his response to my inquiry (replacing my name with my board user name and the person I was trying to schedule in my stead as XXX):
NotFound,

I am very sorry to hear that you have to reschedule your appointment with us. However, it cannot work the way you have proposed. We have hundreds of people on our list for this procedures, many of whom are likely as affected with the symptoms of MS as XXX. From your perspective, if you have to reschedule, we will gladly consider you for a date every time we establish our appointments for a given month. For example, we are going to be working on our September dates this week and next week. I will gladly reserve a date for you in September and then offer the person next on our list your appointment for July. I cannot, however, allow for any patient to jump ahead on our list simply because they are a friend, relative, etc. of another patient. That is too unfair to the many people waiting for this procedure at our institution. I am sorry about that, but hope that you understand. If you would like to reschedule your appointment, please let us know.

Gary Siskin
Then when I tried to pose the very same argument you are using, this is what he said:
Thank you, NotFound. Just to clarify, the reason it would affect patients other than yourself is that there are many patients ahead of XXX on our list. Suppose XXX formally contacted our office on May 20 and 75 other patients contacted our office before her and are waiting for procedures (the dates and numbers are made up). Moving XXX ahead is great for her but not really fair to those other patients who called us earlier than she did. They are just as anxious, just as sick, and just as deserving of an opportunity as she is. Because of your cancellation all 75 of those people would get to move up one date, which will make all of them happy as opposed to moving XXX up over them, which only makes XXX happy. In now way is this anything against XXX. It's just unfair to the many people who are ahead of her on our list.

I then let them know that I will not be re-scheduling because it seems that was the first impression.

If I'm understand what you're saying, you are saying that the doctor said that everybody on the list moves up one spot including those with appointments already made.

But I don't think that's what is happening here.

They are taking the next person not yet given an appointment time & date and slotting THAT person into the newly available spot. That's what's been posted here before and that is what makes the most sense. They are not changing everyone who already had an appointment and shifting them, that would be far too complicated and difficult for many who are flying/have hotel arrangements.

This too moves everyone (except those who already have appointment dates/times) up by one person once the person on the wait list is taken off it and given the newly available date and time. I think that's what he means.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:23 pm**

NotFound wrote:Then when I tried to pose the very same argument you are using, this is what he said:
Thank you, NotFound. Just to clarify, the reason it would affect patients other than yourself is that there are many patients ahead of XXX on our list. Suppose XXX formally contacted our office on May 20 and 75 other patients contacted our office before her and are waiting for procedures (the dates and numbers are made up). Moving XXX ahead is great for her but not really fair to those other patients who called us earlier than she did. They are just as anxious, just as sick, and just as deserving of an opportunity as she is. Because of your cancellation all 75 of those people would get to move up one date, which will make all of them happy as opposed to moving XXX up over them, which only makes XXX happy. In now way is this anything against XXX. It's just unfair to the many people who are ahead of her on our list.

No, their response fits with how I understand it: when someone cancels, the next person on the list gets scheduled into that canceled date.

(Let's say OhWell cancels for August 20th. LuckyDuck was the next in line to be scheduled for the October dates but gets plunked down into August 5th...this skips LuckyDuck over everyone scheduled for the rest of August and September, but everyone behind LuckyDuck who is yet to be scheduled gets moved forward one slot and that serves them all well. But people who are already scheduled do not get their dates changed, because that would be too complicated.)

I figure they are doing it about as fairly as can be done. This actually supports their choice of holding off on scheduling appointments too far out. People who are already scheduled don't get any benefit when a cancellation comes in but people who are not scheduled do get a benefit.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:57 pm**

Cece...that's exactly how it was explained to me when I spoke with his office. I had asked her if there was a cancellation list since I can be there on short notice but she said the only fair way was to offer it to the next person on the list .... makes sense.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:02 pm**

Your post snuck in there while I was writing mine.

If I had seen your post first, I'd have just said, "What hannacat said!"

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:31 pm**

Cece wrote:
NotFound wrote:Then when I tried to pose the very same argument you are using, this is what he said:
Thank you, NotFound. Just to clarify, the reason it would affect patients other than yourself is that there are many patients ahead of XXX on our list. Suppose XXX formally contacted our office on May 20 and 75 other patients contacted our office before her and are waiting for procedures (the dates and numbers are made up). Moving XXX ahead is great for her but not really fair to those other patients who called us earlier than she did. They are just as anxious, just as sick, and just as deserving of an opportunity as she is. Because of your cancellation all 75 of those people would get to move up one date, which will make all of them happy as opposed to moving XXX up over them, which only makes XXX happy. In now way is this anything against XXX. It's just unfair to the many people who are ahead of her on our list.
No, their response fits with how I understand it: when someone cancels, the next person on the list gets scheduled into that canceled date.

(Let's say OhWell cancels for August 20th. LuckyDuck was the next in line to be scheduled for the October dates but gets plunked down into August 5th...this skips LuckyDuck over everyone scheduled for the rest of August and September, but everyone behind LuckyDuck who is yet to be scheduled gets moved forward one slot and that serves them all well. But people who are already scheduled do not get their dates changed, because that would be too complicated.)

I figure they are doing it about as fairly as can be done. This actually supports their choice of holding off on scheduling appointments too far out. People who are already scheduled don't get any benefit when a cancellation comes in but people who are not scheduled do get a benefit.

I see now the difference between the line of "people scheduled" and the line of"people WAITING to be scheduled".

I did not realize at first that there (still) were two lines.

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:42 pm**

hope410 wrote:
Was there another reason you chose Poland or was it strictly when you could get in somewhere, anywhere?

Sort of.

At the time (of my decision to go to Poland) Dr. Kostecki had more experience behind his belt (Dr. Siskin JUST had started, I was one of the first who called the newly opened scheduling line) and more testimonies about his skills on TIMS.

Rather there were no testimonies about Dr. Siskin at all at the time.

And of course, I wanted to "get in" as soon as possible.

I am on West Coast, so Dr. Siskin would not have been "local" to me anyway.

Now, in hind sight, having no CCSVI found in Poland were Dr. Kostecki enters through the right femoral...

... I can not help but wonder that maybe if the entry was on the left (as Dr. Siskin is doing now) SOMETHING (like May-Thurners) could have been found

Oh well. Still confirming my Lyme diagnosis (from Poland).

Posted: **Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:26 pm**

Thanks, Not Found,

What a complicated and difficult situation for you!

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:35 am**

Cece wrote:
NotFound wrote:Then when I tried to pose the very same argument you are using, this is what he said:
Thank you, NotFound. Just to clarify, the reason it would affect patients other than yourself is that there are many patients ahead of XXX on our list. Suppose XXX formally contacted our office on May 20 and 75 other patients contacted our office before her and are waiting for procedures (the dates and numbers are made up). Moving XXX ahead is great for her but not really fair to those other patients who called us earlier than she did. They are just as anxious, just as sick, and just as deserving of an opportunity as she is. Because of your cancellation all 75 of those people would get to move up one date, which will make all of them happy as opposed to moving XXX up over them, which only makes XXX happy. In now way is this anything against XXX. It's just unfair to the many people who are ahead of her on our list.
No, their response fits with how I understand it: when someone cancels, the next person on the list gets scheduled into that canceled date.

(Let's say OhWell cancels for August 20th. LuckyDuck was the next in line to be scheduled for the October dates but gets plunked down into August 5th...this skips LuckyDuck over everyone scheduled for the rest of August and September, but everyone behind LuckyDuck who is yet to be scheduled gets moved forward one slot and that serves them all well. But people who are already scheduled do not get their dates changed, because that would be too complicated.)

I figure they are doing it about as fairly as can be done. This actually supports their choice of holding off on scheduling appointments too far out. People who are already scheduled don't get any benefit when a cancellation comes in but people who are not scheduled do get a benefit.

My venting aside this was exactly my point. If you want to, have to, are deciding whether to cancel please don't wait for the very last minute if it can be helped so the spot can be filled with the next person in line. Depending on what she decides and when someone on the waiting list could luck into an August 6th appointment.

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:01 am**

I really wish people wouldn't post emails they get from doctors unless they have the doctor's permission. Pretty soon, none of us will be able to get responses from doctors via email.

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:24 am**

Rokkit wrote:I really wish people wouldn't post emails they get from doctors unless they have the doctor's permission. Pretty soon, none of us will be able to get responses from doctors via email.

The "people" have gotten the permission back in May when the conversation was taking place.

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:23 pm**

NotFound wrote:The "people" have gotten the permission back in May when the conversation was taking place.

Yeah I shouldn't have assumed you didn't have permission, sorry about that. It's just getting kind of confusing. After the response he supposedly gave the wackos over on flashhack's thread, it seemed unlikely he would have wanted your email posted, but if that was back in May he may well have had a change of heart since then. I just want TIMS to be a positive resource for CCSVI, not a hindrance to the few docs we have on our side.

Posted: **Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:41 am**

Deleted.

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