An imperfect follow-up to the perfect appointment

Tuesday, March 28:

Why do I feel like such a bitch when I have to stick up for myself?

I come home from the pharmacy on my lunch break with the latest prescription for prenatal vitamins (from yesterday). When I open the bag, I see the vitamins aren’t the same as what I’ve been getting. I know it’s generic this time (don’t know why), but nothing on the bottle label says anything about DHA. And that’s what I’ve been taking -- a prenatal vitamin with a separate DHA gelcap -- two separate pills.

I call the pharmacy to ask if the vitamins have DHA in them. The person on the phone, who’s not a pharmacist, says the script wasn’t for the vitamins with DHA, but for the same brand of vitamin without the DHA.

I tell the person the nurse practitioner didn’t tell me she was changing the vitamin. In fact, I say, the nurse practitioner asked me what I had been taking, I told her, she gave me script, and I filled it. Why would I look at what she’d written?

So I ask if I can bring the vitamins back for a refund. Just thought I’d ask in case the doctor’s office says the script was a mistake.

The person makes me wait for the actual pharmacist. When she comes on the line, I have to explain my situation all over again. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?!

“I can’t take back any prescriptions that have been opened,” the pharmacist says.

“The bottle hasn’t been opened,” I say, “Only the bag.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“Well, how would I know there had been a mistake unless I opened the bag? You give me a bag that’s stapled shut. How would I know what’s in it?” I ask.

The pharmacist says she can’t fix a doctor’s mistake but relents and says she’ll take back the prescription only this one time as long as I do it before the store closes at 10 p.m.

But what if I don’t hear back from my doctor’s office by the end of the day?

And why do I feel so crummy and depressed right now after this conversation? It’s only some stupid vitamins.