I called my doctor with an important question and he Googled it for the answer

For whatever reason -- a comedy of errors, inept employees, planetary transits or just plain bad medical karma, I've been having a hell of a time lately.

The saga started last year when I was referred to a specialist by my doctor to further investigate something that showed up during my annual check-up. After waiting a month to get an appointment I finally saw the specialist who ordered some tests and promised the results in a week.

Three weeks later I finally called them to follow up. They gave me the results of the tests they'd run except it turns out they'd ordered the wrong ones.

I went back into the office so they could re-do the test. A week later I called for the results. They ran a different but wrong test again. "Could I come back in again?" they asked, to which I responded "Could you have the doctor call me?

When the doctor didn't call me back after a week I scheduled another appointment to go back so that I could explain my frustration and concerns in person. After explaining the two prior screw-ups by her office she assured me that she would personally make sure the third re-do of the test would be overseen by her.

Imagine my disbelief and anger when I called the third time for the results...AND THEY DID IT WRONG AGAIN!

"Could I come back in again?" they asked, to which I responded "No, I won't come back in again. Strike three, you're out."

Fast forward another month to an appointment with a new specialist. He ordered a different test. When I called Lankenau Hospital to set it up  I was told by the nurse in charge that I could have a severe allergic reaction and that my doctor would have to prescribe steroids beforehand to prevent any problems.

Not wanting to put myself in harm's way without gathering all the information and making an informed decision I called my doctor. Much to his credit he actually called me back right away. He said he'd never heard of the aforementioned drug interaction problem but would check it out and call me back.

Much to his credit again, he called back....to say that he'd Googled it for an answer. Let me repeat that....he Googled it! Hell I could have done that myself and probably should have to start with. He said he didn't see anything to support the nurse's concern of a reaction so I should be fine doing the test without the extra drugs.

So there you have it...my choices are to find yet another specialist (after my 5th month of trying to get answers),  trust that the nurse doing the test knows first hand what could happen or trust Google. What would you do?

This is an original Philly Moms post where Lollie blogs about her fantastic fifties.