Surgery [30 Mar 18] Surgery Confirmation Letter & More - From 4 Weeks Ago...

[Positron]

That is, in his mind, the winning scenario.

He literally writes "game over kiwis" on his calendar.
He isn't aware that, no matter what happens, he'll still be bouncing and squeaking for our entertainment.

 

[nvrwastetree]

Everyone should just call him Philadelphia Collins, it’s easier to remember than any of his fake spanish or mexican bullshit.

Or mustard tiger or hamburger walrus

 

[Optimus Prime]

He literally writes "game over kiwis" on his calendar.
He isn't aware that, no matter what happens, he'll still be bouncing and squeaking for our entertainment.

The fact he thinks we're going after him because he's trans is hilarious.

Just by becoming a woman doesn't mean we're going to stop monitoring him and mocking him.

 

[DragoonSierra]

OK Sorry for the Double post but here is the Markup of the letter highlighting all of its major errors.

Wyświetl załącznik 415661
1) The return address is on the right and not the left.
1a) Patient ID missing altogether but I am willing to concede that it may be under the blacked out portion.

2) Full Doctors name, I am not 100% about this but in the UK unless the doctor is called something like Smith they don't include the given name of the doctor unless they are the junior doctor involved. This has been the case since the Victorian Era that's been kept on to the present day.

3) The Blood Thinners, that's more of general medical advice but considering that the area getting operated on in this case is HEAVY with major blood vessels this would have been covered and would not ask you to call in, it would specify limits within your planned treatment and most likely they would not go ahead with the operation at all if you where on such medication in any significant dose.

4) That bit about transport cuts Phill out of it all together, he has never mentioned anyone willing to give him a lift home, and he hasn't got access to any other suitable transport that he could afford such as a Medical Taxi or be willing to foot himself as he's never mentioned it whiles begging for the assistance.

5) For Major Surgery they don't leave the check-in times up to the last minute, they TELL YOU what time you are supposed to be there for as they know how long the operation takes and how long the perp takes they add some wiggle room to it and a bit more to allow for delays/emergencies that will take priority.

6) They have not given the address of the Check-in Desk, they just mention included map and give a URL. I have never seen this even in paperless NHS trusts they always specify the address normally in BOLD to make sure that it stands out and you can't go wrong.

7) Unmarked but inconsistencies in formatting, paragraphs containing important info are not marked up uniformly i.e.

- like this.

The last two are nearly totally unformatted.

8) Minor and maybe just me but no signature not even a fancy font in place of a signature. Even if you're putting your name on to the bottom of the letter as a formality you sign it or put some form of fancy script in its place.

9) Lack of Header and Footer, normally containing the sender's address and logo are not just bad but totally absent.

Other things to note:

Why is the thing about blood thinners in italics?

Wouldnt everything past Sincerely, be right justified?

 

[NobleGreyHorse]

@MMX is totally right. My surgery was classified as "elective" because although not having it would have had -- how do I put this to be vague enough? -- a negative effect on my quality of life that would have kept getting worse, it wasn't the sort of thing where I was going to die without it (or suffer various horrible consequences like gangrene, etc.) -- so the difference in scheduling makes sense. It wasn't emergent like an appendectomy.

My insurer covered not only the actual costs related to the surgery (surgeon, anesthesiologist, in-theater X-rays, physical therapy that I needed to be green-lighted on to leave the hospital) but food (strangely not as dire as I was worried it would be), the medication I was given post-op (without insurance, I could have been charged for every last Tylenol), and two pieces of durable medical equipment I was given to use at home. If Phil has benefits on the same level as even MediCal, he might be able to get the surgery (and here I am assuming this is all real, of course) for a surprisingly low copayment.

@DragoonSierra -- I would assume the blood thinner shit is in italics for emphasis because he's going to lose a lot of blood as it is (assuming this is real), given all the blood vessels in the groin, and they won't even want him drinking alcohol or taking an aspirin prior to surgery. I personally would put that part in bold to make it as idiot-proof as possible, if I were designing this letter.

Super nitpicky, but: Along with all the inconsistencies that @Ravenor has noted (good to see you back!), the punctuation isn't even consistent. "Check-in" is hyphenated differently within the same paragraph, where it should have the hyphen in both places.

 

[trueandhonestfan]

1. That's not on hospital letterhead
2. That letter would have come with this packet
3. He would have received that letter 4-6 weeks maximum before his surgery, not 3 months so that it would be less likely to get lost

Surprise surprise Phil appears to be making something up.

 

[DragoonSierra]

@DragoonSierra -- I would assume the blood thinner shit is in italics for emphasis because he's going to lose a lot of blood as it is (assuming this is real), given all the blood vessels in the groin, and they won't even want him drinking alcohol or taking an aspirin prior to surgery. I personally would put that part in bold to make it as idiot-proof as possible, if I were designing this letter.

Super nitpicky, but: Along with all the inconsistencies that @Ravenor has noted (good to see you back!), the punctuation isn't even consistent. "Check-in" is hyphenated differently within the same paragraph, where it should have the hyphen in both places.

Thats the second biggest thing other than the letterhead that proves its fake. It isnt idiot proof. That super huge packet that Smutley linked proved it. That packet is highly idiot proofed with pictures and everything. Im sure every page in that packet is designed down to every single minute detail to ensure people understand it.

I was also looking into the way he spelled Pre-Op and then used preoperative, but I think both of those are correct terms. Im sure some capitalizations are wrong too.

 

[Graffiti canvas]

@MMX is totally right. My surgery was classified as "elective" because although not having it would have had -- how do I put this to be vague enough? -- a negative effect on my quality of life that would have kept getting worse, it wasn't the sort of thing where I was going to die without it (or suffer various horrible consequences like gangrene, etc.) -- so the difference in scheduling makes sense. It wasn't emergent like an appendectomy.

My insurer covered not only the actual costs related to the surgery (surgeon, anesthesiologist, in-theater X-rays, physical therapy that I needed to be green-lighted on to leave the hospital) but food (strangely not as dire as I was worried it would be), the medication I was given post-op (without insurance, I could have been charged for every last Tylenol), and two pieces of durable medical equipment I was given to use at home. If Phil has benefits on the same level as even MediCal, he might be able to get the surgery (and here I am assuming this is all real, of course) for a surprisingly low copayment.

@DragoonSierra -- I would assume the blood thinner shit is in italics for emphasis because he's going to lose a lot of blood as it is (assuming this is real), given all the blood vessels in the groin, and they won't even want him drinking alcohol or taking an aspirin prior to surgery. I personally would put that part in bold to make it as idiot-proof as possible, if I were designing this letter.

Super nitpicky, but: Along with all the inconsistencies that @Ravenor has noted (good to see you back!), the punctuation isn't even consistent. "Check-in" is hyphenated differently within the same paragraph, where it should have the hyphen in both places.

Thats the second biggest thing other than the letterhead that proves its fake. It isnt idiot proof. That super huge packet that Smutley linked proved it. That packet is highly idiot proofed with pictures and everything. Im sure every page in that packet is designed down to every single minute detail to ensure people understand it.

I was also looking into the way he spelled Pre-Op and then used preoperative, but I think both of those are correct terms. Im sure some capitalizations are wrong too.

My only caveats of caution to both of these points is, remember you're relying on some office worker's interpretation of correct grammar and punctuation.

My career has me dealing with auditors who's job it is to make sure my organization manufactures engine components that end up in commercial aircraft engines to a multi thousand page specification to the N-th degree. These people are literally outraged if a document doesn't contain specific verbiage or words that relate to the standard or specification....

And they misspell shit all the time.

So how reliably can you place your grammatical faith in some nursing degree holder who happened to become a scheduler?

 

[Mesh Gear Fox]

That packet is highly idiot proofed with pictures and everything. Im sure every page in that packet is designed down to every single minute detail to ensure people understand it.

You have no idea. There are entire committees that have to approve any documentation like that that is provided to patients. Even making small changes are monumental tasks. Also, most of these things are written at a 6th grade level, so that almost anyone can understand them.

 

[MMX]

My only caveats of caution to both of these points is, remember you're relying on some office worker's interpretation of correct grammar and punctuation.

My career has me dealing with auditors who's job it is to make sure my organization manufactures engine components that end up in commercial aircraft engines to a multi thousand page specification to the N-th degree. These people are literally outraged if a document doesn't contain specific verbiage or words that relate to the standard or specification....

And they misspell shit all the time.

So how reliably can you place your grammatical faith in some nursing degree holder who happened to become a scheduler?

Because doctors don't write their own letters or notes.
They dictate them or use short hand for an assistant to write up. If doctors actually did their own administration they would have no time to be doctors so they have secretary's.
99% of all official letters your receive are either dictated or autoproduced and e-signed.
Also a nursing degree is pretty vital for a schedulers role. It's a senior nursing path that requires a lot of managerial experience, they would effectively be working with surgeons, doctors and nurses and micro managing their work.

 

[nvrwastetree]

You have no idea. There are entire committees that have to approve any documentation like that that is provided to patients. Even making small changes are monumental tasks. Also, most of these things are written at a 6th grade level, so that almost anyone can understand them.

Except Phil. He doesn't understand written things that are at a 2nd grade reading level, let along a 6th grade reading level.