Now it is down to the wire. I am down to my last three tacrolimus pills, and I need to take all of them tonight. I covered some of this incident before but basically the tacrolimus is not covered by my work insurance but they did a few courtesy fills. I did not know this and sent the most recent refill to my local pharmacy and the price was ~$140. After many phone calls to my nephrologist, work insurance, and three different pharmacies, I am supposed to get my refill tomorrow. I am already rationing the pills since last week to make it last until tonight so I really need to get the medication tomorrow.
So this morning, I check the mail-order pharmacy website, and it said the order was still processing. It also says I am still scheduled to receive the pills tomorrow. Hmm, that sounds a bit optimistic so I called the mail-order pharmacy again; this is the fifth or sixth time in a week on the same prescription. The automated system also said it was still processing so I asked to speak to a representative. She looked up my order, placed me on hold several times, and finally said it will ship today via UPS next day. There is no tracking number, but they will send that tomorrow as well. Option C is still open if something goes wrong. I will then need to call UCLA Pharmacy for a refill on my old order (less dosage) and pick it up in person tomorrow. That will be a 3+ hour drive (and $14 for parking), but if the mail-order shipment does not show up, I will not have any other choice. There is no Option D.
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Also, I really hate the voice response system that most companies are using now. In the old days, it was a live person answering the phone and redirecting your call. I know that it is inefficient and boring, but it is faster and more convenient for the customer as long as there are enough people to answer the phone line. The “press #” system is okay too but they always lie and say the menu has changed each time to make you listen to the entire list of options. The worst is the “say xxx” to move forward in the menu. On my call to the mail-order pharmacy, I had to yell out my birthday twice, since the system did not get the right date at first, my ZIP code twice, and “representative” three times when the automated system did not have any useful information. It is not too bad when I am at home, but I look like an idiot when I have to do this at work or out in the public.
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Update: 8/10/2021 8:42 pm
Well, that the last three tacrolimus capsules I have and I took them for tonight’s dose. Again, I am supposed to take four capsules each evening as of last week, but had to take only three to ration my supply. I did receive a text from FedEx (not UPS as the pharmacy stated) that a package will arrive by 8:00 pm tomorrow. For sure I will miss tomorrow morning’s dose but I think skipping one time will be okay.
Life with chronic diseases 