Function Words

I saw the surgeon on June 7. He said that it did look like I need the surgery. He said to get in touch with the surgery scheduling person. This is where my misunderstanding began. I thought he was telling me that he would be able to fit me in quickly. What he was really saying was that the scheduling person is responsible for OR availability and that since my surgery is elective the best I can hope for is to move farther up the priority list if an operating room happens to come available at the last minute. Otherwise the earliest elective date he has is August.
Meanwhile today I saw my primary care doctor. She agreed that a cholecystectomy is probably warranted too but that she can only make notes to that effect in my record. I asked her about how I might be able to move higher on the priority list. She said short of an ER visit the best thing to do is to get in touch with the scheduling person again and ask for "next available" rather that a specific surgeon. She also gave me a prescription for tylenol + codeine for the pain.

I called the scheduling woman. She is a very kind person but obviously she has different priorities that I have. She transferred me back to the surgeon's nurse to discuss the "next available" scenario. Later today the surgeon called me back and explained what I described above. I asked him directly what I can do to get a higher priority.
He said: 1. call scheduling again and ask for it. He said it would be a request for a second opinion to get an alternate surgeon.
2. call "member services" and complain about the delay (he said this does not reflect badly on him--he recommended that I do it)
3. go to the ER if I have an elevated temperature and vomiting.

I asked exactly what constitutes an emergency condition. He said fever, vomiting and elevated white count.

After that conversation I left a longish message with the scheduler. I also asked her to put me on the August list but please, please, please can I have something done sooner? It hurts a LOT. It's hard to imagine having this pain for 2 more months. She hasn't gotten back to me yet. I will try to talk to her tomorrow morning and then call member services.

I also thought of another question--just how risky would it be to go on a trip to Alaska in this condition? What if I have an attack? Can I go to an Alaska hospital and have the surgery. Will Kaiser pay for it?

This whole thing is pretty aggravating! I am not used to chronic pain. Even if it is not constantly horrible it is still hard to live with.