heart – Fast:Forward Farther

Bob Jones. That’s an ordinary name. Google lists 10 million results.

When I was a kid growing up in what is now the heart of the DFW Metroplex – it was country back in the 60’s and 70’s – one Bob Jones lived around the corner from our property. His wife Chris and he raised three kids. Their youngest was six years older than me, so we didn’t do a lot together. The two girls had quarter horses, and mom drove them all over everywhere to show Skippa Streak, a Grand National Champion. Bob stayed home to run their family business… and often would bring us the best homemade potato soup you’ll ever taste.

My understanding is his bio went something like this: father died when he was three and his mother raised seven children alone; had a ninth grade education; joined the Navy at 17 and served on Guam at the end of WWII; earned his master’s electrician license on the GI Bill; started a lighting fixtures business; became an early distributor of Casablanca ceiling fans; invested their money well, especially in local real estate; and, accumulated a net worth in the millions. Pretty much a Horatio Alger story thanks to hard work, street smarts and the Midas touch. The greatest generation.

In the last few years, Bob had health issues. They moved 100 miles west of Ft. Worth to the ghost town where Chris grew up, named for her great grandfather… Farmer, Texas. Their home sat atop a hill and looked out on 700 acres they owned. My three siblings and I visited them two Decembers ago. Bob’s sight was just about gone, yet his memory was perfect. He shared quite a few stories about our youth.

Bob Jones died yesterday at the age of 82. I’ll be heading to Ft. Worth for his funeral on Friday. You see, Chris is my late mother’s youngest sister… and Bob Jones was my uncle. It will be an honor and joy to celebrate his extraordinary life.

I spent a lot of hours in doctor’s offices the past few weeks – and not once did it have to do with being sick. First, there was the annual physical. Then it was off to the ‘now that you’re 50 let’s get a baseline since your father died of a heart attack’ CT scan. Next was the ‘it’s been awhile, so you need to have another colonoscopy’ consultation – to be followed soon by the actual procedure. In between was my yearly eye exam.

Results? My body is fine, my heart even better and my left eye actually improved. I’m confident the colonoscopy will show all’s clear on the southern front.

Of course, while visiting multiple medical facilities, I paid close attention to just how efficiently (or not) they operate.

My longest wait was one hour at my primary physician. I’m use to that having gone to him for the past 12 years: he has multiple offices and is only in our neighborhood one day a week, so it’s always crowded. He did spend more than an hour with me, which made the initial delay worthwhile. (The shortest wait was three minutes at the CT scanning location. Their systems are as efficient as In-N-Out Burger.)

Nurses have really difficult jobs, so I typically give them a break. There’s a lot of stress and people aren’t always polite. That said, three of them provided less-than-stellar follow-up service. I had to call my doctor’s nurse a couple of times to get test results. The eye doctor’s nurse ordered the wrong contacts, so I had to go back and exchange them. Twice I contacted the gastroenterologist and left messages, and despite the ‘she’ll call you back this afternoon’ promise… I’m still waiting.

My guess is doctors have no idea how their employees (read: health care providers) treat patients (read: customers). It’s in one waiting room and out the other for the highest educated and highest compensated person in those organizations. However, from an image standpoint, doctors would be wise to occasionally ask patients what they think of the service. Of course, it’s the same thing in your business, isn’t it? Have you done that lately?

BTW… I also went to the dentist last month. All is good – although don’t get me started on the sound of that electric cleaning utensil hygienists are using these days. Rrrrrrrrrrr

Tag: heart

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