A woman came in asking about flu shots. She’d seen our sign outside that vaccines were in stock and wanted to get it done. Her sister apparently told her it was too early, that she should wait until October. But she was worried that if she left without getting it, she’d forget and never come…
My dad got shingles three years ago, and I’ve never seen him in that much pain. He’s the guy who walked around on a broken toe for two weeks before finally going to the doctor, so when he says something hurts, it really hurts. The shingles rash wrapped around his side and back, and he…
So I’m standing at the pharmacy in Howell NJ last March, already in a bad mood because I just had a root canal, and I just want my damn antibiotics so I can go home and feel sorry for myself. The pharmacist disappears with my prescription for like twenty minutes. When she finally comes back,…
My grandmother takes nine pills every day. Nine. I count them out with her every Sunday when I visit. She’s 82 and lives alone in the same house she’s been in for forty years. Up until last year, she managed everything fine on her own. Then she had that bad fall and everything changed. Suddenly…
I used to drive 15 minutes to this huge CVS where I’d wait in line forever, just to pick up my monthly prescriptions. The pharmacist never remembered me, they were always out of something, and honestly, it felt like I was just another number. Then my mom got sick and needed her medications delivered, and…
My mom used to go to this little pharmacy on Main Street where the pharmacist knew everyone’s name and what they were taking. I thought it was old-fashioned and kind of pointless – why not just go to CVS where it’s faster and probably cheaper? Then I started taking a bunch of medications myself and…
Last month, Eleanor walked into my pharmacy looking confused and frustrated. She’d just been discharged from Meridian with five new prescriptions, minimal explanation, and that all-too-familiar feeling of being rushed through an overwhelmed healthcare system. “My doctor had seven minutes with me,” she sighed, sliding her prescriptions across the counter. “Seven minutes to explain five…
The morning rush at my Middlesex County pharmacy always brings a parade of familiar faces—the construction worker grabbing antihistamines before heading to a job site, the teacher picking up her asthma inhaler, the commuter refilling blood pressure meds before catching the train to Manhattan. After twenty years behind this counter, I’ve come to recognize the…
The thick envelope arrived in Margaret’s mailbox last October—that familiar annual package of Medicare information that somehow seems to grow heavier each year. As she spread the contents across her kitchen table in her Montclair home, the feeling of overwhelm was immediate. Plan changes, new premium rates, formulary adjustments—the healthcare equivalent of reading another language.…
Let’s face it – diving into Medicare Part D can feel about as fun as getting stuck in summer traffic on Route 9. But if you’re a Howell resident trying to figure out your prescription drug coverage, grab a cup of coffee (or maybe something stronger), and let’s break this down into something that actually…