A Sad Story

A Chinese caller wanted a medicine to take back home. He gave the name which, through his thick accent, sounded like “desitin,” an over-the-counter treatment for diaper rash.

That didn’t seem right, so I coaxed him through the spelling (“S as in Shanghai….? “T as in Taiwan…?). The result was “dasatinib.” This turns out to be a treatment for leukemia, FDA approved a few years ago and superior to other treatments. A sick friend in China had asked the guest to obtain some.

I fulfill these requests if they sound legitimate, and this qualified. I made sure he understood that he must find a pharmacy and explain exactly what his friend needed including the dose and instructions. This sometimes involves phoning back to the home country. The pharmacist would then call me, and I would approve. A trip to the hotel wasn’t necessary.

The guest had phoned in the evening and mentioned that he was returning to China the following morning. When the day passed with no call, I had the sinking feeling that, by delaying till his departure day, the guest had waited too long. The average CVS or Walgreens might not stock these high-tech, chemotherapeutic drugs, so the pharmacist might have to order it or send him to another specialized pharmacy. This might take hours. With a plane to catch, the guest probably realized that there wasn’t time. 

Sticking With the Errant Doctor

A guest had a flight in a few hours, explained the front desk manager of the Marina Marriott. His wife was ill and needed a doctor’s note to reschedule. How fast could I get there?

“Very fast,” I said. It was Saturday evening, and I was reading a book.

The Marriott had called regularly for decades before falling silent a few years before. Hotels occasionally do that, and this call gave me hope.

My competitors enjoy an active social life. It was the weekend, and hotels often turn to me when the regular doctor is hard to reach. After caring for the guest, I returned to the lobby and tracked down the manager who shook my hand.

“Thank you so much for coming,” he said. “We have your card.”

I drove off in a happy mood. These urgent requests arrive several times a year, and my prompt response has won me new clients.

But not often. Few hotels give a high priority to providing medical services. The Marina Marriott reverted to silence.

Still, I have fond memories. Twenty years ago, Loews in Santa Monica phoned when its regular doctor hadn’t appeared after several hours. I hurried, but when I knocked on the guest’s door, it was the regular doctor who answered. The embarassed manager promised to make it up to me and kept his word.

Rashes Are Easy, Part 2

His client had developed redness over her eyelids. Could I come?

As I wrote last time, rashes are easy, and eyelid rashes mostly turn out to be one of two or three diagnoses. I asked for the room number.

The guest was in a meeting, the caller responded. When I arrived, I should ask the concierge to fetch her.

So I did. The concierge phoned and informed me that the meeting would end shortly. I waited half an hour.

As expected, the eyelid rash was no problem. After accepting a tube of cream, she mentioned that her knee had hurt since her run the previous day. I examined the knee and reassured her. Then we talked about her husband who had a sore shoulder but refused to see a doctor.

Rashes are Easy, Part 1

A woman at a Sunset Strip hotel had seen a doctor for an allergic rash, and now she wasn’t feeling right. Rashes are easy, and her symptoms were probably medication side-effects, so I expected no problem. That seemed to be the case,, and she agreed to stop the medicine.

She handed me her credit card. I took out my cell phone, dialed the credit card company’s computer, and entered a series of numbers at its request. It denied approval. This is often the result of a typing error, so I entered the numbers again. Another denial.

In the distant past, guests would apologize and promise to send a check once they returned home. Some kept the promise, but I soon decided it was better to collect on the spot.

The guest seemed genuinely puzzled. She wondered if the hotel was responsible. At check-in, a hotel often places a hold on a large sum from the guest’s credit card to ensure that it gets paid. She wondered if this exceeded her limit. She phoned the front desk, and this proved true. There followed a long series of calls, referrals, consultations, and arguments before hotel management agreed to remove the hold. It worked. The computer reversed itself and approved.