How long should I wait before calling the specialist again?

Here is my situation.

A week ago Monday, I went to see a staff level specialist at the hospital and had a discussion with him regarding my possibly having major surgery.

We left it at that I would spend some time thinking about it and get back to him. He specifically said that I should contact him directly. (He wrote his name down on a piece of paper for me so I would know who to ask for).

So I waited a week (I thought that would be a good amount of time to get my thoughts together) and tried to call back the following Monday with some additional thoughts.

I got the department secretary, who said that he was at another hospital and offered to bleep him.

I told her not to, since the surgery involves a quality of life issue and there's nothing urgent or  life-threatening going on, and I don't want to interrupt the doctor when  he's with a patient or doing something that is urgent.

I also want to speak to the doctor when he is sitting down and has time to listen to me properly, not when he's only half-listening to me because he's preoccupied with something else.

The secretary said he would be free to speak to me Tuesday morning, so I left a message with her to have him call me back on Tuesday morning.

Well, it is almost noon on Thursday and I haven't heard anything from him.

What is a reasonable time to wait before I try calling back again?

Do it right away.

Do what he told you to do and call him.  When you get him on the phone, you can either discuss your plan or use the call to schedule a face-to-face meeting, as the two of you see fit.

Secretaries forget.  Bleeps get forgotten or aren't heard at all.  He may have told you to call him because that's how his system works to make sure he finishes the tasks he needs to do, and he knew you wouldn't forget.

Thanks. Left another message on the secretary's phone.