My Sick Kid
On Monday, Jacob began running a tempature of 101-102 degrees. We kept giving him Tylenol ever 4-6 hours. On Tuesday he woke up complaining of a sore throat. I called the doctor to see if I should bring him in and was told to only if the fever and sore throat was still there on Wednesday, but for the time being keep giving him Tylenol.
After getting Maria down for her afternoon nap, I joined Jacob in playing with his Hot Wheel cars. As we were playing, I noticed he had something red on his lips. I asked him to open his mouth and let me have a look. When he opened up, his whole tongue was covered in blood. I immediately washed his mouth out and expected to see that he had bit his tongue or lip. After a closer examination, I saw that the blood was coming from the back of his throat. I got Maria up and rushed out the door to our pediatrician's office.
We arrived at the office about 3:30pm. There was hardly anyone there which I thought was great since that meant they could see my poor sick bloody child faster. I walked up to the receptionist and the following conversation took place:
Me: Hi, I called up here earlier about my sons sore throat. You guys said if it got worse then bring him in. Well his throat is now bloody so I think he needs to see a doctor.
receptionist: Do you have an appointment?
Me: No. His throat just started bleeding so I brought him right in.
Rec.: You need an appointment.
Me: So how do I get one?
Rec.: (pointing at a phone on the desk) You can dial 211 and we'll set you one up.
Me: (after dialing the number, I see another receptionist answer - I'm not making this up) I need an appointment today for my sons bloody throat.
Rec. #2: How is 4:00pm?
Me: That's fine
We then sit in the empty waiting room until 4:15pm. As you can imagine, Jacob and Maria are bouncing off the walls because they are so bored. I finally go back up to the receptionist to see what is taking so long. Again, this is our actual conversation:
Rec.: Can I help you?
Me: (I looked down and saw Jacob's chart on the desk) I was up here earlier. You told me to get and appointment for my sons bloody throat. The lady beside you gave me one at 4:00pm. It's now 4:15. I was wondering if it would be much longer.
Rec.: Did you check in?
Me: What?
Rec.: After she gave you your appointment, did you check in to let us know you were here?
Me: You spoke to me. You are the one that told me I needed to call in. You knew I was here.
Rec.: You still needed to check in.
Me: (staring at her with a look of "If I could get my hands on this woman then she would need a doctor") Fine. I'm here. And so is my son with the BLOODY THROAT.
Rec.: The doctor will be with you shortly.
After a few minutes more, the nurse came and got us. After telling her what all was going on, the doctor came and and I had to repeat the story all over again. She took one look and diagnosed Jacob with a virus that was untreatable and we would just have to let it run it's course. She gave me some stuff for his sore throat pain and sent me on my way minus my $30 co-pay.
Tuesday night was rough. Jacob woke up every hour crying with is sore throat. I knew Beth needed her sleep for work so I stayed up with him. I felt totally helpless. As I was awake all but a couple hours on Tuesday night, I realized 3 things:
1) My pediatrician's receptionist is a moron
2) Having a sick kid is 10 million times worse then you being sick. The feeling of helplessness is far greater then any feeling I had ever had before
3) God has blessed me with some really healthy kids. Until that day, Jacob had only been to the doctor once before because of anything other then a routine check up. I fact, it had been since before he turned 1 since that he had been sick enough to go to the doctor. I was starting to think he was like Bruce Willis' character in "Unbreakable". Maria is the same way. In her first year of life, she too has only been to the doctor once besides her normal check-ups.
Jacob is doing much better now and had a good night sleep last night. Having a sick kid sucks, but it sure does make you appreciate the times when they are healthy.
After getting Maria down for her afternoon nap, I joined Jacob in playing with his Hot Wheel cars. As we were playing, I noticed he had something red on his lips. I asked him to open his mouth and let me have a look. When he opened up, his whole tongue was covered in blood. I immediately washed his mouth out and expected to see that he had bit his tongue or lip. After a closer examination, I saw that the blood was coming from the back of his throat. I got Maria up and rushed out the door to our pediatrician's office.
We arrived at the office about 3:30pm. There was hardly anyone there which I thought was great since that meant they could see my poor sick bloody child faster. I walked up to the receptionist and the following conversation took place:
Me: Hi, I called up here earlier about my sons sore throat. You guys said if it got worse then bring him in. Well his throat is now bloody so I think he needs to see a doctor.
receptionist: Do you have an appointment?
Me: No. His throat just started bleeding so I brought him right in.
Rec.: You need an appointment.
Me: So how do I get one?
Rec.: (pointing at a phone on the desk) You can dial 211 and we'll set you one up.
Me: (after dialing the number, I see another receptionist answer - I'm not making this up) I need an appointment today for my sons bloody throat.
Rec. #2: How is 4:00pm?
Me: That's fine
We then sit in the empty waiting room until 4:15pm. As you can imagine, Jacob and Maria are bouncing off the walls because they are so bored. I finally go back up to the receptionist to see what is taking so long. Again, this is our actual conversation:
Rec.: Can I help you?
Me: (I looked down and saw Jacob's chart on the desk) I was up here earlier. You told me to get and appointment for my sons bloody throat. The lady beside you gave me one at 4:00pm. It's now 4:15. I was wondering if it would be much longer.
Rec.: Did you check in?
Me: What?
Rec.: After she gave you your appointment, did you check in to let us know you were here?
Me: You spoke to me. You are the one that told me I needed to call in. You knew I was here.
Rec.: You still needed to check in.
Me: (staring at her with a look of "If I could get my hands on this woman then she would need a doctor") Fine. I'm here. And so is my son with the BLOODY THROAT.
Rec.: The doctor will be with you shortly.
After a few minutes more, the nurse came and got us. After telling her what all was going on, the doctor came and and I had to repeat the story all over again. She took one look and diagnosed Jacob with a virus that was untreatable and we would just have to let it run it's course. She gave me some stuff for his sore throat pain and sent me on my way minus my $30 co-pay.
Tuesday night was rough. Jacob woke up every hour crying with is sore throat. I knew Beth needed her sleep for work so I stayed up with him. I felt totally helpless. As I was awake all but a couple hours on Tuesday night, I realized 3 things:
1) My pediatrician's receptionist is a moron
2) Having a sick kid is 10 million times worse then you being sick. The feeling of helplessness is far greater then any feeling I had ever had before
3) God has blessed me with some really healthy kids. Until that day, Jacob had only been to the doctor once before because of anything other then a routine check up. I fact, it had been since before he turned 1 since that he had been sick enough to go to the doctor. I was starting to think he was like Bruce Willis' character in "Unbreakable". Maria is the same way. In her first year of life, she too has only been to the doctor once besides her normal check-ups.
Jacob is doing much better now and had a good night sleep last night. Having a sick kid sucks, but it sure does make you appreciate the times when they are healthy.
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