Megan has another mystery virus.
For the record, I hate mystery viruses. I want to blast their DNA into oblivion with something non-subtle, like a howitzer. I'm okay with viruses the pediatrician can identify, but the mystery ones leave me enraged. And speaking of enraged, I was well on my way there this afternoon while waiting to be seen by the pediatrician before getting the mystery virus diagnosis.
Let me be clear that I really like the girls' pediatrician. And the other pediatricians in the office that they've seen are pretty good too. So when I have to see one of them if one of the girls is sick and their pediatrician is not available, that's okay. What is NOT okay is waiting an hour and a half to be seen by a pediatrician. That leaves me really frosted.
The deal is that Megan has had a fever since Monday with coughing and intestinal upset. Normally I try not to freak out over a little fever and coughing, but last night at 5:30pm when I told her it was dinnertime, she stretched out on the floor and told me she was tired and wanted to go to bed. She's almost 3 years old. That's not normal 3 year old behavior. She had been on Pulmicort for a few days, but she was coughing in a way that sounded tight so I put my head to her chest for a listen, and it sounded like her lungs where wheezing. That always freaks me out. So last night she started Accuneb. Late this morning she started to cry about stomach pain and her temperature dropped, and she felt cold and clammy. I called the nurse hot-line. I was told to bring her in since she's had a fever for 3 days. I was already stressed out by the fever and coughing, but to have a nurse call me back and tell me first thing that I needed to bring Megan in to be seen was even more stressful. I even asked, should I be stressed out about this? She said not yet but do bring her in. I started to stress. I can't help it, there's so much going on right now and to add this on top of all the stress I feel already is asking a bit much, as far as keeping a calm demeanor goes.
So, remembering Megan's intestinal upset in the fall (which we found out was ultimately due to a dairy allergy) and the need for a stool sample, I up-ended Megan's most recent diaper into a little plastic container and saved the drippings. I know that's a bit graphic, but it illustrates how bad Megan is feeling. The contents of the diaper got me even more stressed out...had I accidentally given her dairy? No...but maybe she's allergic to something else? We are gluten free because of Anna but I think I gave Megan something glutenous a few days ago...what if she's reacting to the gluten? What if she has a gluten sensitivity too? She was not actually tested for that..should I bring her back to the allergist, for another traumatic blood draw, to test for gluten?
The nurse on the phone said our pediatrician was out today but that another could see her at 2:30, 2:50 or 3:10. I chose 2:50 thinking that if there was nobody before us, we'd get seen more quickly. I hauled the girls over there and signed in...and I was right, nobody else on the list was waiting to see this doctor. We waited. And waited. And waited. I started to get agitated. We were 30 minutes in the waiting room before I went to the desk and asked if I should reschedule. I know I looked a little wild-eyed by the look the receptionist gave me. But my kid is sick and Anna is crying to go to the bathroom (even though she went before we left home). The receptionist assured me we were next in line so I went back to sit and wait.
Fifteen minutes later (now 45 minutes waiting) we were called back into a waiting room. Two other doors were closed so we were third in line to be seen. The nurse gave a mediocre apology about sick kids, and a morning medical emergency walk-in. By this point I'm thinking, why the heck did you book me if you knew the doctor was running so far behind? Like I have nothing better to do than sit and twiddle my thumbs in a doctor's office while listening to screaming infants? The girls are restless. Anna has to pee again. It's only a matter of time before she turns FL on me (Fruit Loop) and makes a scene. Seriously, nobody understands this. It's just a bad idea to throw a wrench into Anna's schedule and then have nothing to do for an hour in a small, cramped space.
So we wait...the girls start fighting...Anna keeps crying that she has to pee...Megan's cough is sounding worse...and I could be giving her more Accuneb at home and doing something useful instead of stressing out that she's coughing. Finally, after one hour and fifteen minutes and no sign of a pediatrician, I walk out of the office to the bathroom outside in the hallway so that Anna can pee. I'm angry and agitated and just before the point of seeing red (which actually does happen, literally). I'm stressed out and I have a headache. I go to the receptionist's desk and ask to reschedule for tomorrow morning. I said I've waited over an hour and the girls are cranky and I can't wait anymore (although clearly, I was the one who was most cranky). The nice receptionist kept her eyes on my face and tried to calm me down before going to find a nurse. She came back and told me we were next to be seen. That did not appease me. She left me again and came back saying the doctor really would like to see us, he really does want to help and look, there he is right now! He was at the door of our little exam room. I grabbed the girls and dragged them, head down and glaring, into the exam room.
The doctor didn't address me directly but was talking to Megan about he's sorry, it's so hard to wait a long time (grrrr). He checks her out, I give him the low-down while rubbing my hands across my forehead again and again. Her lungs sound fine. He does not need the nasty stool sample that's been sitting in my purse for 2 hours. He could have her tested for the flu, because why the heck not? Why not, indeed. She gets checked. He comes back. It's not the flu. It's not strep throat. I said, it's just a random fever? He said, it's probably a mystery virus. If holes could be burned into their miserable mystery DNA by my eyes alone at this point, it would have happened by sheer concentration and strength of ill-will.
The doctor says, keep up with the Accuneb while she's coughing, and that I'm doing a good job. I thank him. He says good luck, and if she still has a fever in two days to call back (the virus should be on it's last legs by tomorrow, but by the way Megan is coughing tonight I have my doubts).
I leave to check out. The nice receptionist looks at me guardedly. I thanked her for helping me deal with my stress. She was gracious and said she knows what it's like, she's a mom too. I leave, a co-pay poorer with only a mystery virus diagnosis for my trouble. We get home and Megan lays on the couch, too tired to play with Anna even after a decent nap. DH tells me I should not be so upset at such a long wait and that I should expect it, with the way insurance companies push for patients to be seen every 15 minutes. Seriously, someone should tell them to jump off a cliff, or go see their own freaking patients every 15 minutes and see how they do with that. Grrrr.
Mystery virus, you suck. You stressed me out, robbed me of an afternoon, gave me a headache, and you are wreaking havoc with my poor baby's insides. I hope some nifty scientist finds a way to blow you into smithereens.
For the record, I hate mystery viruses. I want to blast their DNA into oblivion with something non-subtle, like a howitzer. I'm okay with viruses the pediatrician can identify, but the mystery ones leave me enraged. And speaking of enraged, I was well on my way there this afternoon while waiting to be seen by the pediatrician before getting the mystery virus diagnosis.
Let me be clear that I really like the girls' pediatrician. And the other pediatricians in the office that they've seen are pretty good too. So when I have to see one of them if one of the girls is sick and their pediatrician is not available, that's okay. What is NOT okay is waiting an hour and a half to be seen by a pediatrician. That leaves me really frosted.
The deal is that Megan has had a fever since Monday with coughing and intestinal upset. Normally I try not to freak out over a little fever and coughing, but last night at 5:30pm when I told her it was dinnertime, she stretched out on the floor and told me she was tired and wanted to go to bed. She's almost 3 years old. That's not normal 3 year old behavior. She had been on Pulmicort for a few days, but she was coughing in a way that sounded tight so I put my head to her chest for a listen, and it sounded like her lungs where wheezing. That always freaks me out. So last night she started Accuneb. Late this morning she started to cry about stomach pain and her temperature dropped, and she felt cold and clammy. I called the nurse hot-line. I was told to bring her in since she's had a fever for 3 days. I was already stressed out by the fever and coughing, but to have a nurse call me back and tell me first thing that I needed to bring Megan in to be seen was even more stressful. I even asked, should I be stressed out about this? She said not yet but do bring her in. I started to stress. I can't help it, there's so much going on right now and to add this on top of all the stress I feel already is asking a bit much, as far as keeping a calm demeanor goes.
So, remembering Megan's intestinal upset in the fall (which we found out was ultimately due to a dairy allergy) and the need for a stool sample, I up-ended Megan's most recent diaper into a little plastic container and saved the drippings. I know that's a bit graphic, but it illustrates how bad Megan is feeling. The contents of the diaper got me even more stressed out...had I accidentally given her dairy? No...but maybe she's allergic to something else? We are gluten free because of Anna but I think I gave Megan something glutenous a few days ago...what if she's reacting to the gluten? What if she has a gluten sensitivity too? She was not actually tested for that..should I bring her back to the allergist, for another traumatic blood draw, to test for gluten?
The nurse on the phone said our pediatrician was out today but that another could see her at 2:30, 2:50 or 3:10. I chose 2:50 thinking that if there was nobody before us, we'd get seen more quickly. I hauled the girls over there and signed in...and I was right, nobody else on the list was waiting to see this doctor. We waited. And waited. And waited. I started to get agitated. We were 30 minutes in the waiting room before I went to the desk and asked if I should reschedule. I know I looked a little wild-eyed by the look the receptionist gave me. But my kid is sick and Anna is crying to go to the bathroom (even though she went before we left home). The receptionist assured me we were next in line so I went back to sit and wait.
Fifteen minutes later (now 45 minutes waiting) we were called back into a waiting room. Two other doors were closed so we were third in line to be seen. The nurse gave a mediocre apology about sick kids, and a morning medical emergency walk-in. By this point I'm thinking, why the heck did you book me if you knew the doctor was running so far behind? Like I have nothing better to do than sit and twiddle my thumbs in a doctor's office while listening to screaming infants? The girls are restless. Anna has to pee again. It's only a matter of time before she turns FL on me (Fruit Loop) and makes a scene. Seriously, nobody understands this. It's just a bad idea to throw a wrench into Anna's schedule and then have nothing to do for an hour in a small, cramped space.
So we wait...the girls start fighting...Anna keeps crying that she has to pee...Megan's cough is sounding worse...and I could be giving her more Accuneb at home and doing something useful instead of stressing out that she's coughing. Finally, after one hour and fifteen minutes and no sign of a pediatrician, I walk out of the office to the bathroom outside in the hallway so that Anna can pee. I'm angry and agitated and just before the point of seeing red (which actually does happen, literally). I'm stressed out and I have a headache. I go to the receptionist's desk and ask to reschedule for tomorrow morning. I said I've waited over an hour and the girls are cranky and I can't wait anymore (although clearly, I was the one who was most cranky). The nice receptionist kept her eyes on my face and tried to calm me down before going to find a nurse. She came back and told me we were next to be seen. That did not appease me. She left me again and came back saying the doctor really would like to see us, he really does want to help and look, there he is right now! He was at the door of our little exam room. I grabbed the girls and dragged them, head down and glaring, into the exam room.
The doctor didn't address me directly but was talking to Megan about he's sorry, it's so hard to wait a long time (grrrr). He checks her out, I give him the low-down while rubbing my hands across my forehead again and again. Her lungs sound fine. He does not need the nasty stool sample that's been sitting in my purse for 2 hours. He could have her tested for the flu, because why the heck not? Why not, indeed. She gets checked. He comes back. It's not the flu. It's not strep throat. I said, it's just a random fever? He said, it's probably a mystery virus. If holes could be burned into their miserable mystery DNA by my eyes alone at this point, it would have happened by sheer concentration and strength of ill-will.
The doctor says, keep up with the Accuneb while she's coughing, and that I'm doing a good job. I thank him. He says good luck, and if she still has a fever in two days to call back (the virus should be on it's last legs by tomorrow, but by the way Megan is coughing tonight I have my doubts).
I leave to check out. The nice receptionist looks at me guardedly. I thanked her for helping me deal with my stress. She was gracious and said she knows what it's like, she's a mom too. I leave, a co-pay poorer with only a mystery virus diagnosis for my trouble. We get home and Megan lays on the couch, too tired to play with Anna even after a decent nap. DH tells me I should not be so upset at such a long wait and that I should expect it, with the way insurance companies push for patients to be seen every 15 minutes. Seriously, someone should tell them to jump off a cliff, or go see their own freaking patients every 15 minutes and see how they do with that. Grrrr.
Mystery virus, you suck. You stressed me out, robbed me of an afternoon, gave me a headache, and you are wreaking havoc with my poor baby's insides. I hope some nifty scientist finds a way to blow you into smithereens.
2 comments:
DEATH to the Mystery Virus!
Seriously, sounds like quite the bad day. Worst is to do all that and have no result to your efforts; that's probably the part that sucks the most - I hate that!
I hope things are better today. At least it's FRIDAY! :)
The mystery virus is messing with my Friday too. We have a weekly play date on Fridays where the parents get to relax over dinner and wine while the kids play and watch a movie. I'm a little cranky that this stupid virus is NOT on it's last legs, the girls get to stay home on a cold and rainy day, and I don't get to talk with friends. Bleh.
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