Tuesday, February 07, 2006

102.2

That is my little boy's temperature. You know, the one who went
to the doctor yesterday at 11:30, and was sent for an x-ray and an
EKG. The one I sat around the doctor's office with again from 3:30
to 4:30 because the x-ray techs hinted that the doctor should look
at the x-rays before we went home. The one the doctor said looked
fine to him on the x-ray. The one for whom the doctor called in an
antihistamine, but no antibiotic.

Today, my Hillbilly Mama called to see if the doctor had read the
radiologist's report on the x-ray. "Oh, no. You'll have to call back
this afternoon." I told my Hillbilly Husband to call, and ask if the
child wasn't supposed to get an antibiotic like my Hillbilly Mama
thought the doctor had told her before he rushed off to lunch.

Around 2:30, HH got the receptionist:

Does Dr. X know what the radiologist reported on my son's x-ray?
Oh, the radiologist's report shows that he has pneumonia.
Should he come back to the doctor?
No, just keep taking his medicine.
How is an antihistamine going to fix his pneumonia?
No. He got an antibiotic.
I picked it up myself, lady. It is Loratadine, an antihistamine.
Oh, here it is. It is on a scrip.
Can you call that in?
No. You'll have to come pick it up.
I can't be there by 5:00. I took off yesterday to go to the hospital
for his x-ray and EKG.
Well, somebody will have to pick it up.
What was the EKG finding?
Oh, you'll have to call back later to check on that. If there was
something wrong, they would have told you at the hospital.
(Like the x-rays, I suppose)

HH called HMama. She prettied up to drive over to the doctor's
office. #2, who spent the day with her, told her she looked much
better. She called to tell them she would come pick it up.


Well, I don't know why we can't call that in.
Should he go back to school?
No. Not for 24 hours after starting the antibiotic.
That's good to know. We almost sent him today, since there was
nothing wrong with him. But he felt too bad.

So I went by the pharmacy and it had been called in. They were
very nice, the pharmacy.

Now my baby has taken his Zithromax, and popped a fever of
102.2, and said he threw up a little in his mouth but swallowed it
because his vomit bowl was too far away. He says his throat hurts,
and his stomach (coughing for 5 days can do that to a little guy).
He has now been dosed with Tylenol Cough and Cold again, for
the fever. It hasn't much helped the cough. Because it's freakin'
PNEUMONIA.

Now I am mad. He came home with this Friday afternoon. After
waiting out the weekend, and seeing no progression into a snotty
nose and cold symptoms, I had HMama make him that appointment
Monday morning. And here it is, Tuesday night, and my boy just
got his medicine. Two days he had untreated pneumonia that could
have been treated. Two days he had to suffer because someone
messed up his diagnosis and medication. That's just wrong. I know
he's 7, but he's still my baby. I feel very bad for him. He doesn't
even want to play his GameBoy.

So much for my boring, uneventful day. I need to go check on my
baby again, to see if he's sweating out that fever yet.

7 Comments:

Blogger Chickadee said...

Sounds like that doctor's office needs to hire some new staff. That could have been a bad situation.

That sounds a lot like my doctor's office. A few months ago I got the run around at my doctor's office. I got so fed up that I actually scheduled an appt with the doctor to talk to her. She was mortified and had no idea of the trouble I had with her staff.

Since that event, I get prompt service when I call. Don't know how long it will last, but it's nice.

http://www.danno.org/blogs

9:09 PM  
Blogger MamaKBear said...

My gosh! Bless his heart!! You know that child's sick if he doesn't even want to play his Gameboy!!

Hope he's feeling better very soon!

2:17 AM  
Blogger LanternLight said...

Hope the young 'uns get better soon.

AND is "Comment moderation" part of a cunning Hillmomba plan to mess with us sleep deprived?

6:39 AM  
Blogger Queen Of Cheese said...

I've done that too Chickadee and boy does it work! I found out my doctor never even knew he charged me $120.00 to wrap my ankle in a piece of bandage that cost $1.50. Why do the receptionists think they have the medical degree and the rest of us are just stupid? Hope he gets to feeling better, sucks being sick!

8:17 AM  
Blogger Hillbilly Mom said...

Chick,
HH had a problem with the girls turning down his co-pay because he "didn't owe anything." Several days later, he would get a bill for 70-something dollars for appointments months ago. He told the doctor, and the doctor called them in. They had no real excuse, but blamed it on the insurance. If they would have taken the $20 co-pay each month, it would have all balanced out, since HH goes once a month for a B12 shot for pernicious anemia. It's ALWAYS a $20 co-pay. Why can't they see the pattern?


MamaKB,
After his dose of antibiotic last night, and a dose of Tylenol, he sweated out the fever, and felt better this morning.


Lantern,
Thanks for the idea. That wasn't really the plan. Some poor creature from your neck of the woods left a comment about somebody that should not have been on MY blog. So I put on the moderation. I check my stats to see if that person keeps coming back. I'll see how it goes for a while, because they HAVE been back since that comment was left.


Mrs.,
The inmates are running the asylum. Some school secretaries let the power go to their heads, too. Though not any in my buildings right now.

9:21 AM  
Blogger Redneck Diva said...

Ohhhhh poor baby!! There is nothing more helpless for a parent than a really sick kid. Abby missed two days of school this week and I knew she was sick Monday when she laid on the couch and didn't even want to read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing or play her GameBoy. The GameBoy is a pretty good detector of truly sick kids, huh?

Best thoughts and get well wishes to everyone in the house! I hear pneumonia's really bad this year. CBG's big brother spiked a 105.7 fever last week! Scarrrrrry!

1:48 PM  
Blogger Hillbilly Mom said...

Rachy,
That's something I'll ask about if he has trouble with it. He seems to be on the mend pretty quick, after that Zithromax. Glad you're out! I was concerned about you.


Diva,
Yep. Give 'em the GameBoy test to see if they're too sick to go to school. I'm glad his fever didn't get THAT high. #1 son has always been the one to spike a high fever.
I don't think he ever went over 104, though.

7:58 PM  

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