If It's Not Broken, It Will Be After a Trip to This Doctor

Lexi didn't sleep well last night because her arm hurt a lot. This morning, she woke up in tears so Joe gave her a dose of her Tylenol with codeine. Unfortunately, Lex took this on an empty stomach and spent the next couple hours throwing up. She spent most of the day in pain and afraid to eat or take medication. I was finally able to get her to eat a plain waffle and take some Motrin.

I took Lexi to the orthopedic doctor today. They were able to squeeze us in this afternoon, but that meant Clay had to miss school. And more importantly, it meant that I had to take both Clay and Brooklyn to Lexi's appointment with us.

This doctor had recently moved to a different office building. I know it was fairly recent since I'd just been there back in June/July with Jackson and his broken arm. Anyway, this new building had several stairs leading up to the door. I had Brooklyn in the stroller (you know, because I was kidding myself thinking she'd stay there without throwing a fit, and she'd be easier to watch that way.) As I approached the door, I thought, hmmm should I walk around the building to find the handicap accessible entrance or should I try to carry the stroller up the stairs? Just then a woman came out and offered to help me carry the stroller up the stairs. Know why? Because there is no handicap accessible entrance! I didn't even think that was legal. What the heck?

Once inside the door, we were faced with another set of stairs. The woman helped me carry my stroller up those stairs as well. But seriously, what kind of orthopedic group would purposely move into a building that wasn't accessible??? Hello? Do they not have people with knee replacements, broken legs, surgery, hip replacements??? You know what I think it is? Job security. "Well, your knee is healing nicely. It's too bad you fell trying to hop up the stairs though. I'll be happy to take care of your broken wrist now."

When I asked the nurses about it, they just kinda rolled their eyes and said, "We know. Tell the doctors!"

So, we filled out all the required paperwork and waited. Then we waited. After that, we waited. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Why do doctors even bother to make appointments? Getting in to see a doctor at our scheduled time is an absolute exception to the rule. I show up a few minutes early for my appointments and it's just rude to make me (or any other patient) wait. Our time is just as valuable as the theirs. If an office is always running behind, then perhaps they need to hire more doctors or schedule less appointments. Of course, that would probably double our fees.

I always think of Jerry Seinfeld's piece on rental cars when I'm sitting in a waiting room. "You know how to take the reservation; you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation - the holding."

"You know how to make the appointment; you just don't know how to hold the appointment. And that's really the most important part of the appointment - the holding. One of these days, I'm going to try that on the receptionist.



Anyway, it was kind of a wasted trip. I mean, the whole changing Brooklyn's toxic diaper while balancing her on my lap was fun. And the part where Clay dumped out the contents of his backpack on the floor of the waiting room was pretty cool. (The reason he had a backpack full of toys was because I told him, before we left, "Clay, why don't you grab a toy to bring along with you." He took that to mean, "put 50 billion toys in my backpack"). And the part where Brooklyn threw herself down on the floor and screamed at the top of her lungs, "I WANT CANDY!" was certainly a highlight. Still, it was kind of a wasted trip because the doctor told us,"I wish they had paged me last night while you were in the emergency room. I can't figure out why they didn't call me. What exactly did they say there?"

"Well, I wasn't there; my husband took her. According to him, the ER doc said she'd have to go to an orthopedist and have it set today," I explained.

He said, "Yeah well she does need it set, but I don't set kids' bones in the office. If it was an adult I'd give them a shot in the arm and then maneuver it into place and it would really hurt. I don't do that to little kids. She'll have to be put out for it."

Long story short - she has to be to the surgery center tomorrow morning at 8:30. They'll use general anesthesia and while she's out, he'll set her arm and cast it. Both her ulna and radius have fractures. The one has to be reduced because it's out of line and pushed up against her growth plate.

The good news is he said she'd only need a cast up to her elbow instead of her armpit so that'll be better at least


Feeling a little better tonight

And take a minute to check out my good friend (with total ADD) Michelle's site. She wants to save the world and is starting with some grand plans to raise money for cancer awareness on Coleman's behalf. Go check it out HERE and HERE!

And then go watch the lame video of me shopping at JCPenney with all the kiddos. If you think they're goofy in the video, you should see all the parts I edited OUT of it! :0 Check it out HERE!