Maybe I'm just a bad mother. Or maybe I have bad luck with pediatricians. But, everytime I seem to call when my kids are sick I am the one who ends up feeling awful.
If you don't call, you feel bad when you finally do call, go in and find out that they have a double ear infection. Then the nurse looks at me like I'm a bad mother. But, I also feel bad when I call and it's like it's a complete inconvenience for the nursing staff and a "how dumb are you?" conversation ensues. Or, you feel bad when you take them in and nothing is wrong, like you've just wasted their time (or at least that's how they make you feel).
Case in point...
Rachel has been running a 100-101 fever since Thursday. On Monday afternoon, the temp goes up to 102. I don't like giving my kids Tylenol unless they really need it but after a lot of lukewarm baths, cold compress, etc. and no resolve, I give her a dose of Tylenol to which the fever drops to 101 and then rebounds three hours later (it's a 4 hr dose). I continue with the Tylenol but on Tuesday morning she doesn't eat but two spoonfuls of cereal and a sip of milk. So, on Tuesday afternoon I call.
Here's the conversation:
*answering machine picks up* "Thank you for calling..blah blah blah...we're updating our medical records so we're limiting patient visits" Great. "Our nurses will triage for the situation...blah blah blah". I hit a number which goes to VM. I try again. Same thing. Finally, I hit the magic zero and get a live person who sounds pissed that I even called in.
Me: (already feeling bad for calling considering it's obviously a bother since they're doing that medical record thing) "Hi, my name is Meghan and my daughter, Rachel, is a patient ...."
Her: (cuts me off) "Date of birth"
Me: "APril 1, 2007"
Her: "Your name"
Me: "Um, Meghan"
Her: "Reason for calling"
Me: (Impressed how "efficient" she is being...oh wait, that's her being rude) "Well, she has been running a temp since Thursday, etc. (See above for details).
Her: "I'm sure it's teeth"
Me: "Well, I just thought since her temp went up to 102 and doesn't seem to be responding to Tylenol and she's really not eating and seems really tired that...
Her: "102 is a low grade temp"
Me: (in my head) "Since when!" (really) "Oh, well, with my son, the doctor told me anything over 101 was a fever?"
Her: "Uh, huh" (obviously irritated that I am still on the phone)
Me: "Okay, well, I just thought I should call" (feeling stupid)
Her: "You can bring her in at 2:45 if you want but that's the only appointment that we have today because we're changing to electronic medical records."
Me: (there's the medical records thing again) "Okay, that should work.. I'll ..."
Her: "You'll be seeing the nurse practitioner" (as if to talk me out of it)
Me: That's fine. I'll..
Her: Okay, bye. (Hangs up)
Nice huh? Well, Rachel was fine, just a virus they suspect or teeth. So, I feel stupid for taking her. I always feel like they're looking at me like I'm dumb when there's nothing wrong. Oh, well. Better know than her be really sick I guess.
I suppose I just can't win.
If you don't call, you feel bad when you finally do call, go in and find out that they have a double ear infection. Then the nurse looks at me like I'm a bad mother. But, I also feel bad when I call and it's like it's a complete inconvenience for the nursing staff and a "how dumb are you?" conversation ensues. Or, you feel bad when you take them in and nothing is wrong, like you've just wasted their time (or at least that's how they make you feel).
Case in point...
Rachel has been running a 100-101 fever since Thursday. On Monday afternoon, the temp goes up to 102. I don't like giving my kids Tylenol unless they really need it but after a lot of lukewarm baths, cold compress, etc. and no resolve, I give her a dose of Tylenol to which the fever drops to 101 and then rebounds three hours later (it's a 4 hr dose). I continue with the Tylenol but on Tuesday morning she doesn't eat but two spoonfuls of cereal and a sip of milk. So, on Tuesday afternoon I call.
Here's the conversation:
*answering machine picks up* "Thank you for calling..blah blah blah...we're updating our medical records so we're limiting patient visits" Great. "Our nurses will triage for the situation...blah blah blah". I hit a number which goes to VM. I try again. Same thing. Finally, I hit the magic zero and get a live person who sounds pissed that I even called in.
Me: (already feeling bad for calling considering it's obviously a bother since they're doing that medical record thing) "Hi, my name is Meghan and my daughter, Rachel, is a patient ...."
Her: (cuts me off) "Date of birth"
Me: "APril 1, 2007"
Her: "Your name"
Me: "Um, Meghan"
Her: "Reason for calling"
Me: (Impressed how "efficient" she is being...oh wait, that's her being rude) "Well, she has been running a temp since Thursday, etc. (See above for details).
Her: "I'm sure it's teeth"
Me: "Well, I just thought since her temp went up to 102 and doesn't seem to be responding to Tylenol and she's really not eating and seems really tired that...
Her: "102 is a low grade temp"
Me: (in my head) "Since when!" (really) "Oh, well, with my son, the doctor told me anything over 101 was a fever?"
Her: "Uh, huh" (obviously irritated that I am still on the phone)
Me: "Okay, well, I just thought I should call" (feeling stupid)
Her: "You can bring her in at 2:45 if you want but that's the only appointment that we have today because we're changing to electronic medical records."
Me: (there's the medical records thing again) "Okay, that should work.. I'll ..."
Her: "You'll be seeing the nurse practitioner" (as if to talk me out of it)
Me: That's fine. I'll..
Her: Okay, bye. (Hangs up)
Nice huh? Well, Rachel was fine, just a virus they suspect or teeth. So, I feel stupid for taking her. I always feel like they're looking at me like I'm dumb when there's nothing wrong. Oh, well. Better know than her be really sick I guess.
I suppose I just can't win.
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