Nowhere and New

I have to recap a little. Two days ago...Wednesday to be exact...I took Ryan to the doctor because he was sick, yet again. Read this post to get the full scoop on that day...well almost.

I'll elaborate a little here if you'll just humor me for a moment. We went to the doctor and waited for over an hour just to be able to see him. Now remember...he can't breathe well. One of the earliest things taught in Nursing School is that breathing issues are TOP PRIORITY which I figure ought to be a no-brainer. Um...duh. Well, quite honestly he wasn't breathing *that* bad, so I wasn't *too* worried at the time, but I did want Dr. S's opinion on the matter. Anyway...we see the doctor, get some medicine, get a referral, and off we go.

We then went and got some lunch to kill a little time to allow the prescriptions to be processed and filled. After our leisurely lunch we went to the pharmacy which, I might add, is one of my favorites. It's Mercy's Hospital Pharmacy, and they're great. We got to the desk to pick up our prescriptions and they, (of course), need to see our insurance card. The technician said it would take about 10 minutes or so for them to get everything processed. After our 10 minutes had elapsed the tech motioned for me to come to the window. She said the computer was showing that we had NO COVERAGE! What!!! Are you kidding me!? We go through the whole discussion of: "Is this an old card?", "No", "Do you have a new card?", "That's the most recent", "Do you have another card?", "Yea, but it's identical to the one you have. Here you go.", "Yep, it's identical....well....", "Oh let me have my card and I'll call the insurance company and see what's going on." Etc...

I called the Insurance Company and they were very helpful and after visiting with technician for nearly 20 minutes on my cell phone the issue was resolved. I only missed two or three work calls during that time. Oh well. I called everyone back. No harm done.

After the insurance issue was resolved we still had one medication that was going to cost us $300. We declined.

Ummm....after writing that I find it to be an almost pointless story...SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW THE POINT OF THIS POST START READING HERE...and skip the beginning.

After coming home from the doctor Ryan wasn't doing well at all and we almost took him to the ER because he was having so much trouble breathing. His evening breathing treatment helped and he was able to relax and sleep through the night with only a few interruptions.

Yesterday, Thursday, I decided to call the doctor and ask about a few things: 1) Can we give the breathing treatments more frequently than every 6 hours because Ryan starts having a lot of trouble again about 4 hours post treatment. 2)The Pulmicort was way too expensive, can we get something else 3) Ryan is now running a fever, is this of concern. I called the doctor's office at 9 a.m. Again...breathing issue...should be reason for concern...you need to breathe to live...you'd think it pretty much a no-brainer that a call about a breathing problem would be concerning. Ummm....I guess not. I didn't receive a return call until 4 p.m. Yep...that's right...7 hours later. It's a good thing Ryan's breathing started improving a little and that I had already decided to do my own thing with good "Mommy judgment" with the breathing treatments. Oh...did I mention it was 7 hours later before I got a return phone call, AND...it was the nurse just wanting to know what concerns I had so she could tell the doctor. I didn't get any actual answers until 5 p.m. and the answers I got..."Bring Ryan in to see the doctor tomorrow morning at 8:10." So...

Today the clinic opened at 8:00 and we walked in shortly after 8:00. We didn't see the doctor until almost 9:00. How can he be an hour behind when we were only the second or third patient on his list for the morning? Now I do understand that *things happen*. The other day when we waited for an hour in the waiting room I didn't get too upset because for one we were not on the original schedule. We were given one of the "Urgent" spots. They had several critically ill patients walk in that morning that took more time that normal and rightfully so.

I love Dr. S. He's been wonderful. He is a wonderful doctor. Unfortunately he has let himself become a "too busy" doctor. I've been considering this for awhile, so I think it's time to find a new doctor for Ryan. Several of our doctor visits lately have been...well...I've left feeling like we've gotten nowhere. He comes in in a flurry, hurries through everything, and out in a flash. Today was not much different. He listened to Ryan, said he sounded pretty good, but still had some wheezing and for us to just give it some time. And...out he went.

Dr. S. did send for a prescription for a different inhaled steroid via an inhaler with a spacer instead of the nebulizer. After reminding him that he had prescribed the spacer the last time we were in his office (two days prior) he said to just use the mask and give it the same as with the other inhalent. I told him we didn't have a mask. He insisted he wrote the script for it. I insisted we didn't have it. He said he would write a new script for it with the new inhalent.

Ryan and I went home and spent some time at home. We also ran a few errands. This evening...about 4 I finally went to pick up the prescriptions. The pharmacy never got the prescription request for the mask. Ryan isn't old enough to use the spacer without the mask (I learned that this morning at the doctor's office), so I told them I'd call the doctor and see what happened. The tech said they'd have to order one anyway, which, by the way, probably would have been delivered today had the order been received early in the a.m. I told her the new inhalent wouldn't do us any good without the mask and I left (somewhat irritated). I called the doctor's office and "left a message".

Can you tell I'm a little frustrated!

SO THE POINT IS (if you really wanted to skip all of my ranting)...Ryan is doing better. He is still wheezing and gets good and winded when he runs around like a crazy kid (oh yea...that's all the time!) God is the best healer. We still have no inhaled steroid and won't be able to get one until Monday which by that time we probably won't really need anyway. Today's doctor's appointment was relatively pointless although if and when we do actually get a mask for the inhalent spacer that will be nice for when he needs the Albuterol (non-steroid rescue inhaler).

Finally...Ryan is doing much better...God is good!