hell is the emergency room! yep, that's right, and i never wanna go there again!
two nights ago i had to take nick to the e.r. because he was coughing non-stop, sometimes so hard he was puking (nice visual, i'm sure!). his ribs were hurting so badly he was worried he'd cracked one, and his throat was burning and his head was throbbing...all from coughing. poor kid has blown blood vessels on his face, it looks like he has a rash or sunburn on it!
so i call the ped, she says to take him to e.r., she was already planning to send him for more labwork and xrays anyway and they could do it all there. we left shortly after midnight, and i drove like a mad woman to get there, passed the one car that was on the road and broke the speed limit quite substantially (not something i do often).
we got there and got to wait...
and wait...
and wait...
two men were brought into the lobby to wait to get beds, they both had come in ambulances. one man was 99 years old, had soiled himself, was barely skin and bones and could hardly sit up in his chair (at one point a nurse had seen him on a camera and thought he was about to fall out so she ran into the lobby to help him)...he sat there for a good 3 hours. the other man had just had two different surgeries done and was in severe pain and was unable to sit down...he stood there for a good 2-3 hours too.
shortly after 8 a.m. i called the ped's office only to be told i couldn't be seen until 11 a.m. so i opted to stay at the e.r. so that nick could get the tests done there, if they ordered any.
i went to the cafeteria and got breakfast for both of us, we ate and continued to wait...
and wait...
and wait...
finally, at 11 a.m. their "minor care" clinic opened (why so late in the day i have no idea!) and nick was one of the first 4 people called back to be seen there. one lady called back had come before us the night before, waited 7-8 hours and went home, then came back several hours later...she ended up possibly having pneumonia and was headed to radiology for an x-ray.
nick was seen just after her, they determined that his lungs sounded good so they said that he has bronchitis and was having severe bronchial spasms, which were causing him to keep coughing over and over once he got started. she prescribed oral and inhaled steroids and sent us on our way.
we dropped off the prescriptions and headed somewhere to get some lunch. after we ate i went back to the pharmacy and was told that the insurance company said he had no coverage...what?!? so i called the insurance company and for some reason the prescriptions were showing up as not covered but were supposed to be, so i was on the phone a good 30 minutes while they fixed it. i walked back into the pharmacy, the tech ran the meds through the system again and one wasn't covered. she said i needed to have the doctor fax a different script in or pay $250 for this one.
i knew that the e.r. was going to be next to impossible for me to get ahold of the doctor, so i called the ped hoping they could help me out. no go, since the e.r. doctor prescribed it, the ped couldn't change it since she hadn't seen him. at this point i'm an exhausted emotional wreck and start crying as i head back up to the pharmacy counter. i apologize to the tech for losing it, and explain about our e.r. ordeal and tell her my hormones aren't helping either since i'm pregnant and exhausted (and at this point overwhelmed). she gets on the phone and calls the e.r., asks for the doctor whose name is on the script, and proceeds to keep her on the phone as she runs all other options through to see if insurance will cover any of them....apparently nick's too "young" for any of them so there was no coverage on the inhaler steroids (what?!?). if i want to get them, it's $250, but the tech says she'll give me a discount and i can pay $122. well, the boy needs his meds, so i agree and she has the pharmacist fill the revised prescription.
i got up to the counter and it rang up for $200+, so i motion to the tech who had been helping me. she voids it out and rings it up, and my total is just over $5! apparently she has discretion to give an uninsured discount, so she did. it was such a nice gesture and i was overwhelmed by it...as i was walking off i started crying again. lol (gotta love those hormones...)
so yeah, after i picked up elisabeth, nick and i came home and c.r.a.s.h.e.d.!!!
stay outta the e.r.---it's hellish for sure!!!
