Need to vent and just get his off my shoulders

[resq302]

With everything that has been happening lately, I just felt the need to come on here and vent to my "extended family" since the stress is really building up lately.  For the past 2-3 weeks now, my 17 mos old daughter, Riley, has been fighting an off and on fever of 103-104* at times.  Figuring it was another ear infection with her, we brought her into the doctors and the doctor looked at her and prescribed ear drops (which they never have before, its always been an oral antibiotic of augmentin or ammoxicilin).  During the exam, I was asking questions to the doctor like when she said that the baby needed 10 drops in the ear, I asked if it was through out the day or 10 drops each time to which she said 10 drops in the ear morning and night.   Ok, no problem, day care won't have to give it so thats good.  She also asked if I saw any crust or discharge from her ear which I said I did not see anything.  So the doctor goes onto explain that she saw a puss filled fluid inside my daughters left ear.  I replied then, ok so she has another ear infection.  Doctor said no, its not an infection, its just "puss filled fluid" inside the ear.  Now to me, something that is puss filled IS an infection.  I ask about if she wanted me to schedule the usual two week follow up and her answer was NO.  That they (the pediatric group) would see Riley in 2 mos anyway for her 18 mos check up.  This is far from the normal from any other time we have been there for anything like this.  Anyway, we leave and later on my wife goes to pick up the prescription at the Walgreens Pharmacy.  The pharmacist said she was awaiting a call back from the dr. because she had a clarification question for the doctor about the dosage.  Good thing she did because the dumb ass doctor ended up prescribing the adult dosage (10 drops) vs. the pediatric dose which was 5 drops.  My 17 mos old daughter would have gotten twice the amount of dosage every day for a week if the pharmacist did not pick up on it.

So now my wife has more questions for the doctor and calls her back the following day.  Mainly, why did she prescribe ear drops for an infant when the instructions say to keep the head tilted to the side for 5 mins after applying the drops when an infant, for the most part, doesn't want to sit still.  My wife also want to question further how the "puss filled fluid" could not be an ear infection as well as some other things.  So the doctor is talking to my wife and says, "oh well your daughters ear drum must have ruptured which is why there is that puss filled fluid and it must have drained into the outer part of the ear.  But yes, it IS an ear infection, but I could not see the infection because of the puss filled fluid".  IS ANYONE ELSE AS CONFUSED AS ME WITH THAT LAST STATEMENT?!?!?!?  She then told me wife that she was not "aware" of Riley having the fever so she would call in an oral antibiotic to our pharmacy.  I GUESS ME SAYING OUTRIGHT TO HER WHEN I WAS THERE IN PERSON THAT RILEY HAD A FEVER OF 103.7 IS NOT MAKING HER AWARE OF IT!!!!!  So my wife finishes up with our 5 yr old daughter at swim lessons and goes to the pharmacy now an hour and a half later and the pharmacist says they never received a call from our doctor.  So, now aside from me being flipping mad, my wife is now on the war path too.  She called up the doctor (who now have left for the day even though office hours on Fri are till 5 pm and it is 4:50 pm when she called) the answering service has to page out a doctor with the reason and we are awaiting a call.   20 mins go by and wife tells me to call the pharmacist, that maybe, just MAYBE, the doctor called it in without calling us back.  Sure enough.  Ammoxicilin is awaiting our pick up.

Fast forward now to this past weekend.  Riley has been eating better and seeming more herself but while we were away in Mystic, CT for an overnight vacation, she starts feeling warm again.  Sure enough the fever is back.  Well, luckily my wife had scheduled a follow up even though the doctor said one was not needed. I ended up bringing Riley to the doctors yesterday and had a doctor that we have liked since we started going there when my first daughter was born.  After she listened to Riley, she didnt like what she heard ( and this was even after I told her about the other dim witted doctor) that there was congestion in her chest and that she wanted a chest x ray because she might have pneumonia.  On top of that, her spleen is enlargened for reason and they would also like blood work.  We had the x ray yesterday and it is confirmed that my 17 mos old does indeed have pneumonia.  My wife is bringing her today for the ultra sound of her adbomen to find out what is going on with her spleen and tomorrow I have to take her for the blood work.  Mind you she has been coughing like she is about to puke so throughout the night, everytime I heard her cough, I was worried she would throw up and aspirate during the night so I would have to check her.  I barely slept last night and had to get up at 5 am this morning to come to my dispatching job for my police dept.  I feel like a walking zombie.

Sorry for typing your eyes out but I just needed to get this off my shoulders as I am worried sick about my little girl.  I know pneumonia is nothing to mess with as people can die from this.  I would imagine it would be more severe with an infant which has me worired even more.  It might just be the aggression I have towards that doctor that f'd up in the first place twice but I can't help but thinking if this could have some how been avoided or at least my little girl not having to go through this.

Again, I am pretty much a wreck right now and if what they say is true about worrying gives you gray hair, well..then... I might just be sporting more silver in my hair these next few days on.   

[71green go]

My Prayers are with you...Nothing more heart wrenching when your child is sick, I went thru same with my daughter when she was young...I moved a lazy boy chair in her room and slept sitting up beside her for a month....

just make sure you dont go back to the original doctor.....
Keep us posted

Steve

[resq302]

Steve, I made it perfectly clear to my wife that we are NEVER using that doctor in that firm again!  Even if she is the last doctor on the planet, I would rather try and treat my daughter myself with no training than to bring that quack to my daughters again.  Luckily, there is 3 other great doctors at the firm but one is leaving in July to go down to VA since his wife got a job down there.

[ChgrSteve67]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Glad to hear your daughter is getting the care she needs.
There are good doctors and bad doctors. You always have to double check their work and the meds they prescribe. They are not as smart as they think they are.

I work for a health care organization and I will tell you first had that Drs have huge egos and don't like to be questioned. And when they are caught making a mistake they run and hide like a cockroach. Make sure you save what you wrote above and document everything. Its also a great idea to ask for copies of your daughters medical record so you can see what the Dr wrote down and didn't tell you. It might take some time to get it but you are entitled to a copy.

[nvrbdn]

yep, that is a doctor to avoid. thank god that there is at least 1 doctor in that office that goes the extra step to really check things out. too much today a doctor will move people like cattle never listening to what is being said. they make a decision and anything said after that goes by the way side. good luck with your daughter. she will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[resq302]

this particular doctor that I refuse to see again I've had issues with in the past.  Mainly because when we went in for a follow up for an ear infection with the baby IF she spent a total of 2 mins combined looking at my daughters ears it was a lot.  Now granted, each doctor has their own style, pace, etc, but all of the other doctors there took their time and were thorough.  This one seemed to care less and wanted to get us out of the office and onto the next patient.  Could they have been double booked?  Possibly, but if thats the case, then they should say they don't have any openings till such a date and time, not try and squash so many people in so they get more and more money.  Its funny, my wife said that it was just me when I complained to her about this doctor before but now she is actually seeing the light since of the doctors screw ups.

The doctor that I saw yesterday with the baby was the doctor who 5 1/2 years ago found the hear murmur in my first daughter and she remembers that day vividly she says.  She has a fondness for any child that has any problems or so that she detects early on and remembers them for life she told us.  To me, that is quality bedside care which is the most you can expect out of any doctor.  As it happens, she is the "unofficial practice manager" there and I told her our issues with the dimwitted doctor and she seemed most concerned and said that was not like her and it WOULD be addressed.  Now I am not trying to make excuses for the doctor who could have killed our put our baby in the PICU cause of the over medicated perscription, but she just had a baby herself a couple months ago and maybe that is effecting her, maybe not.  However, if it is, she needs to either be given a lighter work load in order to deal with the new baby or just take time off as she is not helping anyone by putting other kids lives in jeopardy just because she can not handle her life.  Again, I don't know if that is the problem or not, and personally I don't care what the problem is.  My issue is that if you are going to make a mistake, thats fine, we are all human...... just don't do it to my kids!

[Dino]

I work in health care and deal with doctors and surgeons daily.  You have heard about doctors graduating from medical school with high honors right?  Well there's also a bunch of them that barely made it, yet they are free to practice.  Makes you think.

First of all, pneumonia is serious but it's no longer the killer it once was.  I've seen infants bounce back from it like only infants can!  If the good doctor thought it was evolved you wouldn't have taken her back home that night, she would get her own bed at the hospital.  I know you're worried, that's normal, who wouldn't be.  But she'll be alright, at that age they can take quite the beating.

Best advice I can give you in any health related field is get a second opinion.  Always.  In an office with multiple doctors when the doctor has any doubt he or she will get a colleague in just for that. 

Please do report the first doctor to the office.  People need to know about this before she hurts someone else.

Keep us posted.

[resq302]

Dino,

funny that you mention the second opinion as she had the other doctor who we like come in and check her out right then also.  He said he did not hear anything but said it was the right idea to get the chest x-ray just in case.  Its good that we did!  I am actually pleased that the one doctor thought enough to have another doctor who was more experienced check her out also right then.  Its a shame that the second doctor that came in is the one who is moving away.  He will certainly be missed as he is one of the three that we like there.

When I found out when I called the office to find out who to address the written complaint to that they were all "equal" there and that there was no one in charge, I basically gave up on the idea of the written complaint as it would have just gone to the doctor that the complaint was about and probably tossed into the recycling and nothing came of it.  It was when we brought her back that I was going to verbally inform one of the doctors that we trust about the incidents with the other doctor.  As it turned out, the doctor that we saw (and like) is the "unofficial" practice manager and she was very concerned about what happened.  So I feel better now knowing it did not fall on deaf ears because I couldn't imagine keeping this malpractice to myself and seeing someone else's child get injured or worse because of this one doctor.  Kinda like seeing someone who has a soft tire or getting a flat tire, I try to tell them about it before it gets too flat and leaves them either stranded on the side of the road or get into an accident cause of a blow out.

[Dino]

You did all the right things.  I would hope practice management is doing something about this.  Running the risk of getting a flat tire is one thing but there's no analogy for losing a child.

[Cooter]

Hope your daughter recovers soon.....

Had the same thing happen to the wifey. Blew out her knee at work. Work told her she HAD to see one of three "Workman's comp." doctors. Well, goes to ALL three. They ALL in some kind of back room type fashion, agree that she only has a "pulled muscle" and tells her to return to work. 9 months later, she blows out 6 discs in her back from walking sideways on a knee that has NO cartilage. All the time, one of the WC doctors (In the beginning),told her he had a few "Concernes" about her knee. in his words, it was something like "Wow, this is bad, we need to get X-rays ASAP!"

One of the previous doctors comes into the room, tells wifey to wait outside, and when she returns,the first doctor now all of a sudden, believes it's a "Pulled Muscle"...

Long story short, I have a wife that cannot stand for more than 10 min., will NOT stand in a croud, cannot get in and out of cars that well, Is in constant pain, has to lay on her side for minutes, then turn, cannot sit for extended periods.

Her job of 13 years fired her. (Laid off) because she went to her OWN doctor which "Voided??" her workman's compensation", and she had to sue.

She was told inside of 10 years, she'd be wheelchair bound and needs mulitple back surgeries. She got hired on at her job now and made manager after only one year. Her boss told one of her people that she's the hardest working woman she's seen in the past 25 years. Now what do you think would happen if she were to tell them about her "Pre-existing condition"?  

My point? There are able bodied people working for her that claim they "Can't" do what she does....She does it with a blown out knee, and 6 disc's bad in her back in pain....You tell me why that doctor did her job the way she did....


Nobody cares anymore. They are simply showing up and collecting a paycheck. Nobody goes to work to work. Most go to either get away from the spouse, get away from their kids, get away from their parents, or to relax.  Nobody cares about customer service anymore. Nobody. This WILL get worse as time goes on. Most right here on this site are at work, typing on this site. Getting paid for it? Lunch breaks don't count.

[resq302]

Cooter,

I agree with you to a point.  I am a police dispatcher and yes, I am at work right now.  However, with that being said, I can stop typing at a moments notice should an emergency, 911 call, officer go on a motor vehicle stop, phone call come in, walk in person come up to the window, etc.  So, yes... in a way I am getting paid to be on here at work, however, I am also supposed to be awake and alert at all times.  This site and other car sites have kept me awake and alert at early hours of the morning when 8 hours into my 12 hour shift, my eye lids start to get heavy.  So, yes, granted, it seems that the majority of people any more don't "care" about their jobs or their careers and are only in it for the pay or the benefits or to get away from family, but there are some of us still who are dedicated.

I am sorry to hear about your wife and if that were my family, I would have sued the crap outta that doctor for malpractice.  I wish you and your wife all the best and hopefully her mobility does not diminish in the years to come.  What you stated basically surmises why I do all of my own work around the house and on my cars.

[Dino]

Guys you need to keep this in perspective, we have absolutely no statistics telling us which people are in it for the money and which are not so speculating is pointless.  I DO care about my patients and so do all my co-workers who fight the insurance companies every damn day to do what is right for our patients.

I've seen many patients who fired their assigned workers comp person and had spouse or friend become the manager, it is pretty easy to do but too many people will sign on the dotted line when the Doctor asks and from that point on you have no leg to stand on, no pun intended.

Cooter get a referral from your primary care physician and find an orthopaedic surgeon to look at your wife's knee and a spine specialists for her back.  It will still be a workers comp case unless you waived your rights.  There's no reason for her to live like this, we can fix these things now.

If you need to know where to go in your area, forward me your zip and I'll talk to some people here.

[resq302]

Dino,

I apologize if I seemed to imply that it was only doctors or people in the medical field.  I was trying to say that it seems like it is more so the way of the world anymore.  Just like the quality of some repro parts.... they want big money for some stuff that doesn't fit worth a damn!  Then again, there are companies like B,E, & A, ECS, and Metro that come out with some awesome quality repro stuff that is just as good as (if not better) than the originals.  You can even apply this to dealerships..... I was at a dealership where they wanted to charge me for every single thing which should have been covered under warranty yet when I went to another dealership, everything was included under my $100 deductible.  Could dealership A been in it for the money?  maybe.  Like you said it is all speculation however, the general feeling I get with the "world" as a hole is that most people are not about quality anymore, its all about who can make the money the quickest and move on.

[MoparManJim]

I hope your little girl is okay now, and is doing alot better man, please keep me inform if you would please. I know how it is when a doctor mess's up on a kid med's when not paying attention   

[68X426]

My thoughts are with you and your daughter. Hoping for a fast recovery!

I work for a health care organization

So does the VooDooMan.

[Dino]

resq302 no need for an apology!  But please do accept mine as I did not intend to generalize toward the medical feild either, yet I did.  

I too have had that feeling of doom and gloom and whatever the real numbers may be, I have a theory on these perspectives.  I used to restore cars for a long time, I saw rich and poor people, nice ones and not so much...  I made good money but couldn't get out of blue collar ville, don't think I ever felt I needed to.  Life was a bit rough from time to time.  I focused a lot on the negative and rarely on the positive.  Fast forward to present day, I moved half a world away from home and end up in the medical profession working face to face with people, unassuming (for the most part) people that need genuine help.  I am surrounded by people who strive to do good things and now I see more of the positive than the negative.  I'll be a pessimist at heart!  But I can look past it more and more.

Are you in a stage of your life where you're leaning more to the dark side padawan?  You're a cop, that can't be easy.  Seriously, you are face to face with the real world, in all its glory, every day!

I hear what you're saying though, I'm tired of this overpriced made in China crap as well but it's not as simple as that.  We as consumers demand quality!...unless the price is low enough, then we start to lose some perspective again.  We create the world we live in, and we promote what we permit.

Sometimes when you think humanity is at the bottom something happens that gives you hope.  Until the next douchebag crosses your path of course but hey that's life!  

Tell you one thing:  it's good to vent.  

[resq302]

Wife said that she did ok during the ultra sound of her abdomen today so that was good.  Results will take anywhere from 24-72 hrs.    We have another appointment with the dr tomorrow so I guess we shall see what goes on and what the drs say then.

Thank you again for everyone' thoughts and prayers.  

[resq302]

resq302 no need for an apology!  But please do accept mine as I did not intend to generalize toward the medical feild either, yet I did.  

I too have had that feeling of doom and gloom and whatever the real numbers may be, I have a theory on these perspectives.  I used to restore cars for a long time, I saw rich and poor people, nice ones and not so much...  I made good money but couldn't get out of blue collar ville, don't think I ever felt I needed to.  Life was a bit rough from time to time.  I focused a lot on the negative and rarely on the positive.  Fast forward to present day, I moved half a world away from home and end up in the medical profession working face to face with people, unassuming (for the most part) people that need genuine help.  I am surrounded by people who strive to do good things and now I see more of the positive than the negative.  I'll be a pessimist at heart!  But I can look past it more and more.

Are you in a stage of your life where you're leaning more to the dark side padawan?  You're a cop, that can't be easy.  Seriously, you are face to face with the real world, in all its glory, every day!

I hear what you're saying though, I'm tired of this overpriced made in China crap as well but it's not as simple as that.  We as consumers demand quality!...unless the price is low enough, then we start to lose some perspective again.  We create the world we live in, and we promote what we permit.

Sometimes when you think humanity is at the bottom something happens that gives you hope.  Until the next douchebag crosses your path of course but hey that's life!  

Tell you one thing:  it's good to vent.  

Actually, Im a police dispatcher so its worse.  I actually don't get any resolution or closure on bad medical calls involving kids or any other kind.  So yes, generally speaking, in the line of work I am, we tend to have a negative outlook on stuff because so rarely good things happen.  And again, with being a dispatcher, crap rolls down hill.  Cops (in general where I work) seem to think that they are above the dispatchers even though we are on and part of the same team!

[Indygenerallee]

Sorry to hear about your daughter and I am praying for a quick recovery! 

[71ChallengeHer]

Brian, I hope Riley is ok.   Give her a hug from Shelby and I.    I had a really bad experience with a doctor , when Shelby was little. She was sick for 6 months. The doc kept blowing me off. She ended up in the ER , very sick. Needless to say. I got a new Doc for her. Just trust your instincts as a parent.

[Wheels of Terror]

Challengeher is right. Trust your instincts as a parent. You know what's best for your children. I hope your daughter is feeling a lot better. She is in my prayers!! It's tough to watch your innocent child go through something like this and have to trust these money hungry doctors. Your wife and you are doing the right thing for your daughter. Keep us updated on her condition. Get some sleep. I hope your baby girl is feeling a lot better. ((Hugs)))

[resq302]

Well, we went to the doctors again today as a follow up and the doctor said that the pneumonia sounds a little better (only 2 days of being on the antibiotic so far) but the ultra sound of her spleen came back and it is enlarged unfortunately.  The up side is that they did not see any mass in it and that it was just enlarged which means it is probably something viral.  On the down side though, since the doctor confirmed that the spleen was enlarged, she now thinks that the baby has mononucleosis (better known as "mono") and she said that chances are that the baby had the mono for possibly as long as 3 weeks which lowered her immune system which caused her to get the ear infections and then the pneumonia.  The only way to confirm if the baby has mono is through blood work.  So after the doctors office, I went down the road to Lab Corp and had the blood work drawn.  We should have some results tomorrow and the rest by Monday the latest.  The good news though is the babys fever finally seems to have gone totally away and she was back down to a high of 99.4 today which is way lower than what she has had in the last couple days and even weeks.  She is happy at times and playful but still has those periods of being lethargic and blah.  I can't blame her with all the crap she has going on right now.   

[FlatbackFanatic]

I glad she's starting to feel better, hope the blood work is ok.