Wild ride: Flu turns nasty with appendicitis

[octavia]

I ended up rushing my 8 year old to the ER yesterday with tummy pain. He was just getting over the flu, and the sudden onset of acute tummy pain scared me.

An ultra sound showed it was his appendix so they removed it.
I'm a stressed out mess.... We started this journey by trying to go to a walk in "urgent care" clinic but didn't even stay to register him there. We waited in the parking lot for 30 minutes ( I was pulled UP TO the front door) for them to open. During that time, several staff arrived at work and went in, leaving us outside. Then closer to opening time another woman showed up with her teen and raced past us to get to the unlocking door. She then raced forward in the waiting room to assure that she be seen first. I was so disgusted. I could not race her because my son hurt to much to walk, I was carrying him. As I stood waiting for her to finish "checking in", I overheard her talking to the receptionist:

"Yeah, I could have waited until tomorrow and taken her to her reg. Dr. but why miss work? Besides she has a fever...."

I was so pissed!! Finally I interrupted her "networking session" to tell the receptionist that we had been there waiting in the parking lot and that I showed up early because I was very concerned about my son etc.

They told us to just go the ER anyway because they didn't have an ultra sound anyway. We did and encountered an equally callous and uncaring staff there. It seems that if you need EMERGENCY care, you have to pay for and arrive in an ambulance, otherwise, you can sit in the waiting room and die for all they care.

GRRRRRRR!! I am so angry!!!!

I'm too tired and stressed to offer a more coherent version or to finish hte story right now, but to sum up, he is recovering and although his once beautiful "outie" is now an "innie" he should be fine.

[Bobsprius]

Originally Posted by octavia

I ended up rushing my 8 year old to the ER yesterday with tummy pain. He was just getting over the flu, and the sudden onset of acute tummy pain scared me.

An ultra sound showed it was his appendix so they removed it.
I'm a stressed out mess.... We started this journey by trying to go to a walk in "urgent care" clinic but didn't even stay to register him there. We waited in the parking lot for 30 minutes ( I was pulled UP TO the front door) for them to open. During that time, several staff arrived at work and went in, leaving us outside. Then closer to opening time another woman showed up with her teen and raced past us to get to the unlocking door. She then raced forward in the waiting room to assure that she be seen first. I was so disgusted. I could not race her because my son hurt to much to walk, I was carrying him. As I stood waiting for her to finish "checking in", I overheard her talking to the receptionist:

"Yeah, I could have waited until tomorrow and taken her to her reg. Dr. but why miss work? Besides she has a fever...."

I was so pissed!! Finally I interrupted her "networking session" to tell the receptionist that we had been there waiting in the parking lot and that I showed up early because I was very concerned about my son etc.

They told us to just go the ER anyway because they didn't have an ultra sound anyway. We did and encountered an equally callous and uncaring staff there. It seems that if you need EMERGENCY care, you have to pay for and arrive in an ambulance, otherwise, you can sit in the waiting room and die for all they care.

GRRRRRRR!! I am so angry!!!!

I'm too tired and stressed to offer a more coherent version or to finish hte story right now, but to sum up, he is recovering and although his once beautiful "outie" is now an "innie" he should be fine.

Hi Octavia,

I can feel your pain, but hope your Son is doing well and recovering quickly....It's amazing, unless you say you have chest pains, bring a lunch!

Hope all goes well for your son....say hello from the Prius Chat folks will ya!

Bob

[qbee42]

Generally a trip in the ambulance doesn't help either. You do get treatment from the EMTs, but once you get to the ER the normal triage process kicks in. Some people who have tired of sitting in the ER waiting room have left the hospital and then called 911 to get an ambulance ride, figuring it would help, only to find themselves waiting once again. You need life threatening symptoms to jump ahead in line. Something like a severed head will bump you up a spot or two. You get extra points if you carry your head in by the hair.

Tom

[MarinJohn]

Octavia I'm glad you were able to get your child the immediate care he needed. I didn't even know appendicitis was a possibility in a young child. I understand your dilemma regarding the butting in mother, but I would have had it out with her right there and then for her callousness. As a direct result of the atmosphere in this country brought upon by the loud but ineffectual right wing of this country I personally have lost all regard for civility and will challenge anyone I THINK has stepped on my place/toes. Yep, whether they are right or wrong, all it takes is my PERCEPTION to earn someone like her a fight. EXACTLY like Ammo demonstrates in his posts, I KNOW BETTER than anyone else about all things and to get in my way is to earn my wrath. You are a better person than I.

[eagle33199]

I know exactly how you feel, Octavia. A few years back (just after i had graduated) one of my Fraternity brothers got sick. He took care of himself, skipping half a weeks worth of classes. When things kept getting worse, he went to the clinic nearby, and was told it was just the flu and to go home and drink plenty of fluids. The weekend rolled around, and his parents came up (they were about an hour away) to take him home for the weekend until he got better. That night, he started coughing up blood. They rushed him to the local hospital, and early the next morning he was on a helicopter heading for the Cleveland Clinic. 6 months later he had a heart transplant.

The problem with our medical system isn't the care is can provide - we have access to some of the best medicine in the world. Our problem is the cost is so horribly high, that we use emergency rooms and emergency clinics as our only form of medicine. Instead of scheduling an appointment with a doctor after feeling symptoms (I'm not talking about things like the flu here - symptoms that could indicate something seriously wrong), we wait until things are so horrible, so unbearable that our only recourse is to seek immediate help, overloading our emergency rooms. Those people who wait like that only hurt themselves, and innocent people like you trying to use those facilities in cases that are actually appropriate (Appendicitis comes on suddenly, and needs to be treated immediately).

I'm glad to hear it all worked out for the best. I know how frustrating it is sitting there, knowing a loved one needs help, but unable to provide it or have other provide it quicker. The worst is behind you now, all that's left is enjoying time with your son while he recuperates.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by MarinJohn

I didn't even know appendicitis was a possibility in a young child.

I had mine yanked out at 8. I don't even remember that procedure, my folks claimed it was pretty exciting for them

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by qbee42

You need life threatening symptoms to jump ahead in line. Something like a severed head will bump you up a spot or two. You get extra points if you carry your head in by the hair.

Tom

I once cracked my skull (yes, I know, explains a lot doesn't it?) and was bleeding from the nose and right ear. I still sat in the ER from about 8pm until after midnight because of the gunshots and stabbings that were getting bumped ahead of me.

Octavia, you can't expect people to be civil in our modern society - of course that woman believed that her convenience was more important than anything else. They all do.

[Ichiro]

Wow what a scary and infuriating experience for a parent.

I had my appendix out when I was 30 so I can imagine how your son felt. Most painful and scary experience I ever had considering it had burst. I was bed ridden for a week with a high fever after the surgery. My idiot family doctor had thought it was just some digestive issue!! I had to go to the ER and insist I had a real problem after the pain became unbearable. After 5-6 hrs of waiting they finally decided to give me a cat scan to discover the appendix had perforated.

Recently one of our daughters had febrile seizures when she was 18 months old ... she started turning blue so we freaked out and took her to the ER. We weren't treated so rudely as you were, but I was infuriated by the incompetence of the docs. They had no idea if it were a viral or bacterial infection, seemed clueless as to what it might be. I lost count of how many times they drew blood and catherized her for urine samples.
Hours later one of the young ER residents finally decided to try a spinal tap to see if she had meningitis. I had to hold my poor baby down while the newbie kept trying to draw spinal fluid, couldn't get a single drop. She ended up staying in the hospital for a few days until the fever passed away on its own.

Anyways, my daughter and I have survived. But I still can't believe how much much I had to pay out of pocket for these trips to the ER. I can't imagine how much it would have cost without insurance. Probably $25K for the appendectomy, and at least $10K for my daughter's.

[San_Carlos_Jeff]

Originally Posted by octavia

I ended up rushing my 8 year old to the ER yesterday with tummy pain. He was just getting over the flu, and the sudden onset of acute tummy pain scared me.

I'm curious, do the docs think the flu somehow caused the appendicitis, or was the timing a coincidence?

[octavia]

Originally Posted by eagle33199

I know exactly how you feel, Octavia. A few years back (just after i had graduated) one of my Fraternity brothers got sick. He took care of himself, skipping half a weeks worth of classes. When things kept getting worse, he went to the clinic nearby, and was told it was just the flu and to go home and drink plenty of fluids. The weekend rolled around, and his parents came up (they were about an hour away) to take him home for the weekend until he got better. That night, he started coughing up blood. They rushed him to the local hospital, and early the next morning he was on a helicopter heading for the Cleveland Clinic. 6 months later he had a heart transplant.

The problem with our medical system isn't the care is can provide - we have access to some of the best medicine in the world. Our problem is the cost is so horribly high, that we use emergency rooms and emergency clinics as our only form of medicine. Instead of scheduling an appointment with a doctor after feeling symptoms (I'm not talking about things like the flu here - symptoms that could indicate something seriously wrong), we wait until things are so horrible, so unbearable that our only recourse is to seek immediate help, overloading our emergency rooms. Those people who wait like that only hurt themselves, and innocent people like you trying to use those facilities in cases that are actually appropriate (Appendicitis comes on suddenly, and needs to be treated immediately).

I'm glad to hear it all worked out for the best. I know how frustrating it is sitting there, knowing a loved one needs help, but unable to provide it or have other provide it quicker. The worst is behind you now, all that's left is enjoying time with your son while he recuperates.

I agree 100% I've done our healthcare system with insurance and without... I know how frustrating it can be on both sides of the trap. Regular Dr.'s don't HAVE to see you if you can't pay upfront, ER docs are not supposed to take that into consideration. For some people, ER medicine is all they can access.... There was a couple in the ER waiting room with a baby when I got there, they were "in line" so to speak and they told me to go ahead of them. 100% different than the marketing lady ( she was dropping names and crap while smoozing while we all waited in line behind her) at the clinic earlier. I almost cried from relief when they did and you know what? I'd be willing to bet money they were there because they did not have insurance to go anywhere else.