Skyler Update; wading through the maze of red tape

In the past I have had nothing but praise for our Children's hospital. It is a wonderful facility, with a lot of caring people in it. But this last week has really sucked. Skyler has been having a lot of stomach pain in the past couple of weeks. We have been doing the over the counter stuff, unplugging him with various methods due to his constant lack of regular bowel movements. But this time his pain has stayed, not doing any better.

So we had a couple of poops that were really black over the weekend, and called our pediatrician. Our pediatrician said to take him to the ER, as this is a sign of a possible peptic ulcer, and it can be serious. So off to the ER we go, sitting in there for about 4 hours waiting for labs to come back. Eventually we talk to the ER doc who tells us that yes, Skyler is bleeding internally, but all of his tests/counts indicate that it isn't bad. We should be seen in the GI clinic soon, but not to worry, we don't have to admit him "right now".

So the orders go into the GI clinic for us to be seen soon, but no emergency. We had an appt. yesterday at 3:00 at the GI clinic, arriving early hoping to get this taken care of. After an hour goes by, a nurse comes in to inform us that there are 2 different clinics for G-Tubes, the actual G-Tube clinic, and the post-surgery clinic. Since Skyler had his put in surgically, in preparation for his back surgery, he needs to be seen there. Well tell them politely to go fuck themselves and we would like somebody to see Skyler. We wait some more to get squeezed in, and eventually we get a Nurse practitioner, since a doc just isn't available. But the NP is pretty cool, saying that we are going to wind up back at their clinic anyway when the other clinic refers us for an upper GI, so why don't we just start the paper work right now.

Cool, she gets it. Go around the bureaucracy. Just one little catch, before we go see the other clinic or get referred for an upper GI, there needs to be an X-Ray of his bowel. So off we go to another section of the facility, complete with it's own paperwork, it's own procedure, and a shit-load of attitude because some people didn't show up for work.

Eventually, we explain that we are there for an X-Ray of his bowel, not his back, because the charts on Skyler are all about his back. But Ms. Pissed off at the world wouldn't stop ranting about the lack of people working to her co-workers to let us explain.

So we go back there at 1:00 today! Wish us luck, or I might be on the evening news getting lead out of the hospital after going postal on some folks.

Comments

  1. Don't bother taking names as you are kicking ass!

    Doc

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  2. If you need help kicking ass I'm there!

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  3. Anonymous9:46 AM

    okay, I just got my answer (to my email) Oh no. I hope things improve

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  4. Sometimes this stuff becomes so routine to nurses that they forget their dealing with human beings and serious concerns. It sounds like that lady needs to be regularly reminded that part of her profession is to ease the worries of others and quit complaining.

    I'm sorry to hear about Skyler's current situation and I'm sure that when the staff finally get it in gear, they'll do everything they can for him.

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  5. Anonymous10:37 AM

    Honey, I will personally go there, in my PJ's if necessary, and kick ass until the cows come home, or until they give Skyler the care he needs/deserves!!!

    GOD I hate all the bureaucracy and this miserable health care system we have!! The worst part of it is the people who suffer are the ones who most need the services!!

    I hope today's appointment went much smoother and that Skyler is back on track to being well.

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  6. Doctors have the crappiest job ever. They are over worked and in most cases underpaid. They have to pay malpractice insurance premiums that are sometimes more than half of what they make. So we usually end up with the crank nurses who went to school to become a nurse so that they wouldn't have to flip burgers. It is so rare these days to find a nurse who is in it for the patients. Good luck. it sounds like you got one of each kind. lets hope you get 5 of the good kind today

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  7. Oh my god. I've been there. I know how you feel. My daughter's throat swelled up once and I took her to the ER and they sent me to another clinic during rush hour. By the time we got there, she was limp and nearly lifeless in my arms - and it was the wrong clinic. They gave me directions to THE WRONG CLINIC during a 4 year old's breathing emergency. I lost it. I was screaming like mad and throwing magazines in the wrong clinic's lobby. And, what do you know, the situation was sorted out pronto. Yell, Sir, yell. Throw stuff and punch people if you have to! Make a scene bigger than a Broadway Musical! Don't let them mess around with your child!

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  8. jesus, something must be going through the human Collective Unconscious-- I'm having a similar week, complete w/bowl pain and pain-in-the-ass people to put up with. What the hell? What the hell??

    Damned Vogons. "Death's too good for them..."

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  9. I used to work for Children's Hospital here in Seattle (in the labs) and I have to say that there are some people in the world who are just not meant to have careers in the Patient care field. I'm sorry you have to go thru all that and Ill pray that Skyler will be ok soon.

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  10. oh. my. god. ask to speak to her manager, and the shit WILL hit the fan. i'm a nurse and i'm telling you people get fired for this kind of shit. and, in a children's hospital? come on. it's a speciallized place that is supposed to accomadate kids. it is against hospital protocol and policy for a nurse or anyone else to be complaining in front of patients, let alone speak to you in a derogatory fashion. ask to speak to the manager, i promise the shit will get sorted out. there are also cards you can fill out about patient satisfaction. COMPLAIN. as nurses, we are supposed to put patients first and are supposed to give excellant quality care. we get rated on that by our managers. if it's anything less than that, COMPLAIN.

    C

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