Two Many Visits to Urgent Care

Two visits to the doctor doesn't seem like much but when they both occur on days that I am too busy and after regular office hours, it feels like much more time than that.  Here is how it went down this week.

Wednesday is always a busy day because we have scouts and mutual that day.  This means that I need to get the kids moving on homework earlier than they like to and get dinner ready in a timely manner.  This past Wednesday was made busier by the fact that William had an oral report and project to be ready by Thursday morning.  He had four weeks to work on it but procrastinated until the day before it is due.  Steven had a lot to get done before scouts that night also.  

I was actually feeling pretty good about getting it all done.  Both Steven and William grumbled but did get straight to work on their assignment after school.  I was sitting at the table helping William transfer the information he needed from books onto notecards and helping Steven get his math homework done.  We were making good progress.  Then Rachel came and sat down next to me.  "Mommy, I have a popcorn seed up my nose."  Screeeech!  Everything comes to a fast halt.  Of course both boys are much more interested in popcorn up the nose than what they are doing.  Who wouldn't be?  We looked up her nose with a flashlight and yes I can confirm that there is a popcorn kernel up there.  I try to get her to blow with no success, and I am trying to determine if I can fish it out but really, I am not up for this today, I have too many other things to do.  Rachel is now feeling self-conscious because all her siblings want to have a gander up her nose.  After a telephone consult with Ralph, I decide that I am going to have to take her somewhere and get the doctors to get it out.  It is after 4:00pm so our regular doctors office won't see her and we have to go to the emergency room.  There goes my well-planned evening.

I try to encourage William and Steven to continue their homework efforts as I walk out the door but I know that even though they agree to, it is a lost cause until I return.  Rachel was really good at the hospital.  She answered the doctors questions (except the Why? question) and was very cooperative.  They said they were going to have to papoose her while they tried to get it out.  I expected that, the flailing arms, legs and head was why I wouldn't attempt this myself.  I told Rachel that the doctors were going to make her into a mummy.  She was thrilled and jumped up on the bed.  Held her arms just like they told her too and giggled as they wrapped her up tight.  The nurse said she was the easiest papoose she had ever made.  The nurse gave her a pair of sunglasses to keep the bright lights out of her eyes.  I wish that my camera had been in my purse because it was a great picture.  She was so happy all bundled up.  Then thy hit her nose with tweezers.  Not so thrilling.  Rachel definitely did not like this part but it was short lived and they got the seed out.  Plus they gave her three princess stickers for being so good.  The trauma probably did not out do the fun factor of her trip to the ER and I think that if you offered to make her into a mummy again, she would jump at the chance.

Visit number two involved Geral on Friday.  Geral had been fussy all day, she wanted Mommy at her side all day, and wouldn't even look at her Dad when he came home for lunch.  I should have been paying more attention about why she was unhappy but her mom was being slow.  She perked up when Steven got home from school but that is normal, she adores her brother.  I looked at her as she was cuddling with Steven though and noticed one side of her head was wet. Yuck, the poor girl had pus pouring out of her ear.  No wonder she had been unhappy she obviously had and ear infection and had been miserable.  Of course, at this point in the day, it was after 4:00pm again.  I knew that she needed antibiotics but I have already paid for two ER visits this month and it seemed ridiculous to pay those kinds of rates just to have antibiotics prescribed.  Ralph found another urgent care center on the internet, so we decided to check that place out.  It worked out really well, we got her a prescription and she will hopefully be feeling better soon.

From these two experiences I have learned that 4:30 in the afternoon is a good time to need urgent care if you want to be in and out fast.  We spent less than an hour both times.  Much less time than we spend when we end up there later in the day.  This meant that I was still able to help William work through the rest of his project.  His model piranha looked great!