Thursday, February 18, 2010

Why didn’t I think of that?

Yesterday I had to take Alivia for a follow-up appointment to her pediatric urologist. Alivia was born with Urinary Reflux, but it wasn’t diagnosed until she was 4. She had surgery in June 2008, and had been doing well until December of this year.

ur3

In December she started having accidents at school, and a lot of urgency. As you can imagine this was disconcerting to all of us, especially her. Nobody wants to pee their pants in first grade. I bet if you saw someone pee their pants when you were in elementary school you can at least remember that kid’s face, if not their name too. Yeah, I know I can. The idea of Alivia being that kid breaks my heart.

So, when this started happening in December I called her pediatrician immediately and took the first the appointment they had. I also took in a urine specimen to the lab before we even had the appointment.

The appointment turned out to be with another pediatrician, and right away I knew I didn’t like her. She only has one child, and it’s a baby, and I could tell she has no idea what it’s like to have a 1st grader who can’t control her bladder. She said there was no infection and she actually wanted me to take her off the medication for urinary urgency. When I asked her for an explanation of why a year and a half after surgery she would start having accidents again, she had no explanation.

Ok, thanks for nothing. Peace out. I hope I never see you again.

After another week or two of sending a backpack full of underwear and extra uniforms to school, I made an appointment with the pediatric urologist who did the surgery. Shawn took her to the appointment, and what do you know? She had a UTI. Shocking.

Longish story short, she was on antibiotics for 2 months, and then we had a follow-up appointment with the urologist again yesterday. This is the main point of this post, so hopefully you’ve made it this far!

The person we saw was actually a Nurse Practitioner, with the biggest Yooper accent in the whole wide world. She also had a Physician’s Assistant with her who had a wonky eye and I’m 99% sure she was actually student, even though she wasn’t introduced as such.

So, yooper nurse goes over the whole history with wonky eye girl, and then asks me if there have been any “incidents.” Aka, is your kid still peeing her pants? I tell her no. She then looks at and presses on Alivia’s belly, and tells us “If there any more infections I think you can just go to your pediatrician and have her treat it.”

Really? Really. What a novel idea.

You know had I just taken her to the pediatrician, I wouldn’t have had to take her out of school early to drive downtown and try to find your stupid building that has no signage out front and looks like a freakin’ parking garage. I wouldn’t have had to spend 10 minutes trying to find a space in the parking garage, and then take an elevator to another elevator just to get to your building. I wouldn’t have had to pay twice as much for my co-pay, because we’re seeing a “specialist” even though all we’re actually seeing is a nurse who I don’t even trust because you’re wearing a too short skirt paired with brown boots that don’t even match your royal blue school girl skirt. I also wouldn’t have had to try to smile politely at your physician assistant friend, even though I’m not even sure if she’s actually looking at me.

Yeah lady, you’re right. Why didn’t I think of that? Oh wait, I did.

18 comments:

d.a.r. said...

Ack, I cannot even imagine how hard that would be to watch your kid go through that. I hope they can get the infection taken care of and that she stops having "incidents"...assholes.

Leah said...

I can imagine the embarrassment... I had similar incident when I was in first grade too. Yes I did. And yes UTI was the culprit too.

Hope your little girl gets well soon. Let her drink lots of water and cranberry juice. xoxo

Hillary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hillary said...

Please oh please tell me you actually said all of that to her!!!

Ummm, she had a urologic surgery, and ummm, she's having a urologic problem. Even if you hadn't taken her to the pediatrician's office prior, I still think that her comment was totally absurd.

Even though the doc she did see sounds like a schmuck, don't be a hater of the pediatric medical professionals sans children. Some of us actually know what we are doing and are sympathetic at the same time.

**sorry about the deleted comment, there was a typo so I had to re-do it.***

Taylor-Made Wife said...

aww, I'm so sorry for your poor daughter! What a burden for a 1st grader to have a UTI. What a bunch of assholes.

Theta Mom said...

Poor her and poor you!!! Hope she feels better soon!

Heather (One Take On Life) said...

Did you tell that physician assitant you had thought of that. Never mind calling the pediatrician's office and asking why they couldn't diagnose a UTI? Seriously?
I can't imagine what your daughter felt. Thank goodness someone figured it out.

Corrie and Phil said...

That's awful! Somehow you manage to add humor to such an unfortunate experience. I agree with Hillary that you really should have said all of those things. That would have made for a GREAT story!

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

Doctors are, in a word, infuriating!!

Hope your little girl is on the mend soon, despite the idiots!!

Kelsey Claire said...

How infuriating! I would probably just start to cry because I was so mad. Then no one respects you because you start to cry! I am glad she hasn't had any "accidents" lately!

AussieMumma said...

How frustrating!! Good luck with it, maybe you could get a second (third!!) opinion?

Laura and Ryan said...

Oh no! I hope sweet little Alivia is ok. Bless her heart, that is not fun! It's good you caught it all now though!

Sazzle said...

Poor thing! I'm sure it is awful for her!

Llama said...

Oh my goodness! Im so sorry that you all had to go through that. Poor Alivia, you are totally right, a first grader definitely gets embarrassed over things like that...I feel so bad for her. It is so completely frustrating when you don't get answers that you need from supposed professional doctors and nurses. It is even MORE frustrated when you search for a specialist to finally achieve those answers and you still end up leaving the same as you entered. Don't give up, keep trying different doctors...I really hope that you find an end to the madness and a way to help out your sweet little girl.
Have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

What is with urologists & those damn NPs, PAs, whatever! Our ped. wants to wait until BG's 4 to see the ped. urologist. Until then we'll just wear pull-ups I guess! Hope things get better!

Natalie said...

What jerks! I was just like your daughter when I was young. I was born with reflux, had the surgery at 4 but still had infections. I think I had to be on antibiotics at least 3 times a year until I was 18 at which point, I just stopped going to the doctor.

Now, I won't hardly take antibiotics unles I'm near death b/c 1. they don't work as well now & 2. the lovely s/e in women. I also loathe cranberry juice (unless it's served wtih vodka & lime). I've discovered red grape juice (gotta be red) will do the same thing. I also take cranberry extract vitamins every day.

And by the way, if you ever need anyone to hold that pillow for you just gimme a call.

Jenny @ Practically Perfect... said...

Oooh, that is so frustrating! I was getting irritated just reading this. And I can't believe that the NP was wearing a short skirt and boots! How unprofessional!

Amy said...

I have had my share of dealing with doctors and specialists of my sons that I.did.not.like.

It's like the more degrees some people have the less empathetic they become.

Poor Alivia! I hope this is the end of these problems for her.