Friday, March 12, 2010

AGAIN? Really? C'mon!

That title was my reaction when I got Kacey's diagnosis yesterday! BTW, she was NOT happy that I was trying to take her pic in the doctor's office when she was feeling bad. LOL!

I had called and got her an appointment for 1:15pm since her symptoms had seemed to worsen through the night and I'm glad I did because by mid-morning, she was complaining of serious aches and pains. She could hardly talk and her appetite had decreased to only wanting sugar free Jello-o and cheese sticks. When Kacey isn't hungry then I know SOMETHING is wrong!

It's sad that I ended up stressing myself over the "cost" that I was about to face. I knew the doctor visit was $78 right from the start! Then add the labs on top of that and then the cost of antibiotics was going to send me for a loop. I keep counting down....3 more weeks!

So when we got there, the receptionist asked me if everything was up to date and then began to list...phone number, address, insurance....eek! red flag! So I told her that the insurance had changed and I had the cards but they were not effective til April 1st. She told me they couldn't copy them til they were effective BUT since it was a self-pay visit, I got 50% off if I paid everything in full. W-O-W! Ok...so that cut the visit to $39 from the beginning. I knew they were going to want a urine sample since she was having blood sugars over 400. So instead of waiting in the waiting room, we went right to the bathroom and did that. We got called back immediately after and as we walked down the hall, this eerie feeling fell over me. We stopped right at the doorway to a room and it took me a moment to get myself together. This was the exact same room that Kacey was diagnosed in! Of all the times we've been to the doctor in the last 2 years, we'd not been on this hall til now. My eyes welled up with tears and I asked the nurse to please excuse my emotion. Kacey spoke up and said, "I remember this room. This is where Dr. M told me I had diabetes." The nurse then knew why I was so overwhelmed. She took Kacey's vitals, all good. The nurse left out and it was an awkward silence. I looked at Kacey as she layed down on the bed. She was feeling just as crappy as she was that day she was diagnosed. Her blood sugars were high, she was sick and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it! As a parent, one of the worse feelings you can feel is "helpless". I can try as hard as I want to be her pancreas but one day I'm going to have to accept that I'm not her pancreas and it's not my fault when her numbers go crazy. So...Dr. G comes in and she's the wife of our regular doc, Dr. M. We love her just as much as we do him. She patted me on the back and said she'd heard I was a little upset. Yeah, just a little! She examined Kacey and during that time, I explained the insurance situation to her and asked her if they did samples for antibiotics? She was very sympathetic over the situation and knows that we aren't new patients and she said she'd "fix us right up!" Kacey's diagnosis....Strep throat.....AGAIN? Really? C'mon! You've gotta be kiddin me?!?! She JUST got over strep! :( And as usual...she could of picked this up anywhere!

She left out and about 10 minutes later, she came back in with our paper and a precription for Amoxicillan. She said the last few times that Kacey has been sick, she's been put on Zithromax and they needed to change it up. She told me to take that prescription to Walmart where it would only cost me $4 and then she winked!! O-M-G! I was expecting to pay over $100 for meds. So when we got to the front desk, my total.... $45 for the visit (including the rapid culture and urine sample) and then $4 for meds! The sigh of relief hit me and I ended up crying on the way to Walmart.
Once again, my prayers were answered. Ask and you shall receive. (Wendy, I still think of you with this)

3 comments:

Val said...

I'm sure you probably did this, but did you toss her toothbrush? Our pediatrician always told us to throw out the old one once they're on antibiotics a few days so they don't re-catch it from that.

And congrats on a dr willing to work with you on the no-insurance thing.

Meri said...

I am so happy for you Jill! What a blessing!

And Kacey...get better soon hon. I am So sorry you have to suffer. New antibiotics is a good thing...this one will zap it away for good!

Tracy said...

Sorry Kacey is sick again! I hope she gets over it quickly!

You know, when Savannah was on zythromax for her ear infection, it did not go away either! We had to do another round of meds. :(

So happy you were able to get a cheaper bill at the doc and for the rx!