Comments on: Fun With Bureaucracy.

By: Corinne

Corinne — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:45:21 +0000

Now I’m getting a little panicky. I didn’t really know about the quarantine thing – no one mentioned that. Ben (my 34 weeker) is getting Synagis, but he’s still going to his daycare (I work full time. Is this ok?

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:34:52 +0000

I recently took my three-year-old for a hearing test and she violently wriggled, screamed and even mock-vomited when the audiologist tried to stick the things in her ears. I could have told them it was going to go awry. A year ago she had to have to an EEG because she was having seizures. She was supposed to arrive sleepy and the technician – as he attempted to attach tiny little wires all over her head – informed me that she would have to stay awake but VERY, VERY still in order to get an accurate test result. Um…OK…. She’s TWO!! When I informed him that she didn’t do “still” while awake – or sleeping for that matter – he simply shrugged. He then, of course, had the nerve to complain bitterly when she went nuts and pulled out every single wire that he had painstakingly attached to her skull. WTF?! Surely they’ve done this kind of thing before on children and would have figured out how to cope with the constant movement indicative of babies and toddlers.

Kudos to you though for your persistence despite all the frustrations!

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:09:37 +0000

I am sorry it was such a frustrating day for you! I admire your ability to turn it into something interesting (and at points comical) to read!

By: Krista

Krista — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:08:07 +0000

Arggh what a frustrating day

By: Myg

Myg — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:42:45 +0000

ARGH I just hate hospitals. But the fact that it may be fluid is encouraging! Keep making those calls. My trick is to call someone every day – be nice as can be, but be a big enough pain in the ass that it’s worth their while to get rid of me…Good luck!

By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:15:55 +0000

That is all so frustrating. During the election, I took out my anger on my treadmill, which worked out great!

By: Geohde

Geohde — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:29:11 +0000

Ay ai ai!

Oh my.

That is red-tape par excellance. And sucky.

By: Mrs. Moose

Mrs. Moose — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:33:24 +0000

Seriously, I’m really sorry about this and I hope that someone can do something without endangering the life of your child. Geez. What is the point of the within 7 days visit? And can you try and get around the secretary/manager person who makes the appointments? I had problems w/ my OB/GYN at the beginning of my pregnancy giving me the “it’s policy” crap and I went around/over her to get what I needed. I also used the dramatic “I’m not going to let you risk the life of my baby” thing, so I’d milk the RSV risk for all it’s worth.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:49:48 +0000

Oh dear. Haven’t had time to read other comments but am so sorry. I had to take my one-year old to a similar test for more mundane reasons (ear infections, questions about “some” hearing impairment and a possible need for tubes) and the people down here in the friendly South had definitely seen a baby/toddler before, also, it took well under 6 months to get an appointment. If you’d like to take a trip to NC, just let me know! Though I’m sure airplane rides with 25-weekers in RSV season = also not on the to-do list.

By: Jen Hinckley

Jen Hinckley — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:47:03 +0000

Hey there..

first of all.. trust your gut. 6 weeks is absurd.. get your doctor to push or find one that will. in my book, this is an emergency.. you’re not just checking her hearing.. you’re checking to see if there is stagnant fluid build up in her middle ear. this can be quite serious.

if all else fails (and i’m not saying this out loud).. you might want to mention that she has eye flipping episodes. god i’m horrible. my son had severe fluid buildup and hearing loss prior to having surgery for tubes. just prior to the surgery, he started having his eyes flip up and back randomly.. it turned out that he had a microscopic crack in the bone that separates his middle ear from his brain and this was exacerbating a seizure disorder that he has. they had us rushed in for the surgery and then took extra special care to be absolutely SURE everything was ok.. it was grand. (of course.. i say this 9 months later.. at the time i was mortified).

some food for thought though.. if she does have fluid in her ears, they will need to insert tubes. for that, they need to get the ok from a pedi and then sedate her with some happy gas… likely the EXACT same thing they will do just to get a glimpse inside her ear. I’d press.. if you’re going to hang on and wait for the big test, to request that they be prepared to insert the tubes on the spot if it is deemed necessary.

second.. you might consider going to another ENT. we have a pediatric ENT and my son was all over the place during the testing and they were always able to get at least the puff of air test done.

wishing you the best.. i’m proud that you were able to keep from opening up a can of *&$%*& on the office staff!