This stuff always happens to me. No, really.
Remember the other day when I took Apollo to Dr. O for his cough (because our marvelous Dr, Dr H was out?) well, I never did tell you about the rest of the day. Why? Because I was worried about my son and worried about the medicine prescribed. So here is the rest of the story.
We left the doctor’s office and headed to the grocery store where our pharmacy is. I went and checked on the prescription (which the doctor had faxed over) and was told it would take about fifteen minutes. So I wandered around the grocery store with a sick, fussy, coughing baby (garnering many, many dirty looks), a wild six-year-old named Tucker, a mellow seven-year old named Hezkekiah, nine-year old Jubilee and ten-year old Kalina. We wandered around the store and picked up a few essentials (hummus, baby food, doughnuts). After fifteen loooong minutes (it was lunch time, Apollo was tired, the kids were hungry) I headed over and our prescription was ready. Thank God for small favors.
When I went to pay for the prescription, it wasn’t the cough medicine, but more lansoprozole, Apollo’s reflux medicine. I had told Dr. O that the pulmonologist wanted him to take it twice a day until his surgery, so we’d need a prescription for more or we’d run out too soon. She assured me she could change the prescription. And here it was.
“Okay,” I said “I’ll take this, but it isn’t the prescription I’m here to pick up. I’m here to pick up cough medicine.”
So the pharmacist goes to check and there is no prescription for cough medicine. “I’m sorry” she says. “You’ll have to go check over at the other counter”.
*sigh*
So I get in a new line, at a new counter and wait my turned. All the while my kids are getting hungrier and my coughing baby more tired. I get to the front and am told there is no other prescription for Apollo. So they call the doctor’s office and after several minutes I’m told, “They’re going to fax the prescription over, but they’re just waiting for the doctor’s signature”.
Doctor’s signature? I was in her office half an hour ago….Having no idea how long it would take, I headed home, prescriptionless and decided to return later in the day. It’s fifteen minutes to the store from our house, so later that afternoon I left my kids at home again, drove half an hour (round trip) to pick up a prescription that ultimately I decided not to give to Apollo. gggggggrrrrrrrrr.
Fast forward several days to when Apollo is our of his current prescription for reflux meds so I open the new bottle. And find to my surprise that Dr. O simply changed his prescription to 30 mg instead of writing a prescription for twice as many 15 mg capsules. This meant opening a capsule of medicine and literally trying to pour half of the little while balls out for him to take in the morning and saving the other half for his evening dose. And of course this happened on the weekend, so I couldn’t call the doctor and get the prescription straightened out until Monday morning. I suppose you could blame me for not checking the bottle as soon as I brought home, but really, he’s been on the medicine for ten months, it never crossed my mind I needed to “make sure” it was right. And did I mention his regular dose totals $190 a month? And we just doubled that. Thank God for health insurance and $15 copays.
So, we get through the weekend splitting and spilling white reflux balls (which must cost about a buck a piece) all over and trying to get the right amount in Apollo’s mouth. Monday Chuck picks up the 15 mg capsules.
Saturday night, I notice Apollo doesn’t cry though dinner. He always cries through dinner. Always. Sunday we get through our meals without tears. And again yesterday. It suddenly dawns on me…we just doubled his reflux medicine and he is no longer screaming through meals?! You mean, we very possibly could have given him more before and not suffered through Every. Single. Meal? He’s suffered. I’ve suffered. The whole family has suffered (it’s a bit difficult to have a family meal with a screaming/thrashing baby or toddler), day after day.
Yes, I’m thankful his mealtime crying seems to have diminished (but afraid to get my hopes up too high- this has been a major stressor for the past year)…but really, to make him suffer another 10 months because his dose was too low? That’s half his life. In the beginning I didn’t think he had reflux, in small part because putting him on it didn’t help his eating or mealtime crying (though I admitted he must have reflux when after two months we took him off and he arched his back and screamed like a banshee during the day).
Yes, I could just be thankful and look at this through rose colored glasses aren’t-we-happy-he-has-some-relief-now…but really, I’m tired of him getting the short end of the stick when it comes to people in the medical field really listening and following up on him. He has suffered every day of his life and lot of it could have been avoided or lessened.
I know I’ve blogged about his mealtime tears at least three different times. Here he is in: January 2011 and April 2011. I know I posted photos of him recently crying during a meal as Jubilee tried to hold him, but I couldn’t find it.
Why didn’t anyone raise his does earlier when he wasn’t getting any relief? Why?
