Day 11 - Low grade fever and a trip to the doc's

Well Brad couldn't have timed it better, at exactly 1 week from surgery he decided to start a low grade fever. The book said to take him in to his doctor or clinic, so there we were calling up my mother to come watch the kids while we dashed out to the local walk in clinic.

I'll admit there are some huge advantages to having access to socialized medicine, but also some minor inconveniences..... we showed up at the clinic 15 minutes before closing time, to find the door locked and medical assistants unwilling to see who was there or why. *sigh* Their only recommendation was to take him to the ER, so we did.

That's only the beginning of the exasperation. We showed up at the ER, and Brad, being a recent cardiac patient was rushed in to make sure all his incisions were okay, as well to check vitals etc. (His numbers were all okay) Then we had to wait for a bed in the ER; now nearing 11 o'clock at night, the doctor comes in and says that he will need to run some tests (before even looking at Brad).

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for being precautionary, but the fact of the matter is this, Brad is now terribly anxious when he has to go to the hospital, so when at all possible we try to ensure that the majority of issues and questions, concerns etc can be brought up with our family doctor. I explained to the doctor that we really didn't have hours to be waiting in an ER if it wasn't a true emergency, for multiple reasons, obviously because we don't want to take the bed from someone who truly needs it, as well, we had to relieve my mother from her post watching the kiddos.

He goes over Brad's incisions with a fine toothed comb, including that super powerful, blind you in less than a second, operating light that they hide waaaay up there by the ceiling, and everything looks great. Brad's low grade temperature has now broken and he's looking much better, so the doc says, well, I'd like you to go for x-rays!

We're obviously confused by this, however the doc explains that he is concerned about Brad's sweating (a known side effect of being on 4000 of Tylenol everyday), and was surprised that this was a known side effect. Frustrated and irritated we left, without the x-ray.

This is one of those things we face regularly, from the general populace to doctors etc. They are going through what they think is the "norm" or a checklist, and in all honesty, it is irritating, and we would much rather have a doctor turn to us and say "you know, some of this is new to me, if you don't mind, could you wait a moment while I consult one of my colleges?"

Needless to say, our doctor was floored that the ER doc would waste that much time ordering tests and what not when it was obvious to him that this was a simple post operative low grade temp and should be expected, especially if it breaks inside of an hour. The rest of the appointment was pretty much run of the mill.... I gave him a list of the stuff we needed (like test strips, and anti-spasmatic medications) inquired about the low grade temp, and we were out of there, with his insurance form filled out (to the tune of 35.00 which is just irritating because they don't take visa).

If you can't tell, today is one of those types of days for me.... where I can't seem to get a single thing done the first time (which is truly annoying), and the kiddos are being loud, and I'm frustrated because instead of having resources at my finger tips I'm having to dig for them, which is a job and a half.

Thankfully, I've decided to treat myself to a glass of red, and watch our boys and their daddy enjoy their mac n cheese (yes I know, not on the diabetic menu, but technically, he is allowed to cheat once per week because his body needs those building blocks).

Brad, on the other hand, is progressing beautifully. He enjoyed a wonderful shower, did his mobility exercises, visited at work (where they spoiled him with magazines from the Bass Pro Shop and wished Liz a happy birthday) and then we went home.