Yesterday started off great. I woke up early and was to the grocery store by 7:30 while Ricky and the kids were sleeping. I came back, unloaded groceries, made the kiddos breakfast, everyone got dressed and ready for Gracie's Orthopedic appointment.
This was the very fist time meeting with this Orthopedic. He is with Texas Children's as is our other Ortho but he goes out to The Woodlands campus so I was really excited to have someone so close.
We were there to follow up on Gracie's leg and knee. While there, we told the doctor about some pain Gracie seemed to have in her shoulder for about a week know. He wanted x rays immediately.
He looks at the full body x rays we did back in June and compared them to the x ray yesterday. In June, Gracie had a normal bone in her left shoulder. Fast forward to November 2 and the bone is deteriorating. It looks like someone cut a piece of her bone out and there are several bones growing beside that bone. You have one big bone in your arm from your shoulder to your elbow. The doctor said he thought she had a bone infection and that it was very serious. He said she would need IV antibiotics for 6 weeks and then regular antibiotics for 1 year. He told us to go downstairs to the Emergency Room at St. Luke's. He then said we wants us to go straight to the Emergency Room at Texas Children's downtown. He was on the phone with the ER doctor down there telling them everything we needed to have done.
I called John to see if he could take Madi and Brody and thankfully he could. Off we went, worried to death. We get to the ER and tell them how important it is to get the sedated MRI going and the blood work. They didn't care. We sat for 6 hours before I lost it. When we arrived I told them Gracie had not ate since breakfast at 9am. She couldn't eat because she was to be sedated for the MRI. After 6 hours I walked to the nurse's desk and waited. They were talking about who they would take next. One nurse said something like" lets see this one so we can get them in and out" another said "this mom was mad when she came in and we've talked to Dr. Gerow with what needs to be done" I said you are talking about my daughter and we've been sitting here for 6 hours. He called ahead for her to be admitted. MY DAUGHTER IS STARVING! SHE HAS NOT ATE SINCE 9 O' CLOCK THIS MORNING BECAUSE SHE NEEDS A SEDATED MRI!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, that got their attention. Kind of everyone's attention because the whole place got quiet and was looking. Guess what??? I don't give a DAMN!
They immediately called us back. Two attempts for an IV in her foot they got it. They took some blood and told me if they had not called us for results within an hour get a nurse. They sent us back to the general waiting area with the IV still in Gracie's foot. This would never happen but the hospital was completely full and there were no beds available in the ER or anywhere else.
An hour goes by and I go find a nurse. They tell us that the blood work was fine which would mean there still could be an infection but probably not. They told us that they cannot schedule an MRI from the ER and that they called our doctor to let him know. He told them to apologize to us for the miscommunication on his part about the MRI and to call his office in the morning to set it up. 7 hours later we were on our way home.
There are so many things wrong with the experience. I am baffled by our health care system. I can't wait for the day when we no longer have all of these doctors.
I've called the nurse this morning to set the appointment but had to leave a message. We still have no idea why her bone is the way it is and we are still very concerned. Please keep her in your prayers.
Thanks,
Krista
