But the fact remains we are uninsured. Because of this - we try to find the most inexpensive route possible to take care of our family's needs. Yesterday, I woke up with a raging ear infection. It was REALLY bad, probably the worst pain I have felt in many years. Victoria - you were so sweet when you came in and kissed me goodbye before school while I was in bed all miserable.
Now, your daddy is a consultant and when he does not work, he does not get paid, so it is a big deal for him to take off work. My pain was so bad I had to ask him to stay home with you kids so I could find a doctor, etc. Our regular doctor, whom I love and adore (Tayma Shaya) is off on Mondays and I really could not wait or make Daddy take off again on Tuesday - so I started a search for a walk-in clinic.
I made some calls to local clinics to try and find the cheapest place. The cheapest one, which was pretty close by, said it was slow and to come on in. I drove over there to find that the waiting room had no empty chairs and the parking lot full. So I left and went to another clinic that is suppose to be good for cash paying folks. I go in there and she says you cannot be seen unless you 'register' and the waiting room to register had over an hour wait, and even if you register, there is no guarantee you'd get an appointment with a doctor. Ugh - so I called the little clinic inside Wal-mart ... and the guy said he is the only one there and he was going to lunch. So I ended up going to the clinic in Kroger, even though their visit fee was the highest of all aforementioned.
So I go into Kroger and she examines me. She said my ear infection was one of the worst she's seen and I have dark, twisty narrow ear canals. I go to pay and realize I have left my wallet at home. Ugh. Yes, even mama can be flaky sometimes, especially if she's sick. So this doctor is kind and she said I can go home and get it. I drive home, get the wallet and go back to pay. She then says she wants to 'show' my ear to her colleague because it is so bad her colleague could learn from it. Twenty more minutes of them twisting and poking my ear with the little light thingy. Finally, she writes me two prescriptions.
I walk over to the Kroger Pharmacy to have them filled, one is for drops and the other is an antibiotic. Pharmacist says I need to wait 20-30 minutes. SO I sit and wait. As I am paying for it, I just happened to say 'my ear thanks you' and she shrieks 'WAIT, your EAR?' I said, 'yes', and she literally rips the bag out of my hand and says I'll be back. I see this girl fly over to the clinic and then go talk to another Pharmacy guy and 15 minutes later finally returns with my bag and says the doctor wrote the scrip for EYE drops instead of EAR drops. Ugh. 10 more minutes I must wait. Oh - and here is the kicker - the ear drops cost $26 more dollars than the eye drops so I have to pay more money.
SO I finally pay the extra money and get the new and improved prescription, and I asked her as I was leaving - 'so what would have happened if I had put eye drops in my ears?'. You know what she says - 'NOTHING! She said that it is the same medicine just that eye drops are slightly milder than ear drops'. Are you kidding me? ALL of that extra waiting and extra money for something that would have worked in the 1st place? Seriously? Yes, even moms can get frustrated. But I remembered that I am a Christian woman who gives people the benefit of the doubt, and just smiled and said 'thank you'.
I think the doctor KNEW that she prescribed me eye drops and did it on purpose to save me money because she knows I have no insurance and I'm tight with my dollars. I think the Pharmacist was just trying to get all the extra bucks she could. Maybe I'm wrong but the way she handled the whole thing just really annoyed me - especially given that I was in extreme pain thru this entire ordeal.
All I can say is God Bless your daddy who took care of James all day and did the minivan taxi service for you other kiddos. So I apologize to you my sweet and beautiful children if I was anything other than patient and bubbly yesterday. In years gone by, I'm sure you probably won't even remember yesterday - but I know I will - because my husband and kiddos were so super kind to me and it made all the difference.
