LISTEN!!!!

I would consider myself to be an outrageously patient person. I say outrageously because I don't always consider it to be a good characteristic. However, one thing that absolutely makes me lose my patience more than anything in the world is when people do not listen. That would include changing the subject abruptly and asking questions but then interrupting when you are getting an answer.

In my career teaching 4th graders (especially since I have 20 this year), I feel like I always say, "Guys... listen!!!" or "What did I ask you to do?" and so and and so forth. What is really sad is when you want to say the same thing to an adult!

It has been a very trying few days.

Since Collin has gotten casted, we have always been constantly looking out for swelling, blisters, his skin condition, and general wear and tear on the cast. After a few days of being casted, we noticed his diaper area was already experiencing plaster breakdown from the baby wipes. We covered the diaper area with waterproof medical tape to help prevent more wear since that is so close to the hip area, and we reinforced that tape with duct tape. Well, this weekend we noticed a crack had developed on one of his knees and goes around about 6 inches. It can open about 5-7 mm in width and he can also move his leg about that much. You might think it's not a lot, but to be able to move his leg period worries me because if he's in a cast he shouldn't be able to move at all!!! We know this because when you hold him you can feel his leg moving. His feet swelling has been a constant concern of ours as well since being casted, but we have always been told the same thing - switch his positions and keep his feet elevated.

Monday morning, I take Collin to Mimi's house and she comments that his feet seem purplish. She hadn't seen him in a week since Les was just on Spring Break. I slightly freaked out because we knew they had been slightly discolored, but we also see him everyday and are already paranoid about every little change. So, I call the orthopedic at 8:30 and tell them that he has a crack, can move his leg, and his feet are purplish. They took my message and said that my doctor's assistant (Ken) would call me back. I still hadn't heard anything by 10, so I called again and talked to the nurse and she said that she gave him my message but that he was busy and would call back soon. At 3, I still hadn't heard anything, so I called again and got the same reply. Finally around 6:30, Ken called back and said that his feet should be nothing to worry about and that we just need to keep them elevated and change positions. He said they are blanching slowly, but not to a point where it is worrisome. It was also mentioned that the crack wasn't a big concern since it wasn't at the hip, but it definitely would need to be reinforced. Ken said that they would be in surgery all day Tuesday (I knew this, which is why I called so many times Monday), but that Chuck would call me on Tuesday morning so I could come in and get it reinforced.

So today, Tuesday, I tell Mimi that I will be back to take him to the doctor in a little bit. Before I knew it, the school day was over. I called at 3 and this is when I get frustrated. I called scheduling and told them the situation and that I hadn't heard from Chuck and I wanted to know what the deal was. They transferred me to the nurse. I reminded the nurse of the situation from yesterday and told her what Ken had said when I talked to him last night. She transferred me to the Prompt Clinic, where Chuck had been all day. I talked to Shelley, who I repeated the whole situation to and she talked to Chuck, who had never gotten Ken's message about reinforcing the cast.

Shelley said it was worrisome his feet were purplish, so she transferred me back to scheduling and told me to tell them the situation so I could schedule an appointment first thing Wednesday with our orthopedic, Sims. So I start to tell scheduling my situation and they interrupt and say, "let me transfer you to the nurse." and before I can even say, "I already talked to her!!!" they clicked over. Of course, then the nurse didn't answer the phone! Then I had to call back and start all over with scheduling. Of course, it took me 20 minutes to get someone to answer the phone!! Finally, I was able to explain the situation to them and I demanded an appointment first thing. So the lady puts me on hold to look at the schedule and comes back and says, "Well, I guess um we can put you as a walk in at 8:15, or 8:20 whatever". EXCUSE ME!! WHATEVER is not good enough at this point!! So I told her I needed to know exactly what time to be there. So she then told me 8:20. 10 minutes later, Brittney called (I think from scheduling?) and said, "I know you have spent 2 days talking to a million different people here and no one seems to know what to do and everyone is saying different things." Finally some help!! Anyway, she talked to Ken and he told her what he told me on the phone Monday, but that we would need to come in tomorrow to get it all checked out. So she let me pick a time in the afternoon, which was great.

I go to leave school to pick up Collin and not 10 minutes later, they call again (this time Shelley from the Prompt Clinic) and say that if his feet are purplish then he needs to be seen immediately!!! So then I freak out because I've been on the phone with them for 2 days and it's just now decided to be an emergency??? I wasn't too worried about his feet since he was blanching fine, but I took him in and they were waiting for us at the door because they had already closed a few minutes prior. Well, of course his feet were perfectly pink in color and just swollen... not purple. Of course right?? So, I got home and took a picture of his hand by his foot (as good as I could seeing as though he can't bend to get them very close to each other) so that when I go tomorrow they don't call me crazy!!! In all seriousness... should it have really been this difficult to get my not even 4 month old son checked out???


3 and a half weeks down in this cast. 2 and a half more until the next cast change.