We Live at the Children's ER

Want to talk about a bad case of the Mondays?   We spent ours in the children's emergency room.
And then we had a repeat of that on tonight.

Sunday evening, while changing Jaxon's diaper, I noticed he was a little warm and he had been fussy that evening, which is very unusual for our normally happy baby.  Since his diaper was off, I decided to check his temperature. (I always take it rectally because I've been told this is the most accurate, and oddly enough, it's the easiest way with him.)  102.5.  Wonderful (hopefully you sense my sarcasm there).
To make matters worse, our AC unit for the second floor of our house stopped working that day.  It was 82 degrees at Jaxon's bedtime.  There was no way we were putting him in his room, which was 82 degrees, with a fever of 102.5.  We set up his Pack n Play in our bedroom (the master bedroom is on the first floor of our house while the three other bedrooms are on the second floor), and put him in just his diaper and his beloved Zippadee Zip and put him to bed with a dose of Motrin in him.

Thinking back, he hadn't been too interested in eating food all week.  But I attributed this to the tooth that had just popped through his gums two days previous.  He wasn't eating well, but he was still nursing 4-5 times a day, was happy as could be (until Sunday evening), and was gnawing on his fingers and anything else he could get in his mouth.  But 102.5 seemed a little high for teething.  I went to bed (knowing I wouldn't sleep worrying about my poor baby) and figured I'd call the doctor in the morning.

Monday morning, after a night of Jaxon whimpering all night long in his sleep (talk about breaking a mama's heart!) he woke up and was BURNING up.  I have never felt a body so hot.  I immediately took him upstairs to his room to change his diaper and take his temperature.  104.4.

I called his pediatrician's line and they paged the doctor for me since it was before office hours.  I received a call back telling me to go to the ER because his fever is high and she thinks it could be a UTI.

{Let me go on a little bit of rant here.  I really like his pediatrician.  She's great with Jaxon, he loves her, she explains things well for Nicholas and I, and is very personable.  However, after this incident, we will be switching doctors.  This is the THIRD time in two months that she has sent us to the ER without seeing Jaxon first.  The first two times were just days apart:
I called her reporting a high fever in Jaxon and she told us to go to the ER because it was close to closing for them (it was 4pm and they close at 5pm).  Okay, fair enough.  Maybe.
(After sitting in the waiting room from 5pm-9pm) the ER failed and didn't clean his ears to see well into them and told us it was the flu.
The next morning, they called and his flu test was negative so they said it was a virus.
A few days later, I call his doctor at 9am reporting that he still has the fever of 103+.  After FIVE HOURS I never received a call back so I call again.  It's now 2pm.  I finally get a return call at 6:15pm (!!) from a nurse telling me that his pediatrician said, "It's ridiculous they didn't clean his ears.  They need to clean them.  And it sounds like a UTI and I can't catheterize him in the office so I'd send you there anyway to get it done."
So off to the ER we go.  Again.  We wait for forever in the waiting room and are not even seen until 1am!  The doctor there cleans out his ear.  Ear infection.
So had my doctor seen me, she could have diagnosed the ear infection.  Instead, we made two ER trips (and the ER is about $100 each time we go) and waited in their waiting room, with a crying baby who refuses to sleep anywhere except a briskly moving stroller, his car seat with the car moving, or flat on his tummy in his bed.  Okay, end rant.}

So off we go to the ER on Monday morning.  Thankfully the waiting room was empty and we were taken back within 15 minutes of checking in.  A doctor comes in and does an exam on Jaxon.  He said his ears and throat look clear.  I mention the UTI my doctor was thinking it could be and the doctor is confused why my pediatrician has jumped to that conclusion.  He said UTIs are very rare in circumcised males over the age of 6 months.  He said if he were not circumcised or had a history of them, then they'd consider it, but it would be last resort to check for that given his circumstances.

 They decide to give him a dose of Motrin and monitor him for 1.5 hours to see how the fever responds.  During this time, I nursed him and he FINALLY fell asleep.  Poor child had been awake since 9am and it was not closing in on 3pm and he'd had no nap.  Thankfully he felt a little better have his short nap and was even playing a little, which was a good sign!

His fever went down 2 degrees about 90 minutes after being given the Motrin and we were given a diagnosis of a virus, told to let it run its course and to follow up with our pediatrician in one to two days.

Tuesday was a pretty rough day for Jaxon.  If he wasn't sleeping, he was crying or snuggling.  If you know my child, he does NOT snuggle.  He is NEVER still.  Ever.  He will not just sit in your lap.  Normally after he nurses, he's wiggling all over to get down.  This day, he just released and laid on me.  Additionally, he would just sit in my lap and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  This does not happen.  Ever.  (I wish he was a snuggler but I have one very busy, crazy, and active boy on my hands).

Fast forward to Wednesday.
Jaxon's pediatrician did not have any appointments available so we opted to see the Physician's Assistant.  Jaxon had a fever of 103.9 when we arrived.  The PA did his exam on Jaxon and said, "How on earth could the ER tell you his ears aren't infected?  I can't even see into them to see if they're infected or not."  I asked if he could clean them out, and he tells me no, they don't have the tools to do so.  He then says with a fever that high, he thinks it could be a virus or a UTI but he will go talk to Jaxon's pediatrician.
He comes back about 10 minutes later and says her recommendation is to head to the ER for a catheter because a fever that high makes her think UTI.  I told him this it the third time she's said that and when I mention that to the ER doctors, they don't think that's right.  I can't necessarily MAKE the doctors do a cath on him and I asked if he could give me orders to the ER or to a lab to get it done.  He says no, unfortunately the ER is the only place to get a cath done and they can't do orders to the ER.

I'm beyond annoyed but head back to the ER with a very sick looking baby

This time, it's about 1pm and it's crowded.  Jaxon is beyond miserable.  He's been crying nonstop since Monday morning and that is very far from how he normally acts; even when he's teething or had an ear infection before, he was still a relatively happy baby.  We've never seen him like this.
We wait about 1.5 hours before being taken back.  The ER doctor cleans out Jaxon's ears and tells us that he can see fluid in his ears and it's also infected.  His guess is whatever virus he has has now built up fluid and caused an ear infection.  So we're given a prescription for antibiotics and sent home.

(Nick was rocking Jaxon's car seat (one of the only ways he will sleep if he isn't in his bed, a moving car, or a briskly moving stroller) and he reached up to grab Nick's fingers.  I thought it was too cute.)

We arrived home around 5:30pm and Jaxon took a nap since he hadn't really had one today with being at the pediatrician's office and then the ER.  When he wakes up around 7:30pm, he's drenched in sweat but his body is cool.  The fever finally broke.  Thank goodness!!!!!  His mood is a little better so we take him downstairs for dinner, but unfortunately, he's still not interested in solid foods.

We played a little and it was so nice to see my little boy's smiling face again!!!  He started to get tired again around 9:30pm and I didn't want to put him down!  I was enjoying the happy babbling and laughs.  Three days without them was far too many.  But rest is best so down he went.

Now I'm enjoying a nice fat glass of wine and hoping we're on the uphill climb now and that his ears don't spike a fever or make him miserable anymore.

So tell me, am I wrong for being completely done with his pediatrician??
When you call your child's doctor with a concern of a high fever, do they bring you in or send you straight to the ER?
Does your child's pediatrician clean out their ears if they're unable to see past the wax?  Do they have the tools in their office?
Do you wait HOURS for a call back when you call with a legitimate concern??
All of this just seems unprofessional to me.  What's the point of having a pediatrician if they're never going to see us except for his scheduled well-baby checks?

Now, let me also add, I could maybe see if she was annoyed with me.  You know, if I were that annoying parent that always called.  (Although, even if I were, her practices still seem unprofessional to me).  But I'm not!!!  His ear infection at nine months old was the first time I have ever called her for anything other than scheduling his well-baby visits at 3, 6, and 9 months!  And I haven't called between that incident and this one.  So I'm not crazy or annoying!

Anyway, I hope this all going to be behind us now that he's on the antibiotic for his ears and his fever from the virus finally broke.