NO MORE ER VISITS!

We are never going to the ER again unless someone is bleeding uncontrollably from some vital part of the body!

Jack and Mom were stuck in the ER yesterday for 10 HOURS! It was a very tiring, boring, excruciating day.

*(side note: Jack did extremely well throughout, did not cry at all during any procedure, and pretty much slept the whole time...)

To summarize the trip: Jack has been sick for a while with a fever and we couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong with him. His tonsils were huge, as always, (I'm sure we'll get those removed some time in the near future), and he was just really tired. We took him to the doctor twice and finally found he had an ear infection, so we started him on antibiotics. The medicine didn't work, so we switched him to a stronger antibiotic, which made him throw up and feel even worse. His pediatrician insisted we take him to the emergency room to be treated for dehydration and to re-do all the blood and urine tests that had already been done twice on Jack. As parents, we did not necessarily feel this was needed, but the pediatrician did not give us much of a choice. She said, "I'll call the ER and tell them you're on your way." The end. Ugh.

So Dad came home from work to watch Callie, and Jack and Mom drove the 40 minutes to the hospital at around 12:00pm. Fast-forward to 11:00pm and Jack was finally discharged from the Emergency Department. It's not like we spent the 10 hours having doctors and nurses bustling about trying to make Jack feel better. We spent about 20 minutes doing that. The rest of the time was waiting for "lab work," or waiting for "this doctor" or "that doctor" to sign off on something, or waiting while the nurse was attending other patients, or waiting to "see how things go" (whatever that means). There was zero phone reception and zero food available to those waiting through lunch and dinner. That's 10 hours of watching a small-screen television playing the Disney Channel reruns and listening to screaming children. 

Bottom Line: Jack got IV fluids, antibiotics, and some ibuprofen. We appreciate that the pediatrician was looking out for Jack's best interest, but he was not severely dehydrated and we feel like we could have helped him rest and hydrate at home. ER visits are extremely expensive and time-consuming, and TORTUROUS. It's nothing personal, but we'll be switching pediatricians...