Back in the ER

We really hoped that Joshua would make it to the end of treatment without being back to the ER. But with a fever of 101, he is here now and, as usual, we don't know how long he will stay.

This particular trip started out a little more frustrating than usual. When we talked to the nurse on the phone at 3:00, we were told that the clinic closes at 3:30 on Fridays. I rushed Joshua in the car and drove faster than usual to get through traffic. Unfortunately, we walked into the clinic at 3:31 and were told to go down to the ER. URGGGHHH! Just to give you an idea of how big of a deal this is, here are a few differences:

1. Clinic - 10 minute wait for a room; ER: 2 hour wait for a room

2. Clinic - 2 seconds to access Joshua's port with the needle; ER: 30 minutes with a very nervous shaky handed nurse to access the port (they try hard, it just isn't the norm down there)

3. Clinic - blood counts come back within 30 minutes and we talk to a HEM-ONC doctor directly; ER - blood counts come back hopefully with 2 hour and a nurse communicates what the doctor thinks.

4. Clinic - $25 co-pay; ER: $200 co-pay YIKES!

So, I begrudgingly marched down to the ER into the germ infested waters and signed in. Shortly after that, we learned that there were no beds on any floor, not ever for HEM-ONC patients waiting for counts. Don't we all love flu season?!

Michael may have been even more frustrated than me about the 3:31 situation. He called the clinic and managed to get an emphatic "I'm sorry" from them. Apparently, they were expecting us, but forgot to inform the front desk. I can't decide if that made me feel better or worse.

Either way, here we are now waiting once again for blood counts to come back.

(**Update: It is 10 pm and everyone is home. Joshua's counts were high enough. We will need to return for more antibiotics tomorrow, but we are sleeping in our beds tonight. We are so thankful!)