We took a little jaunt to Philadelphia yesterday, jokingly saying that we were pretty desperate to get a vacation. I can assure you, this was no vacation!
Monday evening, we noticed that Abby's incisions were oozing a bit and the drainage was enough that it was seeping through her shirt. Everything was pretty red and goopy, so I followed the nurse practitioner's advice and took pictures. I called first thing in the morning on Tuesday and emailed them the pictures. I got a very quick call back saying that we needed to bring her in...to CHOP...4 hours away. I begged and pleaded with them to let us go to Hopkins (you know, that world renowned hospital a mere two hours away?!), but they insisted that we go to the CHOP ER with the expectation to be admitted for a few days. Yay.
So, I called Matt (who had already left for work) and told him to turn around. We hurriedly packed some stuff in the suitcase and called my mom to make some arrangements for Caleb. I had just put him on the bus for his first day of school and now we wouldn't be there when he got home. Sigh. Between my mom and my sister, they expertly took care of everything with Chloe and Caleb. <3 p="" them="">
At Hopkins, when we have been told to go through the ER for respiratory issues, the ER is expecting us and a pulmonologist is alerted upon our arrival. We are seen pretty immediately by people who specialize in the reason we were there.
Not the case here, and I was kind of laughed at for thinking that would be how it worked. Nope. We saw three nurses, an ER resident, and the ER attending before we ever saw an orthopedics resident. And nobody in the ER had ever heard of VEPTRs or had even met Dr. Campbell.
Now you know my thoughts on residents. I'm not a fan. But I did like this orthopedics resident more than most because he didn't make any decisions without talking to Dr. Campbell. Dr. C couldn't see us because he was in the OR, but at least he was consulted.
After much deliberation, it was finally decided to start Abby on some antibiotics and change some of the steristrips. Yep, that's it. That was all they did after we trekked four hours and abandoned our son on his first day of school. This could have easily been done at Hopkins (or at the pediatrician's office, for that matter!), so we were a bit frustrated. Now we know. I think we'll be going to our pediatrician before we even bother calling CHOP. For whatever reason, they are anti-Hopkins and want every little thing done there...xrays, bloodwork, pre-op...everything!
All of this in the ER took quite a long time and we'd already made hotel arrangements because we were expecting to be admitted. The cancelation deadline for the hotel had passed by the time we were discharged, so we figured we might at as well stay if we had to pay anyway. And, it was rather late and Matt wasn't all about driving 8 hours in one day with a 4 hour ER visit in between.
We left this morning and got home around 2:30 after picking Chloe up. Caleb was very happy to see us and everyone is happy to be home! Abby's back is looking a little better with 4 doses of antibiotics in her and she was thrilled to take a bath in the tub instead of having the lie down on the counter. (I used this clear plastic covering from the hospital to cover up the wound and didn't fill the tub at all, but she was a much happier little girl!)
The things we do to get a vacation around here! :)
Monday evening, we noticed that Abby's incisions were oozing a bit and the drainage was enough that it was seeping through her shirt. Everything was pretty red and goopy, so I followed the nurse practitioner's advice and took pictures. I called first thing in the morning on Tuesday and emailed them the pictures. I got a very quick call back saying that we needed to bring her in...to CHOP...4 hours away. I begged and pleaded with them to let us go to Hopkins (you know, that world renowned hospital a mere two hours away?!), but they insisted that we go to the CHOP ER with the expectation to be admitted for a few days. Yay.
So, I called Matt (who had already left for work) and told him to turn around. We hurriedly packed some stuff in the suitcase and called my mom to make some arrangements for Caleb. I had just put him on the bus for his first day of school and now we wouldn't be there when he got home. Sigh. Between my mom and my sister, they expertly took care of everything with Chloe and Caleb. <3 p="" them="">
At Hopkins, when we have been told to go through the ER for respiratory issues, the ER is expecting us and a pulmonologist is alerted upon our arrival. We are seen pretty immediately by people who specialize in the reason we were there.
Not the case here, and I was kind of laughed at for thinking that would be how it worked. Nope. We saw three nurses, an ER resident, and the ER attending before we ever saw an orthopedics resident. And nobody in the ER had ever heard of VEPTRs or had even met Dr. Campbell.
Now you know my thoughts on residents. I'm not a fan. But I did like this orthopedics resident more than most because he didn't make any decisions without talking to Dr. Campbell. Dr. C couldn't see us because he was in the OR, but at least he was consulted.
After much deliberation, it was finally decided to start Abby on some antibiotics and change some of the steristrips. Yep, that's it. That was all they did after we trekked four hours and abandoned our son on his first day of school. This could have easily been done at Hopkins (or at the pediatrician's office, for that matter!), so we were a bit frustrated. Now we know. I think we'll be going to our pediatrician before we even bother calling CHOP. For whatever reason, they are anti-Hopkins and want every little thing done there...xrays, bloodwork, pre-op...everything!
All of this in the ER took quite a long time and we'd already made hotel arrangements because we were expecting to be admitted. The cancelation deadline for the hotel had passed by the time we were discharged, so we figured we might at as well stay if we had to pay anyway. And, it was rather late and Matt wasn't all about driving 8 hours in one day with a 4 hour ER visit in between.
We left this morning and got home around 2:30 after picking Chloe up. Caleb was very happy to see us and everyone is happy to be home! Abby's back is looking a little better with 4 doses of antibiotics in her and she was thrilled to take a bath in the tub instead of having the lie down on the counter. (I used this clear plastic covering from the hospital to cover up the wound and didn't fill the tub at all, but she was a much happier little girl!)
The things we do to get a vacation around here! :)
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