Last Tuesday afternoon after my kids got home from school, I had the unfortunate experience of finding a lot of red spots on my 9-year-old son. I was standing on my front walk talking to another nurse, Sharon, who lives up the street from us. I initially noticed about 10 spots on the side of his neck running up into his hairline as he ran past me toward the front door. After asking him to come back and lift his shirt for a better look, then seeing at least 40 more spots on his torso, I decided it would be a good idea to call the doctor. From the look on Sharon's face, she was thinking the same thing I was thinking.  Just then, another nurse who lives right across the street got home and came over to inspect the spots. Chicken pox, insect bites, allergic reaction, there are several causes for rashes, but the three of us did not come to a unanimous conclusion.

I called the pediatrician's office and explained the rash, which I discovered was also on Alex's arms, legs, and forehead under his bangs. The red spots were raised in the middle, some had been itched to the point of bleeding, and many looked like mosquito bites (but we don't have mosquitoes here yet).  A nurse at the ped's office took down the information and said someone would call me back. I finally got a call back around 5:00 (they close at 5) and they said I wouldn't be able to have him seen. The nurse on the phone said the wind had been blowing a lot of stuff in lately from the west (we are not far from Wyoming...insert WY joke here) and he was probably having some kind of allergic reaction to something."Just give him some Zyrtec," she said.

I called the urgent care clinic to find out when they closed, and I only had about 20 minutes to get there, so I explained that he needs to have this rash looked at. They told me maybe I should just go to the ER, but I said that would be silly to take my son to the ER for "just a rash." As I drove over, I was also wondering what we would do if Alex had to stay home from school. I was coming up on working 4 in a row, and my husband had out-of-town meetings he couldn't reschedule. Grrrrrrrrr.....

I got to the clinic exactly at their time of closing, and curiously, the door was already locked, even though I had already called to let them know I was coming. Thank goodness for cell phones. I stood outside their door and called them (I could see the lights were still on) and told them I was waiting outside for my son to be seen. "I'm sorry, we're closed." I reminded her I had just called and said I was coming from the neighboring town and that he needed to be seen tonight. "I'm sorry, we're closed, maybe you can just take him to the ER instead." I hung up and spoke some choice words, which perhaps if they could read my lips on the security camera might look like "Truckers" and "Ask Holes." So then we were off to the ER where we spent 2 1/2 hours trying to get his rash assessed. I work at this hospital. The last thing I wanted to do was take my child to the hospital for a stupid rash.  Actually, the very last thing I wanted was for this rash to get worse and turn into something else if it wasn't chicken pox.

I was pretty sure it was chicken pox, but I wanted to rule out other causes. To summarize our pathetic yet expensive visit, two doctors looked at him and one said it was chicken pox, the other said it was not. Thanks. (This was after he spent the entire day at school developing this rash, which other 3rd-graders diagnosed as "chicken pox.") So does that mean you will split the cost with us since you don't know?? Ugh. I sat there and thought about writing a letter to the CEO of the hospital about the conflict involved in a hospital that owns the pediatric clinic, the urgent care clinic, and having both places deny seeing my child, referring me to the ER where they can make a buttload more money from me.

By the time we got home, the spots were worse, more like pustules and it was evident to me that it was indeed chicken pox. The next day, my 2 year old also had some spots on her, a few in the groin area and a few on her torso, less than 10 total. I know she was definitely vaccinated and I am not sure if Alex was or not. When he was that age, the varicella vaccine was optional, and damned if I can find the shot records since we have moved 4 times since then.

What was my review of this whole experience (which also coincided with my PMS week  - see previous post)? I can't EVER get my kids into the pediatrician. This whole experience has got me convinced to switch to a family physician's office where I can actually get a same-day appointment for a sick child.  My friend at work who had a 6 month old with oozing ears and a 102 degree fever couldn't get in that same day either. She actually drove 30 miles into town and challenged the doctor: "How bad does my child have to be to be seen in this office?" She was seen instead at the urgent care clinic and her daughter had bilateral ear infections, bilateral sinus infections, and a respiratory infection.  I'm not sure how they can provide any continuity of care if they always refer their patients to the urgent care clinic or the emergency room.

This is probably just a venting post, but it had to come out. I did have to take time off work to stay home with Alex. And whaddaya know, 4 other kids at daycare came down with chicken pox the same day as Alex.