... you get a message on your answering machine from your child's doctor, stating that your insurance has requested the doctor contact you to "remind" you to try to "seek help from your general practitioner, GI Specialist, and/or Neurologist during weekdays and work hours as opposed to going to the ER for non-emergencies." OH REALLY!?! I had no idea that is how it is supposed to work!
Silly me. And here, I thought that maybe, just maybe when your child's mic-key button has been out for an unknown length of time, and you had trouble inserting it yourself, so instead of puncturing your child's stomach you thought it might be best to take her to the ER, just in case she needed surgery.
And silly me. It wasn't my fault that Jenelle had a grand mal at school that lasted over 9 minutes, and they couldn't give her Diastat, so rather than risk a permanent seizure state or further brain damage, they called 911 and had her transported to the ER so she could get IV seizure medication.
And silly, silly me. When I was uncertain as to whether or not my child had swallowed a pony tail holder, and she didn't poop for 4 days and was crying inconsolably I decided she needed an x-ray and went to the ER; in case she needed surgery. Only to learn later the poor child was constipated.
Maybe if my child could talk, I wouldn't abuse the ER so much. Maybe I like the special treatment and attention I get when I taker her to the ER. Maybe I enjoy subjecting my immune compromised child as well as my post-cancer/chemotherapy immune compromised self to the endless patients lining the halls with fevers, coughs and vomit at the ER in hope of getting sicker.
Hmmmm. Wait just a minute. Let's hear that again. Oh yeah. I'm the one forcing my child to make needless trips to the ER for "non-urgent" things like seizures and a missing mic-key button. I'm the reason it takes at least 4 hours to get in and out of the ER, even when you arrive via ambulance. Certainly not the endless individuals lining the chairs and hallways with their cold germs and flu. Certainly, their medical needs are much more "urgent" than mine because we all know, only the ER has the cure for the common cold and the flu, but they just won't let those darn general practitioners in on it.
Or maybe... just maybe... Its because I actually have insurance... therefore the ER has a way in which to contact me to request I not come in so frequently for "non-urgent" matters; as opposed to all those other patients without insurance who are there because they really don't want to fork out money to a doctor when they can get health care at the ER for free.
Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In all seriousness; there was an actual message on our answering machine last Friday from Jenelle's pediatrician, Dr. Patel - whom I love and adore with all my heart. She actually said on the machine that my insurance asked her to call, to make sure I knew not to use the ER for "non-urgent" issues that could best be handled by her, Jenelle's GI or Jenelle's Neurologist. I called her back and we both had a good laugh, but she said that Jenelle's medical group (St. Joseph's Heritage Medical Group) was really "cracking down" on people who frequent the ER. I told her, "You know me. You know I'm not going to the ER unless it wasn't absolutely necessary." She agreed, but said she was just doing her job. She had received a letter from Jenelle's medical group instructing her to call me to discuss the issue. I can totally respect that. I just hope St. Joseph/CHOC ER is reaching out to the real offenders; the patients that go to the ER because they don't have insurance or a real doctor.
Thank you for listening to my rant. Now, for your viewing pleasure, I want to share a video clip I took on Monday of Jack and Jenelle "jumping" together at the Little League field. Jenelle can jump a whole lot better than she does in this video, but it was just too cute not to share. Jack has turned into a wonderful, caring big brother and loves to give Jenelle hugs, hold her hand when we walk her places and take care of his special little sis. It just makes me happy to see the two actually starting to have a sibling relationship.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Less seizures, but still fighting the seizure monster!
When I haven't updated in a while, it can mean many things; Jenelle is sick, I'm sick, We're just really busy, and/or I'm just don't want to jinx anything. This time, it's the later of those choices!
Since getting to the full dose on Banzel, we've started to see some decrease in seizures for Jenelle. And by that I mean... instead of big seizures every other day/week, we're seeing more time pass between episodes of seizure clusters. Improvement? Yes, you could say that. I've been biting my tongue, and knocking on wood, and just when I want to say things are better, Jenelle has another bad seizure day. Yesterday was one of them.
Thankfully, we now have a very good action plan in place for days when Jenelle has bad seizures. A few weeks ago, the family had been planning to attend a baseball tournament for Brett and Jack's travel ball team. It was rainy and cold, but Jenelle and I never miss an opportunity to watch her brother play baseball... unless of course she has a 4 minute grand mal. After her lengthy seizures, Jenelle usually falls asleep (in a "post-ictal" seizure state) for anywhere from a half an hour to two hours. So I stayed home with Jenelle while the boys played baseball (and won the tournament) in the rain.
Yesterday, Jenelle woke us with a grand mal lasting a little more than a minute (we think) at 6:00 AM. We never really can tell how long she has been seizing when she is sleeping, but I hear the familiar vocal noises and both Brett and I sat in bed silently for a minute, before I got up to check on her. It was one of those parenting moments when you lie in bed, double check that you heard what you heard, and wait to see if your spouse will get up instead. Of course, Jenelle was post-ictal for a while after, and I went back to bed turning off my alarm instead of hitting snooze. We woke frantically with 10 minutes to get Jack out the door for school. Nice way to start a Monday! On my way to work, I called Jenelle's teacher to give her a head's up. A few hours later, she called concerned as Jenelle had a drop seizure, and was again sleeping. After a few more seizures, I decided to get Jenelle from school, because my time was better spent watching her sleep at home, instead of ending up in the ER should the seizures get worse. Jenelle had a few more at home, but by dinner time was her old self again.
Speaking of dinner and food, Jenelle had a follow up last week with Dr. Idries, her GI doctor. Since stopping formula last May, Jenelle has lost 3 pounds, and went from being in the 75th percentile to the 25th percentile for weight. Dr. Idries wants to give her 3 more months without formula, but her her weight doesn't come back, we may be back on formula. I'm not too concerned as Jenelle is very healthy. In fact, at our last visit the doctor thought Jenelle was over weight, so I'm not really sure how 3 pounds made such a difference. So, instead of water and juice, Jenelle is getting more whole milk with her meals, and hopefully gaining some of that weight back!
As for the seizure improvement, I e-mailed Dr. Shields a few weeks ago to see if we could start weaning the Vimpat, but he would rather give it more time. We see him again in March. That is all for now. The kids are getting ready for baseball as opening day is two weeks away.
Thanks for the continued prayers. I'll keep you posted!
Since getting to the full dose on Banzel, we've started to see some decrease in seizures for Jenelle. And by that I mean... instead of big seizures every other day/week, we're seeing more time pass between episodes of seizure clusters. Improvement? Yes, you could say that. I've been biting my tongue, and knocking on wood, and just when I want to say things are better, Jenelle has another bad seizure day. Yesterday was one of them.
Thankfully, we now have a very good action plan in place for days when Jenelle has bad seizures. A few weeks ago, the family had been planning to attend a baseball tournament for Brett and Jack's travel ball team. It was rainy and cold, but Jenelle and I never miss an opportunity to watch her brother play baseball... unless of course she has a 4 minute grand mal. After her lengthy seizures, Jenelle usually falls asleep (in a "post-ictal" seizure state) for anywhere from a half an hour to two hours. So I stayed home with Jenelle while the boys played baseball (and won the tournament) in the rain.
Yesterday, Jenelle woke us with a grand mal lasting a little more than a minute (we think) at 6:00 AM. We never really can tell how long she has been seizing when she is sleeping, but I hear the familiar vocal noises and both Brett and I sat in bed silently for a minute, before I got up to check on her. It was one of those parenting moments when you lie in bed, double check that you heard what you heard, and wait to see if your spouse will get up instead. Of course, Jenelle was post-ictal for a while after, and I went back to bed turning off my alarm instead of hitting snooze. We woke frantically with 10 minutes to get Jack out the door for school. Nice way to start a Monday! On my way to work, I called Jenelle's teacher to give her a head's up. A few hours later, she called concerned as Jenelle had a drop seizure, and was again sleeping. After a few more seizures, I decided to get Jenelle from school, because my time was better spent watching her sleep at home, instead of ending up in the ER should the seizures get worse. Jenelle had a few more at home, but by dinner time was her old self again.
Speaking of dinner and food, Jenelle had a follow up last week with Dr. Idries, her GI doctor. Since stopping formula last May, Jenelle has lost 3 pounds, and went from being in the 75th percentile to the 25th percentile for weight. Dr. Idries wants to give her 3 more months without formula, but her her weight doesn't come back, we may be back on formula. I'm not too concerned as Jenelle is very healthy. In fact, at our last visit the doctor thought Jenelle was over weight, so I'm not really sure how 3 pounds made such a difference. So, instead of water and juice, Jenelle is getting more whole milk with her meals, and hopefully gaining some of that weight back!
As for the seizure improvement, I e-mailed Dr. Shields a few weeks ago to see if we could start weaning the Vimpat, but he would rather give it more time. We see him again in March. That is all for now. The kids are getting ready for baseball as opening day is two weeks away.
Thanks for the continued prayers. I'll keep you posted!
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