A few thoughts..

I have a few blog topics that I want to write about but I am going to tell this one first. It happened today so it is fresh on my mind…

We had a Eye appointment at Dr. S’s today. When we got there we got there RIGHT when our appointment was schedulded because specialists are NEVER on time. And sure enough I was right. There were about ten people in the waiting room. One was a husband wife couple ( I assumed) one was a mom and daugther, another was a mom and son ( who was visiblly visually impaired) and then a few random people. I check in an sit in the corner where Ty can play and not disturb anyone. The mom and daughter set was getting quite perturped that they were not getting in RIGHT when their appointment was. I asked the mom if this was routine or if she had “issues” ( not just like that but that was the gist. The mom said it was just routine and she was angry that it was taking so long. They had been waiting like ten minutes. I responded jokingly that docs are alway slow and that after a while of coming there you just kinda get use to it… then commented she had a cute baby BLAH BLAH… Mom continued to rant that they were coming on her nap time and she HAD to be on schedule… again BLAH BLah.

Ok.. next couple… the husband and wife team. Very nice people. They went into their appointment and then came out. The nurse was working on getting their insurance verified and the system was down. She said most insurances have  a 20 copay and if they wanted to just pay that they could get going and they would bill the rest when the system came up. The Girl said ” don’t you know who we are?” the Nurse looked kind of puzzled and said no but she knew they were a patients parent and this is how it worked. The lady continued to “inform” the nurse her husband was a professional baseball player and the office could call and get it confirmed that they didn’t have to pay “that co pay.” The Nurse nicely states that most insurances don’t cover routine exams but the copay would just help out if they got a bill.  This went on for a few more minutes and was just funny to watch.

The mom and son in the other corner. He was visibly visually impaired, I would say even blind. He was out of his element so much that he was crying. The poor mom was trying her hardest to keep hiim in check and calm. All of which wasn’t working. He started crying so much that he started wretching and puking. The mom and daughter team moved ALL their stuff away from this mom and were staring. My heart ached for this mom.

We got called before the visually impaired kid and we let them go first and when we went back we were talking to the nurse. She was just so thankful that we let the other kid go. But we started talking about what I had witnessed in the waiting room.

The mom and daughter team… The mom was a pediatrcian and felt it was HER RIGHT to get in right on time. Are you kidding? Does she ever have anyone waiting? If the answer is no I want that doc. But of course the answer is yes of course she does. What makes her any better than anyone else in that office? Her degree… I don’t think so. You see many of us have degrees. May not be an MD or a DO but we have a degree. We are all also there for the benefit of our child. She is no better than the rest of us in that office.

The baseball couple. A 20 dollar co pay. BIG DEAL. EVERYONE in that office paid that same copay. What makes you any better than any one else. Besides. You make way more money that most of us and could pay the whole appointment in one swipe. Why make a big deal about 20 dollars.

The poor mom in the corner who had a wretching child. Do you think the 2 people listed above had any idea what it took for that mom to even VENTURE outside her house. How much anguish she felt when people could see that there was something Visibly wrong with her perfect baby? Her child was in my opinion the most important person in that room at the time ( including my own child) He was the one that was out of his element so badly that getting him in was much more important than a nap or what you did for a living.

I guess that is the beef I have. After opening yet ANOTHER bill of ten grand for Tyler I ache for some one to talk to who gets what it feels like to work and work and still be lacking in the ability to pay off these docs. For the never ending debt that we have accumulated because we loved one 1 lb little boy. There is no washing dishes for these docs. So frustrating. Then to sit in an office where you feel like others look down on you because of who they are or what they do. You are no better than any one else in that office. You will not have any special treatment because you are a doctor or a baseball player. That little boy in the corner and his mom had much more respect from me than the others. Why? Because she had compassion for her child and showed so much love.

I would owe a million dollars ( not that we don’t allready) to give Tyler the best in medical care, BUT… you are no better than he and vice versa. Be a compassionate person. Look around.