Pour your heart out: Just a mistake

Monday was one of those days.  The kind of day that puts the phrase “the Mondays” to shame.  It’s been hellish….and I didn’t even go to work.

I tried.  I really did.  I was dressed for work, the kids were dropped off at school, and I was on the road.  And then the phone rang–the pediatrician’s name boldly displayed on my phone.

After an alarming allergic reaction last week the Princess had some blood-work done.  I was  advised to STOP all her medication…the meds that she has been on for two months and so far were the only ones that seemed to be reducing the pain and inflammation in her legs.  The doctor stressed the importance of having the blood-work done immediately and to make an appointment to go over the results in five days.

So it was a bit of a surprise to get a call from the receptionist on Monday morning stating that the results were in and I needed to bring Pea in today to go over them.  Today.  The blood was drawn on Friday afternoon.  It was 8:50 am on Monday.  That wasn’t five days….and usually I just get a “results were normal” call.

And her appointment wasn’t until noon so it gave me ample time to imagine every horrific scenario I could think of.  And enough time to spread my worries to my husband, family and friends while I paced throughout the house…”cleaning”.

We got to the appointment and the nurse practitioner walks in and says, “I am surprised your appointment was made so soon after your last visit.  Your labs were just drawn.  Not all of her results are in yet.”

Really?!

Really?!

It was a just a miscommunication.  Next time the doctor herself or the nurse practitioner will call me when the labs come back.

The receptionist had good intentions.  She knew the results were important so when she saw the lab work get entered into the system over the weekend (showing that we had the labs drawn), she mistook it for results and called to get us in asap.  She meant well.  I am sure she didn’t mean for me to wear a trail in the carpet or to sprout a few gray hairs.  I am sure she didn’t mean for me to blame myself and ask why I accepted the “hives are a normal Juvenile Arthritis” symptom explanation for a month.  The hives that first appeared on the same day as my miscarriage.  A month of sleep deprivation for both my daughter and myself as we tried everything to relieve the discomfort at night.   Granted, the hives were not nearly as widespread or severe as they were on Friday.   Friday was scary.  Which is why the phone call this morning was scary.

It is times like this when I force myself to remember how amazing our pediatrician is and trust that she will address the situation with her staff.  She has been an advocate for Piper alongside me while we found the right specialists.

The visit wasn’t a total bust.   I wasn’t really thinking clearly last week.  I was TIRED.

This was an opportunity to ask the questions I needed to ask to get a clear understanding of the plan for the next couple of weeks and to express my concern with the recent temperature drop and rainy weather.   And an opportunity to get another set of blood work drawn on her.

I blogged recently on how I was going to take more pleasure in the small things.  Today I got to spend the day with my funny little girl.   We had slushies together.   She showed me how brave she can be when she barely cried during the needle stick.   She spent the day thinking about unicorns while wearing a unicorn shirt and talked my ear off.  The American Girl doll her Grandma bought her arrived in the mail today.  She even knew what an American Girl doll was (I had to ask my mom.)

I would rather have a false alarm than real cause for alarm.  Now I just have to wait for the results to really come in.

Have you ever had a scary false alarm due to miscommunication?  If so, tell me about it so I don’t feel so alone!
Poured my heart out a little early.