Weekend Ups and Downs

[selenite0]

Our goal was for this to be a quiet weekend at home, getting a bit of extra housework done before celticdragonfly has some downtime so we can relax afterwards. We actually got a little of that done . . .

The fun part of the weekend was having Tom come over for gaming. Probably did more talking than gaming, and Maggie was in as many games as any of the adults. She roped me and celticdragonfly into the American Girl game. Not a bad game for kid stuff, you actually had to make some resource decisions instead of mindlessly rolling and moving. Tom introduced her and fordprfct to Zooloretto while I grilled dinner. Afterwards we had a round of Race for the Galaxy for the guys, where I proved that getting the right cards in the right order greatly reduces the amount of skill you need to win.

Maggie'd been feeling a bit off through the day and was feverish by evening, so we punted on church. She was hot enough we decided to have her seen, so I took her to the "Minute Clinic" at the local CVS. The nurse discussed various possibilities, then took her temperature, and said "She needs to be worked up." Okay. A new ER not connected to a hospital had opened up nearby so we headed over. The "FirstChoiceER" folks are efficient. Only one form to fill out, and I was still working on it when the doctor came in to see her. Symptoms matched influenza so they did a nose swab. Results came back positive for H1N1. Oink. So Maggie is on Tamiflu and the rest of the family is getting a prophylactic dose of the same. Jamie can still go to school unless he has symptoms.

I'm happy with the First Choice folks. The paper work guys were efficient, the nurse was gentle with Maggie doing an unpleasant task, and the doctor discussed possibilities and what he'd be able to find out from tests instead of pretending omniscience. Good facility, too. Nice mural for the kid room though Maggie was too wiped out to appreciate it. Now part of this is that it's a new outfit so there weren't many other people clogging up the system. But they are clearly trying to do a good job rather than go through the motions.

Comments

[archangelbeth]

I hope that it doesn't hit the other kid and everyone gets well soon.

Eye doctor schedule?

[bkseiver.livejournal.com]

Laura, check with your eye doctor and see if the Tamiflu might mean a reschedule. It's new enough that I haven't a professional clue...just know enough to inquire.

Re: Eye doctor schedule?

[selenite.livejournal.com]

She's making calls.

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Maggie! Hope she feels better, and no one else catches it. *fingers crossed*

[noumignon.livejournal.com]

Kudos to those First Choice people for starting up an innovative-sounding health care business. Aren't they going to be crippled, though, by that rule saying ERs have to provide care to anyone who shows up? I got the impression most hospitals were being dragged down by their ERs, not turning a profit.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Well, that's what the numbers say . . . though I've read explanations that the numbers are cooked by the accountants allocating large amounts of the overhead to the ER, so said overhead expenses can be booked against the non-paying ER customers for tax purposes. They may be relying on location too. The north side of Fort Worth has pretty comfortable neighborhoods so they're not expecting many people who can't pay. The uninsured will be paying cash or dealing with bill collectors I'm sure.

The riskiness of this as a business plan may connect with why it's the only medical facility I can remember being in with an all-male staff.

Glad you caught it early

[drwex]

We miss you guys - stay in touch.

Re: Glad you caught it early

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Oh, we'll be around, don't worry.