The Longest Dr. Apt.

I don't know about you, but every time I use to go to the Dr. office I would read the sign that goes something like: "a charge will be given for any missed apt" and then be very irritated. I was on time for my appointment, but I waited an hour for the doctor. Is it okay now for me to charge them because they "missed" their appointment? That's how I think it should work anyway. (One time they did actually give me a $10 gift card for a restaurant because they were so slow.)

I use to think that 2 hours at the doctors office was a super long time. (It is, right?) Today was our first outpatient doctors visit. Just the driving time alone would beat my two hour limit, so I knew I was in for it. It started at 8 am and we left the hospital at 1:30! (I know I should just be grateful about the word "left") The doctors visit went like this:

• check in and get weighed, measured, blood pressure (Crap, Odette has lost weight again!)
  
• sit in the room (Screaming from poor Odette who hasn't been able to eat for the past 12 hours and puked all day yesterday.)
  
• have a nurse draw blood and wait for lab results (She actually is good in everything except a little low in the red blood cell department.)
  
• doctor comes and looks at Odette (Her ears are finally not red! "If she is still puking with the anti-medics don't give them to her, she is a baby so expect puke." Mom is mad.)
  
• go down to RTU for spinal chemo and a bone marrow aspirate--wait a half hour for Odette to wake up from the anesthesia
  
• try to get Odette to eat/drink something so we can leave RTU (One swallow works, right?)
  
• go back up to clinic and get her "regular" chemo
• have doctor explain the new maintenance chemo routine and order prescriptions (Should have done this earlier, but like a regular doctor office was running late and we needed to get down to the RTU.)
  
• wait an hour and a half to mix the chemo prescriptions, get our chemo schedule for the month and schedule our next visit--not for 4 weeks!! :)
• go brag to the inpatient nurses that we are going home
• get our prescriptions by paying an arm and leg! (Only $70--I thought it would be at least twice that!)

Now that is a long doctor visit...I don't even want to imagine what it will be like getting chemo and a blood transfusion...probably we would get a fever and be stuck in the hospital for a week, so no need to worry.

I am so excited that I get to be home and take care of my children and attempt to have a clean house so that Odette doesn't get sick with any fevers! We get to have the holidays at home. I couldn't have picked a better gift for myself!