Friday already? Jeez...where does the time go? Straight to the Urgent Care center, apparently, where it passes slower than your first kidney stone.
The Governor sounded so awful that I brought him to the UC center after dinner. The Senator came along for kicks and because leaving your 5 year old home alone for several hours tends to make the local police a bit edgy. Also, the booking photos always look so terrible when they're reprinted in the paper.
We arrive. We're booked, registered, triaged, and whisked promptly to a cell exam room. Here's where the second hand on the clock decided to take a siesta. In the lobby, where toys and books can be found, we encountered top-notch efficiency. Exam room: eternity passes and comes back for seconds.
The doctor we eventually did see was terrific. Diagnosis: ear infections and a cough that really can't be helped by anything other than time. Here's hoping it's the same time found on the lobby's clock.
Doctor leaves with a warning to stay put - the nurse will return with the Rx and discharge instructions. And we, you guessed it, W-A-I-T.
Nurse comes in with discharge instructions for a boy named Carter. Sorry. Not mine.
Both boys are bouncing off exam room walls like rabid squirrels in a humane trap. I open the exam room door and let them walk into the hallway for a break. The Governor takes off running. I grab him and he screams. Back to the room. The Senator is standing in the doorway of the room. "Get inside," I say. He doesn't move. "Come on, come on," I say loudly. He's fiddling with something on the door frame. He still doesn't move so I nudge him with my knee.
SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The Senator is yelling and screaming. What I couldn't see because I was carrying the thrashing Governor is that my older boy had three fingers wedged in the strike plate on the door jamb and when I nudged him, he scraped a finger and got a small cut.
Small cut. To hear The Senator, you would have thought I divided him from skull to navel with a battle-ax.
Nurse returns with Governor's discharge papers and Rx. Both boys still screaming. The nurse starts to go over papers and I yell loud enough to be heard over the din, "Where do I sign?" She points, I sign, and we bolt for the parking lot.
Over to the Cub Foods Pharmacy because they have a drive-through window. Submit Rx with Governor's insurance card. Pharmacy tech says, "This prescription doesn't have his name on it. The label at the top is for a Linda Brown."
I let my head hit the steering wheel and almost started to sob. Pharmacy tech says, "Give me 15 minutes and come back." If there hadn't been a double-pane window between us, I would have kissed her.
Pharmacy tech calls Urgent Care, gets everything fixed. I return to drive-through window, pick up Rx, go home, get both boys in bed, and think about decanting a bottle of wine and grabbing a straw.
Can't wait to see what today brings.
Posted by Cathy at April 2, 2004 08:27 AMWhy decant if you're using a straw?
Posted by: aelfheld at April 2, 2004 10:22 AMI am SOOOOO glad my kids are all in their thirties. :) I remember those days and I guess I can honestly say that attaining the age of 62 this year does have some rewards. Hang in there, once they're grown it's mostly just worrying about whether they end up in jail, on the street, or want money. :) Or all three.
Posted by: bigdocmcd at April 2, 2004 10:22 AMWhy decant? So my straw can reach all the way to the bottom, of course! ;)
Thanks for the inspiring words, Bigdocmcd! Just when I thought I didn't have quite enough gray haris...you give me something else to worry about. :) I'm heading over to check out your site.
Posted by: Cathy at April 2, 2004 01:33 PMIt's not as bad as it sounds. :) Actually, of the three things I've mentioned, my two sons have BOTH done all three of them. And they're both fine young (30's) men now. But you survive, as a matter of fact that's sort of my watchword. No matter what my kids do, I'll survive. :) And they both say, "Don't worry about me, Dad, I'll be OK. Oh, by the way, could I 'borrow' 20 until payday?"