The results are in

After two weeks of visits to various medical & dental providers the final tally is one cavity, one booster shot, one referral for speech therapy testing (AGAIN), one referral to sleep specialist (AT LAST) and 3 long conversations about things that are probably TMI to share with the internets.

Plus $70 in co-payments, with further billing no doubt to follow.

Mayhem, age 7, 47.5 inches and 54.6 pounds. The poor kid has been 47.5 inches for a year now. That is half an inch too short to ride all the good rides everywhere we go.  He has a cavity (his second) and currently is missing 3 of his front teeth. The doctor recommended we get his speech tested again as we’ve seen little improvement in the past year. His “L”s are more clear but the Rs & Ws are as bad as ever. “Wed” could be red, read, bread, led or even wed. And that is not even considering how lispy he actually sounds with 3 missing teeth.  Last time we were told he was within the normal developmental range, albeit at the very end of it, so no special help for us. Given he is a year older now possibly he is now just outside normal & might get some speech therapy.

Havoc, age 8, 51 inches and 55 pounds. He has clean, healthy teeth & there is no need to rush off to the orthodontist just yet, he still has too many baby teeth. (can I get an AMEN?) He had to have a booster shot for chicken pox. He’s been on long term meds since he was 4 and we’re cutting the dose by half now. Possibly he might be off them entirely by the end of the year, but it might take 18 months or more. (It’s nothing really serious, just more probably embarrassing so I’m not specifying the exact problem)

Stacey, entering her mid-40s, about that tall & that heavy, was at long last given her much sought after referral to a sleep specialist.

Only it was for June 13th and the kids are out of school & given the enormous questionnaire I have to complete there & the no doubt long conversation I will have to have with the doc, there is NO WAY I can keep that appointment unless child care is provided. (due to the distance I have to travel DH will miss most of day of work if he stays home with the kids)

So how about May 19th?

Really? The doc is THAT booked? June 13? May 19th? It was still March when I was organizing these appointments. MARCH! And they can’t see me until May?

I was running this through an intermediary at my regular docs office.

*I* am not permitted to speak with specialists until after my initial appointment.

Thems the rules.

Problem is I can’t just hand over my datebook to the lady at the doc’s office, all I can say is “mornings are better, earlier is better” and hope for the best when she calls me back many hours later.

May 19th is a school day at least, but I’d hoped for a sooner appointment.

They call the next day. “How about April 27? The doc is going to be on vacation the week of  May 19th”

ARRGGGHHH!!!

April 27 is smack in the middle of my kids’ Spring Break.

However, we had been kicking around the idea of going to DC via Amtrak one day on Spring Break and DH was talking about taking the kids camping a couple days as well and he has some comp time coming, so it looks like he’s going to take at least 3 days off work, possibly all 5 depending on how much comp he has and we’ll all have Spring Break.

And maybe I might finally, after 9 long years, get some help with this insomnia.

Can I get another AMEN?