Katie’s ankle: The End

It started off great, then hit a rough patch, then ended great so overall I’m happy.

THE GREAT

The hospital is super easy to get to and only takes about 15 minutes—and there’s plenty of parking in the attached parking garage. Everyone was super friendly, the hospital was very nice, and the pediatric area was easy to find. There was plenty of seating for kids and adults…with kids shows on the TV.

We were there about 25 minutes early in case we had to fill out paperwork, and I was surprised when they called us back almost immediately to get Katie’s vitals. They were going to put us in a room but none happened to be ready so we got sent back to the lobby…

THE ROUGH PATCH

…where we sat for 20 minutes until I finally went up to the desk to ask (at military facilities there’s always a sign saying to let the staff know if you’ve been waiting more than 15 minutes). When I told her what doc it was, she immediately kind of laughed and said “He’s always slow…THOROUGH.” /sarcasm on/ GREAT. /sarcasm off/ No, I know being thorough is a good thing, but always running behind is not. If he’s always that thorough they should schedule the appointments accordingly.

Katie passed the time playing with the other kids in the waiting area.

So we kept waiting. And waiting. At 15 minutes past our appointment time (and 30 since vitals) we got put in a room. I wasn’t thrilled…but overall it still wasn’t TOO bad. So we waited. And waited.

And waited.

And had time for three snacks and a drink.

Ten minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. At the 1-hour-past-my-appointment mark I went out into the hallway to see if I could get an update from anyone…and the doctor was actually in the hall headed to our door. As I started to politely question about the delay, he was already apologizing and explaining that the previous patient had been an acute case—apparently his staff missed signs of low oxygen (?) and he had to rally everyone to get it taken care of and have it be a teaching moment.

THE GREAT ENDING

It turns out I REALLY REALLY like him—he’s very personable, I felt very comfortable with him, and he was amazing with Katie… She was sitting on his chair when he came in, so he got on his knees (down to her level) and examined her right there instead of making her get up on the exam table. He explained everything he did as he was doing it. Just his entire bedside manner and tone of voice was comforting and knowledgeable.

So, his thoughts? Her ankle is fine and we don’t need to see a specialist. He was poking and prodding and she never winced even a tiny bit and it wasn’t swollen and he could see no reason to refer her. His only thought was that it might possibly be Lyme disease (as that affects joints) but since it was just the one joint and no others and no other symptoms, he immediately ruled it out. He did say that if it gets worse then we can revisit it, but for now, just keep giving her Tylenol when it’s swollen or if it seems to be hurting her (which it rarely does). He said he sprained his ankle when he was a kid and it gave him troubles for many years but there wasn’t anything to do for it. He even said if he did refer us, the pediatric orthopedist would say we were wasting his time. He had said he has three young girls himself so if he thought there was ANYTHING wrong at all or ANYTHING at all to be gained from a referral (or more x-rays or tests or whatever), he wouldn’t hesitate. But he just didn’t see it with this case.

I then mentioned that the other doctor had noticed a heart murmur and said it wasn’t serious but that it should continue to be watched. Within about four seconds of listening to her heart he said “Yes, she has a definite murmur.” However, it wasn’t in her armpits and it disappeared when she stood up—and he diagnosed it as a very common Still’s Murmur (also known as a vibratory murmur). He said she was a very healthy little girl and we had nothing to worry about.

On the way out, I briefly mentioned big brother Owen and his GI issues so we chatted for a minute about that—and he told me two of his girls were on the Miralax regimen as well. So I feel good about that aspect when we need to take Owen in.

So, it all ended on a positive note, though I think the wait could have been handled better (why can’t ANYONE in any doctor’s office ever tell waiting patients what’s going on when something like this happens?). And I think I’ll be much happier with them than the first office I had picked from a hat. Score one for Tricare! 🙂

Katie wanted to play in the water!