The ongoing saga...

The sickness saga continues...

Johanna was still very ill on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning the rash had spread to her back and arms. Her fever stayed down, but she started tugging at her ear and still wouldn't eat anything. I could just tell that she was so miserable. That was the end of my rope. I called my family doctor determined to get someone to see Johanna. The receptionist I talked to, Heather (oh yeah, I'm calling people out now) was extremely rude and still insisted that there was no way they could see Johanna. I asked to specifically talk to my doctor of more than 20 years. Heather then started slightly retracting. She said that I could not talk to my doctor but that I could talk to her nurse. I still think that Dr. Jolliff has no idea how her patients are treated by the other staff. I was about ready to tell Heather a little about what I thought about her, when I decided that she wan't worth the effort.

I hung up and called a newer medical services at the North-end of Wooster called ASAP Medical Services (or something close to that). The lady who answered the phone was so nice. She informed me that they would take my insurance. However, they normally don't see kids under age two. However, after hearing what had been going on she said that she wanted to talk to the doctor about us and see what they could do. She called me back not even two minutes later and said that they would see us right away (Thank God!).

I took Johanna right away (still in her jammies). We only had to fill out one piece of paperwork and got in very quickly. The nurse was excellent. Johanna was slightly traumatized by her ER visit on Monday (with all the needles), but the nurse was fun and friendly so Johanna did MUCH better than I expected.

The doctor came in quickly and after a short exam said that Johanna was a textbook case of Roseola. She also had a slight ear infection. Poor little girl! He gave me printouts of info about Roseola and Johanna really was a textbook case. She had all the sympotms exactly and even in the right order. We got presrpitions for antibiotics and extra ibprophine which were covered by our insurance. This was REALLY nice of the doctor considering when you have a sick kid you realize that you should have bought stock in ibprophine ( at almost $6 a tiny bottle).

So, the moral of the story is that the only doctor's office that took pity on us was the one that wasn't even one of our doctors. Go figure! All I have to say is "shame on you" to the other offices. I don't blame Dr. Burke or Dr. Jolliff becasue I don't think they knew what was going on. But, shame on the staff at their offices that we spoke to. They are an abombination to the healthcare industry. There was no "health" or "care" in the way they handled this situation. I hope they realize the impact that their attitudes and actions can have on the health of a little one.

Unfortunately for them, they messed with the wrong mama. Thus, I am in the process of writing letters to Dr. Burke, Dr. Jolliff, a letter to the editor, and the govenor (about the state of how healthcare transitions are handled). I just hope their carelessness does not go on to effect another child.

what is wrong with the world today...

I am coming off a very frustrating experience, so please excuse the ranting. Or, you could just agree with me and make me feel better.

Johanna got sick on Sunday. It started with a fever over 102. By Monday morning it was over 104 and not coming down much at all with medicine. She wouldn't eat or drink and just wanted to lay on one of us (which is very unusual if you know Johanna). Luckily it was Brian's day off because I am in charge of music for VBS at my church this week. When I cam home in between segments of VBS, Johanna was lying on Brian (for about 1.5 hours before I got home) with a fever of about 104. We had to make the tough decision of whether or not we should take her to the emergency room. We decided it was better to go then than to end up in the ER in the middle of the night.

Let me tell you why this is so annoying-----
Johanna DID NOT need to go to the emergency room. She needed to be seen by a doctor. You might be thinking- "don't you have a pediatrician?" The answer is yes. However, my pediatricians office ended their relationship with our insurance company. We immediately switched to a new company that they will take, but they would not allow the switch to take affect until July 1st. So, early Monday morning I called my doctors office where the lovely (aka rude and unhelpful) nurses refused to even offer advice or make an appointment for my daughter to see the only doctor she has known for a year and a half. I said, "so you're telling me that there is no way that you can help me even though you are my child's doctor's office and she had a temp of over 104?" and they said "yes."I then called my family doctor (of 20 years) because I knew they took the insurence that we were still technically covered by until the end of the month. I told them what was going on and they refused to help saying that they had no time to see new patients that day. Both offices informed me that they couldn't help me and that I should just take Johanna to the emergency room.

What a nice picture of the customer service that is so prevalent in our healthcare industry.

We ended up at the ER at about 7:30 where she ended up having a CBC and chest x-rays. It was horrible. She got stuck 5 times to get the blood and they never could get the IV in. Thankfully the staff at the ER was very understanding and helpful, especially after I told them our situation.

She seemed to be much better on Tuesday. No really fever (99.4 was the highest). She still wasn't eating good, but was walking and talking. Today she woke up with a little fever again (101) and a rash all over her tummy. I once again called all the doctors offices and pleaded for help to no avail. The free clinic won't take us because we have insurence.

I pray we don't end up in the emergency room again. So, even though this will technically not be a problem anymore after July 1st, I am still outraged by the situation. I think I may be looking for anyother pediatrician. It's too bad becasue the actual doctor has been pretty great. I don't think he knows the extent to which his staff can be rude and unhelpful.

Thus concludes another example of what is wrong with the world today.

I can't believe that I haven't posted since Monday! I knew that I had been busy, but I didn't realize it had been that long. Here is something I realized once again this week- SUMMER VACATION IS FANTASTIC!! Johanna and I are so busy doing fun things that I can't even keep track of what day it is! We have play-dates, library story-time, trips to the park and pool, and fun visits from family and friends. This week, besides everything already mentioned, I have been doing a lot of work in the yard. I have redone three flower beds this week. This included transplanting old plants, digging up plants I didn't like, weeding, and planting new plants. It has been a lot of work, but so much fun! I also finished our back patio of part of Brian's Father's Day gift (yes, I am the mst awesome wife ever). That project including the moving and distribuation of heavy stones, limestone, gravel, and lots of mulch. Here are some pic of some of the flowers I planted this week. Thanks to my friend Amy who helped me pick out flowers and to my dad for helping me pick up and unload all my patio materials. What would I do without my friends and family?!

One of those things...

Do you ever leave from a gathering of friends and realize that something you said may have come across different than you meant it? But, your not sure if it was taken that way or not, and asking may just make it look/ sound even weirder. Yeah, I totally did that tonight.

Fathers Day

Johanna wanted me to let you all know how grateful she is to have the BESTEST DADDY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!

(Yes, I know "bestest" isn't a real word)

Hugs and Help!!

Johanna got to play with her good friend Katelyn today. She had so much fun! Her and Katelyn kept cracking each other up with their one-year-old humor. I guess there is something really funny about throwing a ball and saying "boom!" They kept giving each other hugs and blowing kisses. It was so cute! I kept trying to get a picture of then hugging, but the stupid shutter delay made me miss the moment. Here are three of my attempts. Still adorable if you ask me! Johanna is actually saying "hug" while they are hugging in the last pic. I love my camera because it has a swivel screen, but I think I would like a second digital one without such a delay. Any suggestions?

Yikes!

Okay, I added the pictures. The first is all of the "goodies" inside a cup. The second is a smattering on a paper towel so that you can see all the different varieties and textures that she passed up. There is even a good hair in their. Yum....fiber.




I decided to REALLY clean Johanna's high chair tonight. I mean, I "clean" after every meal and then I wipe it down with Clorox Hard Surface every couple of days. But this time I took the whole seat apart and cleaned the pad underneath etc. HOLY SMOKES!! There was like an entire meals worth of dried up food hiding behind her seat cover! I will post a picture of this as soon as my camera has batteries in it again. Yes, I am saving the food I found in a cup on the counter. Yes, I know this is gross, but it was pretty funny. Johanna has always had a habit of stashing food beside her when she was full. However, I always clean out all the food after I get her out. I guess I never knew it made it all the way behind the cover. Oops.

What the hey

It seems to me that pretty much everyone knows the deal with horizontal stripes. I'll bet even the guy rolling his eyes in the chair next the dressing room at the local department store would know. Okay people, horizontal stripes are not slimming. They are even known to make one look bigger. How does the clothing industry not know or recognize this. How is it hard to find summer shirts which DON'T have horizontal stripes? Let's not even get me started on bathing suits. I went to A local store to try and find a new summer suit. At least 4 out of 5 suits had horizontal stripes. All I have to say is that MY CHEST AND BUTT DO NOT NEED TO LOOK ANY BIGGER. They certainly don't need help looking big. They have been handling that just fine for the past 15 years of my life. So, all you clothing people out there - LAY OFF THE HORIZONTAL STRIPES. Sheesh! I feel better now.

Oops...

I missed a day already. Hey, everyone should take at least one day off which should include blogging as well. My camera batteries need recharged so I haven't taken any really great photos lately. We have been having a ton of fun at the pool 3- 4 days a week. Daddy got to come for the first time today. He had fun but was ready to leave after about 30 minutes. I informed him that I did not pack up two bags worth of stuff and pay 5 bucks to get him in so that we could stay for 30 minutes. The work required to make it to the pool with a toddler requires at least an hour stay.

Johanna gave me a great reminder tonight. I was tired. It had been a fun but long day. Johanna had already had her bath and was in her jammies. I was trying to give her a bedtime snack (one of her favorites parts of the day). She proceeded to take a bite and then run off. She has this new game of "come and get me" every time we want her to come to us. Let's just say that mommy is not a fan. So, I told her that mommy was not going to chase her this time because mommy was tired and hungry (no dinner yet) and that if she wanted her snack she needed to come and eat it before mommy did (yes, I was very serious). She proceeded to duck around the corner again. I sighed a sigh of frustration and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Johanna's smiling face peak around the corner. She was playing peek-a-boo with me at the same spot I played it with her almost every day. By the third "boo" I was laughing out loud. What a nice little reminder that no matter what happens throughout the day, I have the best "boo"-er willing and waiting to provide a smile, hug, and kiss :)

Recent pics of my giggle-box!

Sassy Girl!

While we are on the subject of saucy and sassy gals, I had to post this picture of Johanna. This photo was taken the morning of my party. This is a PAAARRRTTY outfit. I LOVE the fashion tights and pebbles ponytail! Plus, she definitely has the personality to pull it off!

ELC

Since this blog is a pretty constant celebration of my adorable and wonderful Johanna, I decided to spend a day celebrating another adorable and wonderful baby in my life. These are pictures of our friends, Shawn and Erika's, daughter (who we will call ELC). I have been moving through my May pictures and wanted to do a post about these. Johanna had a blast with her buddy, and Brian and I had fun getting to spend more time with the whole family!! ELC is full of vigor and spunk, which I LOVE. She is a saucy gal!! She and Johanna will have fun sharing stories as they get older!

No Autographs Please

I just had to post these two pic today because they so capture a current stage that Johanna is in. She is really just "too cool." She is "too cool" for help doing anything. We were at the pool this afternoon and she was just wwaaaayyyyy "too cool" to hold mommy's hand next to the water. After only a slight meltdown things went okay. But, she really is just so independent and loves to doing everything "like a big girl." Yesterday, she was in the bathroom with me at my mom's house (because you never get to go alone after you become a mom), and they have a kids potty for my sisters youngest. She walked up to it, said "potty", and opened the lid. So, I randomly asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She answered with a very clear "yes" as she pulled her own pants down. I helped her take her diaper off and she sat on the potty. When I was done, I asked her if she was done (even though she just sat there the whole time). She said "yes" so I handed her some toilet paper (just for effect) She proceeded to wipe and throw it on the floor (not sure where she learned to throw it on the floor). She was very proud of herself. So, as you can see, she is just "too cool" for anything "baby." It goes too fast.

Beauty Shop for Boys

More pics from when Shawn, Erika, and their crew were in town. Today we will feature a montage which captured an interaction between Bryce and Johanna. He is a year older, and Johanna was pretty infatuated with him. She asked for him every morning "byce, byce" for about a week after they left. So, here she is chillin with her crush on the couch, trying to do his hair. I wanted to tell her that boys will hold just as still for hair clips when they get older, but I didn't want to give her false hope.

Tyrant Tuesday

Our good friends, Shawn and Erika, as well as their three kiddos made the trek to Woo town for my grad party (thanks guys!). They stayed with us, and this is a pic of the kids having fun. It started with just one standing on the little seat, but soon they all wanted to join the party. At the end Johanna was like "Hey, I wanna sit on my seat." Thus, she proceeded to sit on the seat and crowd the standers into a little corner. What a bully.

A picture says a thousand words...

Since I have so much I need to blog about I decided that I would start to post a picture with a caption everyday. This whole everyday thing won't start until Tuesday since I will be unavailable tomorrow. But here is a little something to get us started.

Family picture with Sir Topham Hatt at the Thomas event. Johanna is letting the world know how toddlers really feel about strange men in hats.