Would You Fire This Office?

Last Thursday Ainsley woke up at 1:00 am with a cough out of no where and then an hour later she had a fever. I immediately thought: Swine Flu (it's all over where we live and there was a confirmed case in Ainsley's class last week). But I did not freak out, just gave her some Tylenol and went back to bed and hoped she'd be fine in the morning. To my surprise she was a little better but after talking to my sister I decided to take her in to the doctor because she was still coughing and the fever was on and off. I felt with Bennett in the house, I needed to know for sure if she had H1N1.

So the doctor took a swab from her nose as well as her throat (checking for Strep) and came back in with a positive test for Strep. I would have never known-she did not complain of a sore throat and didn't seem to be too sick. So then they gave me the bag with the nose swab sample and told me to take it to a lab. Excuse me? You mean you don' t have a rapid flu test here?? No. So it was 4:30 and I flew out the door to find a lab, of course with 3 kids in tow. I got to a lab only to be told that I had to come to the back to give all of Ainsley's information, let me just say I was super annoyed at this point. I asked the lab tech how long it would take and he said probably 24 hours. So I'm thinking do we start the Tamiflu just in case or do we wait?? It gets better.

All day Friday, I wait for a call from the pediatrician and I even called twice to see if they had the test results. Meanwhile Harper starts coughing and starts running a fever so Mike takes her in after work. She was negative for Strep and we wanted to hear about Ainsley's test before we had Harper tortured with the thing up her nose. Well guess what? The lab either "lost" the swab or they did not have a good enough sample to test it! Are you kidding me??!!

So these are the things I'm upset about, please tell me if you think I'm being reasonable:

• I'm just flat out annoyed that they don't have a rapid flu test to tell me in the office if my child has some strain of the flu (other doctors we've used in the past had this)
• I'm flat out annoyed that I had to find my own lab to take the swab to.
• I'm furious that they either lost it or the doctor didn't get a good swab (she shoved the thing so far up Ainsley's two little nostrils and made her scream so I have no idea how she did not get a good swab.
• Now, why don't we know if they lost it or if the swab was not a good one?? Because there is a huge language barrier in this office and obviously someone dropped the ball.
• I like one doctor in this office but since they do not know the doctor's schedules you cannot make an appointment with that specific doctor until you arrive and ask if they are in...that's annoying to me.
• Bottom line: I'm ANNOYED!

We have Bennett's 5 month check up on Friday and hopefully I can get in with the doctor I like but I won't know until I get there-ugghh- and I plan to let her know (or whoever I see) that I am not pleased with the system they have in place. Don't know if it will make a difference but I feel someone needs to know it doesn't work well, at least not for me and my family.

So am I being unreasonable here?? I'm already looking into switching but I'm afraid to until after RSV season because Bennett's shots took forever to get approved and if I switch there could be a hold up with his shots due to insurance.

P.S. An update for the grandparents and other family: Ainsley feels better, Harper is still sick and Mike and I are miserable. Bennett, however is still healthy (let's hope and pray it stays that way!!)