Monday, October 1, 2012

Chameleon

We have noticed a weird thing with Ellie's eyes lately.  They don't always... point the same direction.  Sometimes it is very subtle, other times pretty noticeable.  So we talked to her pediatrician at her 3 year well visit.  He suggested a pediatric ophthalmologist.  We haven't gone yet for a few reasons.  1) I have to call them 2) we only have one listed for our insurance so 3) does it have to be pediatric or could it be any ophthalmologist? I also am sure that we will take her and they won't see anything weird and once we are in the car she will do it again.

I also worry they will make her wear an eye patch.  Which I am fine with in theory, except she won't do it, and I will have to fight all the time with her about it.  On the plus side, she could be a pirate for Halloween.  Why can't I just send them an email, rather than call them for an appointment?  Or why can't the stay open later so I have time for a fortifying margarita before I call?

On another medical note.  I have a lot of migraines, and headaches blah blah.  Acupuncture?  Should I try it?

2 comments:

Swistle said...

I hate, hate, hate hate hate specialist stuff. It's so confusing, and I never feel like I know what I'm doing.

My way of dealing with it requires an ADDITIONAL phone call, which is...agonizing...and also means I put it off even longer...BUT, I have found that my insurance company is a completely different animal if I'm trying to figure something out ahead of time than if I'm calling when something has gone wrong. When Elizabeth needed to see a specialist about her tonsils, and then needed them removed, and I had no idea who I could see or what I needed to do to get that paid for, I called the insurance company and they were STARTLINGLY HELPFUL. I went into full-on helpless mode, and ahead of time I thought to myself, "They get paid by the hour whether I take up 5 minutes of their time or 60, and I will just ask the same question over and over if I need to, because they are not invested in whether or not I'm kind of dim, and in fact some people enjoy being knowledgeable."

I took notes on the phone (including the name of the person I talked to, and the time and date), because I can't really think while I'm on the phone, and then toward the end I started reading the list back to them like this: "So I can see Dr. Bits, and he'll be covered. And the next step is to make an appointment with him. And then I call the pediatrician with the time and date of the appointment, and I ask for a...what? A pre-ap? And they'll know what that is?" Etc.

And then when I called the pediatrician, I did the same "I don't know what I'm doing" voice: "The insurance company told me I should call you after I made the appointment? For a pre-ap? And that you'd know what that was?" Etc. (Pre-ap was not the word for it, but I can't remember what the word was.)

This is such a long comment. But I hate the phone SO MUCH, and it went much better than I would have expected.

Lippy said...

The phone is horrible! Hate it so much, so my husband called. It does help knowing other people go into a blind panic on the phone. I am normalish.