3 hours

We spent 3 and a half hours in the doctors office today.

True story.

I took the princess in, the doctor ordered a chest x-ray, blood drawn, and some bendy metal stick to be shoved up her nose. The princess braved them all (plus a 90 minute wait), only to get back to the room and have the nurse say this to us:

"Ummmm, your doctor left."

"Excuse me?"

"She left to deliver a baby across town."

"What does that mean for us?"

"Depends how long the baby takes to get here?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes - I will let you know what happens."

WHAT HAPPENS? I have a kid in here with a fever, doctor is ordering chest x-rays, blood samples, like I really care that Dr. Whatsherface is there to catch the baby who may take up to 18 hours to arrive, when we all know that the nurses do all the work anyway.

And just so I am clear about how pissed I am . . . last time we went to this clinic, they sent the Jester home with a nasty, red crusty, eye - told us it was nothing. Next morning we were in ER because his eye socket was oozing green crap, and bulging out of his face. Needless to say, the ER doctor was beyond grossed out and did NOT think it was nothing.

So, we have had several strikes with this joint, various times we have ended up in the ER, after an hour of their diligent care . . . but never has the doctor just left half-way through the exam. WTF?

So, finally, we get a new doctor, who starts over. I go through the whole thing, that I am not leaving here with a tea-and-honey remedy. The kid has been sick for a month - nobody else in the family has this, we had this lupus scare, my family has bad luck . . .

And this doctor stops me and says, "What kind of bad luck."

So I tell her - some autoimmune stuff, mom's young cancer, leukocytoclasticvasculitis, fibromyalgia, tonsils riddled with strep on a monthly basis . . . that kind of stuff.

So she feels the princesses lymph nodes. They are swollen in various places. She calls the lab, and asks if they need more blood. They only took a little bit, but they are pretty sure they can screen this. They do . . . and the princess has mono . . . and needless to say, from where I sit, it is just a terribly slippery slope, that I was really hoping that we would not have to worry about.

This is why I do:
• EB virus has been shown to lead to throat cancer - which is what happened to my mom.
• Studies show a connection to EB virus and Lupus - which is still a possibility for the princess.
• My own crappy health things are almost always attributed to this, and even though I am pretty tough, and mostly fine, some days I can barely walk.
• If she were still homeschooled it would be easy to get her the rest she needs, but now things are different, and it is harder for me to give her what she needs.

SHE is SIX!

Fuck fuck fuck.