DD2 was sick yesterday. She woke up with an earache, but as long as she was on ibuprofen she was OK. Last night around dinner time - only about 3 1/2 hours in to her last dose of ibuprofen her temp started going up and her ear was aching.
Take her to the emergency room? Knowing that it was the night before a holiday I figured the emergency rooms would be packed... and we have a $75 co-pay for emergencies. It was an earache - we'd be there at the bottom of the list all night. However, the last time I ignored DD2's earache her eardrum ruptured that night and the guilt was bad. Poor child was in horrible pain leading up to the rupture. Frankly, I don't feel well enough right now to deal with being up all night with a crying child. (Yes, I am a very selfish person sometimes. God knew this when he sent these kids to us, so if he can deal with it I can too.) It was an earache. An ear infection (albeit a very bad one - as DD2 never does anything small. See previous post from earlier in the week regarding temper tantrum at soccer). I already knew that where ever I took her I was going to walk out with a script for amoxicillin and pain drops.
So... (here it comes...) I took my daughter over to Walmart.
Something you should know? I HATE Walmart. I didn't even like to buy my diapers there on sale when the kids were babies. I think Walmart is evil. However... there is a minor emergency clinic in our Walmart - called SmartCare - and if they take your insurance it's only $15 co-pay.
It was fine. Very quick. Very professional. And for a savings of $60 I walked out with exactly the same script that I would have at the emergency room. (I did have to locate a 24 hour pharmacy afterwards, since it was after 7pm which seems to be the magic hour that every single pharmacy closes in this town - and we didn't finish our appt. until 7:15.)
Would I take her to Walmart SmartCare for something important? Broken bone? Large gash? Breathing difficulty? No way. But, for the occasional weekend earache or questionable sore throat, possibly suspected pink eye? You betcha. Two thumbs up.
Add that one to the list. Maybe Walmart isn't so very evil sometimes.
P.S. An update on the soccer posting. I'm sure you all checked YouTube yesterday to see if I went bat-sh*t crazy yelling at my daughter for pulling some horrible tantrum again... but we were in the clear. She was perfectly behaved and had a great time at her game. I'll post pictures later. Is there anything in the world cuter than pre-schoolers playing soccer???
4 comments:
OH my...and I can tell you that our visit to the ER for the cold/bloody nose was $435! :)
But Kaiser is only making me pay $250.
How's that making you feel? All Walmart Happy I hope!
Hope she's well on her way to happier days...maybe the drama diva is bacterially driven and she'll be less prone to tantrums? A girl can always hope...eh?
Geez do you have to pay for emergency visits over there ?.
We dont have to pay for health care if we choose public.
If we choose private health care we have to pay and that's about 1700 a year for our family.
Oh and Walmart,have I ever said how much I LOVE this place?,LOL... apart from selling the best bath towels that also sell the best air sickness tablet in the world !...so good I never saw take off LMAO....and only woke 4 hours out of sydney !
I think I could do with that tablet today !!!!
Yes, 90% of health insurance here is private. Only those too poor or quite aged can get subsidized health care. I cannot complain so much, our health care is great - but not all policies are as good as ours. Medical bills can stack up quickly here. We have a large amount of uninsured people in the states - and a prolonged illness can wipe them out.
I wonder if our Walmart's are at all similar? I much prefer Target to Walmart.
I went to the eye doctor at Walmart once. (they do have everything, don't they!) I can't remember, poke in the eye with a stick, or I obviously had pink eye. . . who knows. I very nice, efficient Russian Dr. Lady told me on the revisit "you heal like dog - It's good".
ooh, and I did hear a Mom yelling words of encouragement to her kid several fields away last Sat., and thought, oh that must be Dodi!
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