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Austin Babies
mcurban
member
disappointed in T-house Pedi
mcurban
member
(longish)
I'll start off by saying that I continue to ADORE Dr. Chang. I also really, really, really like one of the PAs that works there (whose name is escaping me at the moment). However...
Two weeks ago, Jack caught that virus that was going around and he had naaaasty liquipoo. Like, zero texture liquid poop. And lots of it. Of course, I was doing all I could to keep him hydrated. I put a call into the nurses line at 10am to see if there was anything else I should be doing (i.e., if there was any anti-diarrheal medication that was safe for a 2 year old). No one called back. At all.
Thursday, I was going over Jack's health history w/ the surgery nurse at Dell for tubes on Tuesday. I mentioned that every once in a while, his lips have been turning blue- just randomly throughout the day. She asked that we call the pedi and get him in before Tuesday. So, I called first thing Friday morning (literally, like, right when they opened) and left a message for the nurse. We then went off to play @ Duckie's house. On the way down, the nurse from Dell called me to see what the pedi said and I let her know that the nurse hadn't called back. She asked that we call (again). So, I called (again) just after 10. Each time, I let the woman answering the phones that Jack was having surgery on Tuesday and they were concerned about his lips turning blue.
The nurse from Dell called around noon to check on us again. When I told her that we had STILL not heard from the nurse from T-house, she asked that we please go to the ER to have him checked. I told her that Jack was fine (he was playing just fine, breathing fine, just being two) but she instisted that since we had not heard back from T-house that he needed to be seen SOMEWHERE and that place was the ER.
At this point, I called T-house (if you're counting, this is the third call) and the nurses had left for lunch. Dude. The woman answering the phones said she would leave (another) message but she didn't know how long they would be gone.
So, off I went to the ER with Jack and Tommy. We arrived at the ER at 1:30ish and got to wait for five hours before we were put in a room- which I TOTALLY understand. Jack was fine, it wasn't an emergency, we shouldn't have been there. The nurse from T-house called at 4:45pm (over 8 hours from when I put in the first call). We were seen by the ER doctor at 7 pm. He thought we were crazy (but told us that we did the right thing by coming in) and was (quite frankly) pissed that we hadn't heard back from the pedi in time to save us the trip/cost/time/stress and save him an ER room.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: disappointed in T-house Pedi
:::jaw drops::: You left a message that your kids lips were turning blue and nobody called you back!? Totally unacceptable.
Yup.
ugh, that sounds like a miserable day spent at the ER. I'm so surprised it took so long to get back to you. Did you leave a message with the nurse or on the machine? hopefully it was just a fluke day or something. i've always gotten called right back. but most of the time if i get the machine i'd call back in a couple minutes and not leave a message and most of the time whoever answers the phone could answer my question. I'd definitely talk to Dr. Chang though about what happened because it's completely unacceptable.
I would DEFINITELY bring that up with Dr. Chang. It sounds like a huge failure on the part of either the nursing staff or the office staff, and he needs to know about it. That is absolutely inexcusable.
I love T-house as well, but something is going wrong with them right now. I have had more than one instance where the doctor told me at an appointment that he wanted a nurse to call me and follow up on something, and both times I was left on my own. No one called. These were minor things, and I wasn't overly concerned, but if they'd been something potentially serious, I would have been really pissed off. We are going there this week for Alex's well baby visit. I think I'll mention to the doctor that the nurse never followed up with me those times.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
That is absolutely unacceptable.
Its such a shame when you find a doctor you love and the rest of the office staff sucks. I hope you let Chang know what happened and that something is done to ensure situations like this are not repeated.
Sorry you guys had to spend the day at the ER.
Major suck.
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Wow, that is ridiculous. I'm so sorry you had to sit in the ER all day.
I'm not sure what all they told you at the ER, but we had the same issue with Leo. Our pedi had us go to a cardiologist. They did a few different tests on him, and everything looked great. The doctor said that some kids just have an immature vascular system, or something like that, and they will grow out of it. Hopefully it's the same thing with your DS
That is completely unacceptable. I would definitely let the Changanator know about that AND the office manager (if they have something like that).
I'm concerned that other PPs have had similar experiences w/ regards to calls from nurses.
I know the triage nurses work really hard and I can't imagine the amount of stress they're under on a daily basis or the work load that they must have - but after THREE calls to them, they should have called you back more promptly.
I've always been pretty happy with their call-back times - though I can remember one instance when I did have to call them and remind them that I was still waiting on a call back...
Sorry you had to make the trek to the ER w/ both kiddos. You don't just get a gold star for that, you should get a platinum star studded with diamonds.
4:45 PM?! For reals? First, I still can't believe they left for freakin' lunch before calling you back. Second, I cannot believe that you weren't the first person they called back upon returning from lunch. What.The.F? I would be beyond pissed. I'm sorry, but someone or some people are not doing their job over there.
I am happy to hear that Jack is fine. Prayers for a smooth surgery tomorrow and speedy recovery!