Wrong Appointment

Elizabeth had a doctor's appointment today...or so I thought. I showed up at the doctor's office bright and early for Elizabeth's 8:00 appointment. They weighed her (18lbs), measured her (27.5 inches), and asked all of the normal questions. "What is the reason for the visit?" asked the nurse.
"Her 9 month checkup. Oh, and she has had a runny nose and is really tugging on her left ear more than usual. I'd like to get that checked out, too."
"She has an appointment next week for her checkup. She has to be over 9 months exactly to have that checkup or else insurance won't pay for it." (Her birthday is on 4/19, so today was 5 days shy.)
"But she had an appointment today. Why would the nurse schedule her 9 month checkup if she knew Elizabeth had to be over 9 months old?"
"I don't know...did you tell her you were coming back for a 9 month?"
"No, I didn't think I had to, no one told me to. I've just started coming to this office, so how was I supposed to know that??"
"It's ok. I'll check to see what's going on. Do you still want to see the doctor today?"
"Sure...as long as he has time." So she shows me to a room.
A few minutes later.........Knock, knock. "I just wanted to let you know that you do have an appointment next week, and I can't figure out why someone didn't call you and catch the mistake. The nurse up front didn't say anything because she figured she just missed putting your appointment in so she just entered you this morning."
"That's ok." I rummaged around in Elizabeth's appointment folder and found the appointment card. Holy crap! The appointment is for next week and I just made a huge stink about it! Dang, now I'll have to apologize...I'll throw in the fact that Travis is out of town again as an excuse in my apology. Maybe some watery eyes, too...she'll just feel sorry for me...I hope!
35 minutes later...Knock, knock. "The Doctor is running late. He got caught up at the hospital. He should be here a little after 9:00."
"Oh, ok. Umm, I found my appointment card and I made a mistake; it does say next week. I'm so sorry. I had it written down wrong and my husband is out of town and I must have gotten it all mixed up. I'm so sorry."
"It's ok. Things like this happen."
"I don't have to stay if he's running way behind."
"That's up to you...you are already here."
"Yeah, I think I will stay...I'd hate for her to get worse in the next week."
"True...and with the weather getting colder, it might not make her feel any better."
"Ok, thanks."
Don't I feel like a moron.

So the doctor comes in a few minutes after 9 and checks her our. Sure enough she has an ear infection in both ears. Poor baby. That explains why she's not eating very well and why she cries every time we lay her down to change her diaper. He also gave her a decongestant for her cold. He said he's been seeing a lot of that lately."How old is Beth?" (He's the only person who calls her Beth!)
"Almost 9 months."
"Wow, and no ear infections or illnesses before this. You are lucky! Most babies I see with ear infections have already had 4 or 5 by the time they are 9 months old. This is good!" So he faxed her Rx to Walmart (who is just awful about filling perscriptions. I have to use someone else next time. He faxed it in around 9:15 and it was not ready until after 11:30. There were other people there who had been waiting much longer. One man had come back everyday for the last 3 days for his granddaughter's Rx and they still didn't have it ready. He was ticked.) Luckily, we had some visiting to do with Tammy and Suzanne at the Catholic Elementary School, so we spent about an hour there before running one more errand and then going to Walmart.

So after it's all said and done, I guess I was meant to be mistaken and go to the doctor today. I don't think I could have put up with another week of Elizabeth not feeling well. She has to take an antibiotic for 10 days, a decongestant 3 times a day, and Tylenol for fever and pain. Poor baby. But at least now we're on the road to recovery. See you next week, Doc!