"Is This an Urgent Matter?"

I shared with you in this post, Bottom's Up, about my little Rylee's hemangioma on her bottom and how it is ulcerating.  Well, last Thursday I noticed a few spots that looked new on her bottom.  I was afraid they were the beginning of new ulcerations forming.  I was right.  Over the weekend those spots grew larger and by Sunday evening, there was no question as to what they were.

We already had an appointment scheduled with the pediatric dermatologist for next Thursday, but with these new ulcers growing at such a rapid rate, I decided I needed to at least call in and inform them of these changes.  I also decided I needed to take a few pictures so that I could have documentation of these changes.

So yesterday, Monday morning, I took the pictures and called into the clinic.  Only it was closed for President's Day.  Sigh.  I left a message.

By the afternoon and a few more diaper changes, I decided I wasn't going to wait for the next day. These diaper changes had both Rylee and myself crying.  It hurts her so bad, and it hurts me seeing her in that much pain.  I decided that I was going to contact the on call doctor.

I called back into the clinic, and followed the prompting to speak to the answering service.  The automated voice message directed me to tell the operator that I needed to have the dermatology resident on call doctor paged.

I told the lady exactly what I had been prompted to say, "I need to speak to the dermatology resident on call doctor."

Operator: "Is this an urgent matter?"
Me: "I'm not really sure."  of course I think it's urgent, but would they?
Operator: "Is this so urgent that you can't wait until tomorrow?"
Me: "I don't know, that is why I am calling."
Operator (snide voice): "It's a yes or no question?"

I didn't know what to say.  I was having an internal debate over whether it was so important that it couldn't wait until the next day.  So I hung up the phone.

If it was sooooo urgent that it couldn't wait until the next day, wouldn't I have just taken Rylee to the Emergency Room?  What's the point of having an on call doctor then?  If it was deemed to be that serious, I doubt I would be messing around with a phone call.  God forbid I disturb the doctor that was getting paid to be on call, for something that might not be that URGENT.

I was already upset because of my worry for poor Rylee's bottom and the amount of pain she is in, but now I was upset because this lady was so fricking rude!  I texted the picture to one of my good friends and then I called her to vent.  She had just seen Rylee's bottom on Saturday, and she agreed that it looked much worse.  My friend convinced me to call back again.  Yes, it IS an urgent matter lady!

So I called back, only this time I got a different operator that didn't question me for calling on a holiday.

The doctor I talked to wasn't someone I knew, but he listened to what was going on and asked questions.  He told me that it is unfortunate that as these hemangiomas heal, they do go through this ulceration stage and it is painful to have to watch.  He asked me questions, trying to determine if there is a possible infection.  We talked about what we've been doing to treat the ulcer.  I told him how much pain Rylee has been in.  I also told him we have an appointment scheduled for the 27th, but that seemed like a long ways away with the rapid pace that these new ulcers were developing.

He told me he wanted to contact one of the doctor's that have been working on our case, and then he would call me right back.  He wanted me to text him the pictures I had taken.

When he called back, he asked if I could bring her in the next day.  They would be doing the same thing they would have done on the 27th, but felt they should probably check it out sooner.  The biggest thing is that they will be checking for infection and determine if they need to make any medication changes.

This is a busy doctor's office.  It usually takes several weeks to get an appointment and they wanted to get her in the NEXT DAY.  In my head, I was smirking at the snarky operator lady. Apparently they DID deem it an urgent matter, (fill in bad name calling here for the operator).

My sweet Rylee

Okay, now I'm going to share the pictures I sent to the doctor of her bottom.  I'm going to scroll down a bit before I post the pictures, so that if you are one that gets grossed out easily and don't want to see them, you can sign off now.

Original ulcer - it has stayed this size pretty much since she left the hospital

The new ulcers that are joining in the not so fun times

Now you see what we have been dealing with.  And yes, I DO happen to think it is an urgent matter.