Thursday, March 03, 2005

OK, I'm Pissed
.
Someone I know works at a school. The flu is running rampant in Missouri right now. Parents are sending their sick kids to school anyway. One child had a fever so high, that the child seized. Yes, that's right. A child had a seizure. And suffered some damage, that I hope is temporary.

I feel horrible for the child, just horrible. And I'm furious at a set of parents or guardians that I'll never meet. Because you don't send your child to school with a fever of 105. You take off work to care for your child. If work fires you, you find another job. YOU CARE FOR YOUR CHILD. You rush them to the hospital. You chase down doctors. You pack your kid in ice, if need be. YOU CARE FOR YOUR CHILD!

I'm not the perfect mom. But even I know that your children take priority.

(sigh)
I know, I know. I'm being self-righteous and judgmental. And tomorrow I'll have moved on to happier thoughts, while the parents will never forget. They will suffer day and night and worry for the rest of their lives. And I think that's why I'm so mad right now. Such painful suffering... and it didn't have to be that way.

2 comments:

achromic said...

Ummm well I'm totally judgemental and self rightous right along with you. It's probably even worse because I don't have kids and I think they are the most precious gift in the world.

Sarahlynn said...

We had the flu last week, and Ellie's doctor sent us on down to Children's so that she could be hooked up to an IV and rehydrated.

When we got to Children's, the average wait was well over 4 hours. The waiting room was chock full of sick people. And the triage nurses were saying, "Absolutely no food or drink for kids with flu-like symptoms."

We waited about an hour in this fashion, after which time my kid was even more seriously (and dangerously!) dehydrated than she had been before, so I called her pediatrician's office and they pulled some strings to get us into a clinic.

But this is purely unacceptable. This is not healthcare. I love Children's, but it shouldn't be this hard to take care of our sick kids.