A Day in the Life

Yesterday when the man headed out for work, he asked, "Will you have time to run an errand?"

My reply, "I don't know. Our appointment at the giant kid's hospital in the city is at 10:30 (AM). We should."

"Good," and he left.

Our trip in took over an hour. Garmin said we would make land fall at 9:33; it was more like 9:50. Traffic and construction, but we never really stopped, so I considered it a successful first leg of the trip. Parked and checked in at 10:05, I figured we were in good shape.

10:55 we were brought to a room. I could hear the drs, for we always see a gaggle, in the next room. Oh joy, could we be next? Is it possible we could be in and out with errand time to spare? Time passed. I started to do annoying mommy sort of stuff with the patient. Laughing every time she started to lose her tween cool. "Mom, you are so annoying," became her mantra, as time ticked by. The sound of the drs voices, but a memory.

Did they remember we were here? I did see our name on the big whiteboard, where it was clearly written when we arrived, and what time our appointment was to be -- all right let's try for a ball park same day time here.

Tired from all my annoyances, I retreated into a cell phone game (I'm winning!) when the patient says, "It's 12..." I shake me head. If the doctor walked in NOW earliest we would be out is 1. Would I even make it home in time for the 3 PM pick up? Breathe mommy.

A knock on the door and our all time favorite big hospital doc walks in. "Have you been waiting long?" He glances at the chart. "Yes you have. Sorry for the wait."

Really are you sorry? I don't ask. This doc is the best, the reason we are here. And he is leaving the big city practice to go home to Chile where he will be at the University. Darn! The kid likes him; trusts him. I like is knowledge, care, availability and responsiveness. We had been trying to get this appointment since January... through normal channels. Nothing, then the knee swelled and I emailed the doc himself to see if he had some magic with scheduling. The appointment, one of his last in this country, was made and taken.

"We should see you again in December, sooner if it acts up. We will probably be seeing you before that..."

My quick response, "Will that visit involve round trip plane tickets?" Laughter went up among the gaggle. The Head of the Department, another wonderful doc hands me his card. "Call me when you need your next appointment."

And I will. Tired, but happy with the result, we leave, buying the hungry patient a sandwich at the hospital lobby. Mommy is treated to a bite; lucky mommy.

The ride home is stop and stop, with an occasional go. Exhausted I swing by the elementary school and pull the young one 30 minutes early. My reason, Mommy is too tired to come back and get her. It's been a day.

And no the errand did not get run. Dinner required magical construction followed by a flute lesson.