Bear with me for a little mini-vent please.
Background: Jared was sick this weekend....sore throat, fever....but on Sunday he felt better, never did let me look at his throat. Back to school yesterday, appetite back, felt better.
Also....he's been on meds for his acne, working well but still has a few trouble spots.
So....he had a breakout on his neck and he's been picking at it (sorry, gross) but we put some compresses on it, neosporin and bandaids because he said some kids at school thought it looked gross...so we covered it.
Also, he might have a splinter in his finger because it's red and swollen. I had him soak that in Epsom Salt and warm water and was just waiting it out.
OKAY....school nurse called just now. Not that she really IS a nurse....she said "Several people (I am assuming teachers) have mentioned to me about Jared's skin and his finger....and just now I looked at his throat. He doesn't have a fever, but I think he should see the doctor. I don't know if you have insurance or not, but he still should be seen." She went on to say that she thought he should have hot compresses on his neck, blah blah blah....she said she didn't know if it was acne, or what, but that we should be doing something.
NOW......I WAS doing something....but he does have to go to school.....and I told her that I'd soaked his finger, that I was certain that his neck DID have acne and that he had messed with it....and that he sees a dermatologist for his skin (a very expensive one at that) but that, yes, I would call our family physician to see about his sore throat.
So why am I semi-offended by her call???? I'm just bugged. Maybe some parents don't pay any attention to their kids, but we've been in that school system for 20 years and they all know ME!
Okay. I'm still bugged, but vent over.
Um, that would have totally offended me too!
I've actually been in that situation before- when recently (Oct I think it was- so maybe not THAT recent) when Robert got hit by a flying asthma inhaler (it was thrown down the hall but not intentionally at him- he just happened to come out of his bedroom door into the hall right at that second. Accident prone I'm telling ya!) and the round end of it made almost a complete circle on his cheek. The entire thing was red and swollen but the outer edges were like the top layer of skin came off, so it was darker red "almost" all the way around (the almost is important here).
I sent a note to the teacher explaining it- because the top of the inhaler also hit his forehead at the same time and we actually went to the ER to see if he needed stitches.. they said they could put stitches in but I could also just put a butterfly bandaid on it too, and they had a wait of atleast 4hrs (with 3 kids? no thanks!) so we left and put the bandaid on. Anyway, my letter was to explain what happened and to let her know to CALL ME and I will come immediately with another bandaid if that one falls off- because a regular bandaid wouldn't do to hold it together.
The nurse calls me later in the day saying that my son has RINGWORM on his cheek. She actually argued with me. I said listen, the ER nurse and ER dr are more qualified than you and I'm TELLING you that he got hit in the face with an inhaler. It is not ringworm (we don't even own a cat or been around cats/etc.) -no way is it ringworm. She calls me again the next day (as it had swollen up and gotten red in the middle -more than the day before) saying she "really really felt it was ringworm". I was like you're really really wrong!
ugh ugh ugh!
But your story would have offended me even more- not just because she acted like you didn't care about having your son seen by a dr but then also added in like you couldn't afford it! Excuse me, even if we were poor our kids health wouldn't be something we'd skip to save a buck. Does she really think you don't have insurance? I mean please.
(for instance if our nurse had called to say she thought it was ringworm, I'd be offended. I'd be doubly offended if she then implied that the reason I wasn't taking him to the dr is because I might not have insurance, I'd be doubly offended!)
The nerve! And I agree, I don't think they are really nurses. I mean for crying out loud- if they think an injury from a flying inhaler is ringworm that popped up overnight- they can't possibly be a real nurse! (IMO)
Oh and btw, I understand what you meant. I am a "picker" too. If I breakout for any reason I tend to mess with my face a lot- in fact it may cause breakouts.. hands on face is not a good thing apparently. LOL Making a big deal out of it, plus a splinter in the finger that is tender/swollen... is so ridiculous!
(my kids get sore throats, if they aren't running fever or showing any other symptoms... they get over it without a dr appt!)