Why We Love Primary Childrens Hospital

It's the beginning of RSV season again. Which reminds me of my two greatest trials, and my two greatest blessings.

Kalyssa was almost 2 years old. They say that once children turn 2, their risk of getting RSV is very slim. She just wasn't feeling right. We'd been back and forth to Dr. Balog's office for about 10 days. She just wasn't feeling any better. Dr. Balog told me that if she started to have trouble breathing, to take her immediately to Primary Children's. I of course asked, "How will I know if she's having trouble breathing?" Sounds stupid, but sometimes you "think" they are having trouble breathing, and they aren't. Trust me, you WILL know.

So instead of just taking her to Primary's, I took her back in to see Dr. Balog. But I KNEW their was something not right. So before I left to the Dr.'s I called my mom and asked her to meet me there. When I arrived at the Dr.'s they did a couple breathing treatments, which didn't help her at all. So Dr. Balog says, "We'll need to get her to Primary's." I tell her we'll get going. She proceeds to tell me that she needs to go by ambulance. "By AMBULANCE? We don't have insurance. Can't I just drive her there?" The next sentence will NEVER be erased from my mind. "We don't want her to 'expire' on the way." I say, "Ok, call the ambulance."

We spent the next 5 days in the hospital with Kalyssa. When we were able to come home, we still had to have the oxygen on her when she slept. If she stopped breathing correctly, the dang machine would beep, and we'd haul our lazy butts out of bed (at lightening speed) to check on her. It was so scary, and we are so lucky to still have our Kali.



Our next trial was with our Kaleb. This happened 2 years ago. The children get to go on an annual camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa Barney. They go to Red Rock (in southern Utah). They take their bikes and get to go to a hot air Balloon Festival. They have so much fun.

The kids were riding on their bikes, and Kaleb and his cousin crashed. Kaleb didn't really complain too much, but Grandpa and Grandma knew something was wrong. They took him to the hospital just to get him checked out. The first call we got was from Grandpa, asking for medical information. Yeah...still no health insurance at that time. So their wasn't much to give. The second call was from the Doctor. They needed to get permission to get him to Primary's.
He had broken his femur (the bone from the knee to the hip) and the way it was broken, they felt he should be in a specialty hospital. So by ambulance, by LIFE FLIGHT...yes life flight...by amublance again, he would get to Primary's. It was agonizing to drive to primary and just sit and wait until he arrived.

Finally he arrived it was at like 2 in the morning. He was in so much pain. They had an IV in his arm, that wasn't in properly, so he wasn't getting pain meds the entire time. His arm was swollen, and at that point I was very thankful that they didn't treat him down in Panguitch.

So they had to put a new IV in, and the guy doing it, just couldn't get it in. Kaleb was crying, "NO, NO, ow, ow. Ow, Mommy! Ow Daddy! Help me!" I about passed out in pain for him. I had to leave the room, I was getting so angry at the guy, and then I was getting sick with worry. I about passed out.

The doctors assessed that he wouldn't need any surgery, but that they would body cast him. So they gave him this halucinagenic drug. He would be totally awake, but unaware. It was horrible. He was grunting, and making noises, and looking right through you while they were casting him. When he finally started coming to, he looked (through me) and said, "I want my mommy." I said, "It's ok buddy, I'm right here." He looked through me again, and said, "No, I want my REAL mommy." It totally crushed me.

We would have to carry him everywhere. It was extremely hard. After about 3 weeks, he began to try to do things himself. I had to call Dr. Holmes, and ask her if it was ok that he was "walking." They really didn't quite know how to answer that. She kept saying, "Walking? Really?". As long as he wasn't in any pain, they didn't seem to think it was a problem.

He's gone to see Dr. Holmes once a year. At the last checkup, she mentioned that the bone hasn't quite caught up on growth yet. I'm not sure what that will mean for the future, but she said she'd assess it again in 2 more years. But thank goodness he is a happy healthy boy.


So, to my point. Why we love Primary Children's Hospital. They really worked well with our financial situation. We are still paying on the 2 bills right now, but without the hospital's write offs (thanks to Pennies by the Inch and the donations they receive) we would probably be paying on these bills for the rest of our lives!

Thanks to Trent rejoining the National Guard, we are now able to have good health insurance. We were active just in time to have Kaisey, and they paid for EVERYTHING! We have been so very BLESSED!!!!