A bad day that got worse

I woke up this morning with no grand plans. I intended to do some cleaning, kick my oldest in the ass to get him to clean his closet, play a game or two. Sunday crap. 

NOPE.

In the  process of getting Little one ready for church Kim found lice. Lots of lice. We went through this a couple of weeks ago and thought we had it licked. We washed all the bedding, bought the shampoo, blah blah blah. But it came back and both kids are infested. So off we went again to buy $50 worth of special shampoo and went at it again. I stripped down all the beds and started the laundry, vacuumed the furniture and carpeting while Kim started with the lice comb. 

Then it got fun.

In the process of cleaning little one's hair, should wondered why her earlobe was VERY red. It seems that she had pain in her ear for about a week and didn't want to tell us, thinking that the repair would be painful. If only she knew how painful it would be to remove the earring backer from INSIDE her earlobe.

Off to the emergency room. (After the lice treatment, of course)

I took her to the ER and my heart fell. Here I am thinking that it's Sunday afternoon, shouldn't be too bad, but I was greeted with a packed waiting room. I warned her before we left to bring a book (I had to stop her from bringing 6). I also went prepared with a book I was halfway through. Four hours later we were called in. Four hours. When we arrived we were told that she would be seen in the clinic by a nurse practitioner and there was only four people in front of us. OK, I thought, that's not bad. I finished the book.

She was a trooper. There were needles needed to freeze her ear and the nurse popped out the backer in a matter of minutes. He fixed her up and kept her entertained; he was finished in ten minutes. Great work on his part. He wrapped a bandage around her head and sent her off. Now she looks like a pirate who's patch slipped. We headed home around 6:30 tonight, my Sunday thoroughly and completely pooched. I'm still washing sheets as I type this.

This of course begs the question - If we waited four hours to have 10 minutes in the treatment room, what the hell was wrong the the four people that went in before us?

I detest the ER. Living in Canada we have the distinct advantage that we were not handed a bill when we left, but that's the only plus in this mess. Universal health care is the greatest thing since sliced bread but the downfall is that you must wait in a room with 40 or 50 other people before seeing a nurse or doctor. Add to that the steady stream of ambulatory admissions. Last week my friend took her daughter to the ER suffering from dehydration (she's 4). She spent 8 hours waiting before finally calling it a day and leaving. She fixed the problem herself. She was pissed. You don't think that horror story was top of mind when I walked in there? I apparently, I got lucky.

Sitting home tonight with the whole family, one bandaged, one in a heap of crap for the condition of his closet, one very tired from cleaning lice all day, and one who felt the day was stolen from me, we are a disgruntled bunch. We need to have another Sunday to make up for this write-off. 

And so the new year begins.

What's your ER horror story?