WARNING: This is a long, grumpy post, but I just gotta get it out of my system before I go insane.

Emma Rose has had an ear infection in her right ear, off and on, since she was eight months old. We know that it's affected her hearing, because the ear specialist we saw when she was a year old pointed that out to us (and then he put her on expensive, non-government-subsidised medicine to help clear the infection up). He suggested we come back to see him after the infection had finally calmed down and we could see what needed to be done next.

After four more flare-ups in three months, our GP suggested we get Em (who was then 15 months old) the pneumococcal immunisation because when they swabbed the nasty crap in her ears last time the infection flared up, pneumococcal is what they found. Her reasoning was that maybe the immunisation would help stave off the ear infections. So we did that -- two injections, another $300 we had to pay. Em's now 17 months and hasn't had a flare-up in two months, so we think that means it's working.

But Em still can't hear us properly out of her right ear, and her speech is still not on track, so we think there's still fluid in there that hasn't drained, or something. So on 18 June, our GP put through another referral for her to see the ear specialist.

Today I rang the GP's office to find out if the referral's gone through properly, as it's been nearly a month and we still haven't been notified of our appointment. The World's Rudest Receptionist informed us that it was normal to wait this long, and that if we were going to be *so impatient*, we could call the ear clinic ourselves and ask them why we had to wait.

So I did, only to be told that Em wasn't put on the waiting list for the ear specialist until 29 June -- 11 days after the referral was faxed through (???) -- and that she's still got AT LEAST six weeks to go before we're even told when the appointment will be. She also said that Em's condition has been assigned a Priority 2, which apparently means she's "right up there" in terms of severity. And that if she needs to have grommet surgery, which is the next step after seeing the specialist, the waiting list is... ONE TO THREE YEARS.

So what did I do? Hung up the phone, then picked it back up and called the first private ear specialist I found in the phone book. I got their next free appointment -- it's in two days. It's costing us $165. But maybe we will now FINALLY know why Em can't hear, how delayed her speech really is, and what we should do next to try to fix it.

Then I hung up the phone for the last time, and sat and cried for half an hour at the futility of it all.  

Lets start with a big  just for you!

I am so over Dr Receptionist's, the ladies all 3 of them at our Gp's office are all very very rude to say the least!

I hope you get somewhere by going private. (we had to with Tyrell's eye's)

Best of luck!

nzpiper, I agree about the health insurance -- sign your baby up from birth, as most places will cover pre-existing conditions if they're signed up from birth. Meaning, if we signed Em up for health insurance now, they wouldn't cover any of this ear stuff anyway because it's all pre-existing. I so wish we'd gotten health insurance right from the start.

Thanks so much for the hugs, ladies -- I am really looking forward to the appointment tomorrow, as I feel it will finally answer the questions that have been building up in my head since her ear problems began. The public health system boggles my mind sometimes. I feel like ringing up the Ministry of Health and giving them a piece of my mind!

We're getting health insurance for all of us, so if Em has any other significant issues, they'll be covered -- I just wish we'd gotten it sooner! I never realised it could be like this, with the waiting lists, etc, or I would have done it long ago. We already decided to go private and just pay for the grommet surgery out of our savings if that's what she needs, as the waiting list is so ridiculous. Will let you all know what the doc says tomorrow -- fingers crossed!!!!!

I am going to be seeing our specialist again very soon I think. Andrew has an ear infection (again) and we are just now waiting for the dr's appointment (4.30 this after noon), I know we are going to have to have grommets put back in, I can handle that he is so much better with them in), but grrr  at the usless dr we saw at the hospital who took his last ones out just because they had been in for almost 18 months.

Has Emma Rose been to the specialist yet? How did it go?

Well, we went to the specialist yesterday -- the irony was, it was the same place we went before when we were on the public health waiting list. Just a different doctor (which we had to pay for, of course). He spent about 40 minutes with us, which I appreciated, and said there is definitely fluid in both of Em's ears that is not draining. He said her hearing is compromised to the point that what she hears sounds like when you are underwater and someone talks to you (we've all done that in the pool as a kid, so I can relate). Basically Charlie Brown grownup-type "wah wah wah wah" noises. Her speech is definitely delayed, and he cautioned us that it could be related to the hearing impediment, or it could be something else, but if we could get the hearing sorted, it would be one more piece of the puzzle in place.

He explained the grommet surgery to us, along with the different outcomes of that, and the different outcomes if we didn't get her the surgery. I felt his approach was very balanced in that he didn't try to push us into anything, just laid out all the facts and spent just as much time explaining each option. In the end, we decided to go for the grommets. We're going to get it done privately, at a cost of around $1800, and we've scheduled it for 6 August -- how's that for soon! The specialist who saw Em is the one doing the surgery, which I like -- continuity of care is important to me. He also said the cost includes all post-op visits to his local practice.

I was interested to read what you wrote about the doctor removing Andrew's grommets because they'd been in for 18 months, mummy_becks -- I asked the specialist we saw about this, and he said he's inclined to leave them in unless they are causing problems, and just to check them regularly once they are past the 18-month mark. He did mention that the "usual" way of things is for them to fall out after about a year, and that with kids under the age of 5, a significant number of them have to have grommets a second time once the first ones fall out. So we're prepared that we might have to shell out for this again in a few years. He also said that he once removed grommets that had been in for 16 years. 16 years!!! Poor you, though -- I completely understand what you are going through with this process. Feel free to add your own rant to mine!!! We can support each other.

Anyway, I feel MUCH better after going to the appointment yesterday, because I finally feel like someone is LISTENING to me and explaining things in a way that I can understand, without brushing me off or seeing my daughter as just another kid in the lengthening queue. Of course, we had to pay for it -- and as my mother keeps telling me, sometimes you have to be your child's advocate. Although that can also feel like playing the devil's advocate!!!