Got a little story for ya Ags...

So let me start from the beginning...by the way it's a shame they don't let you pick your parents....cuz mine are CRAZY!!!
So, last week my mom went to see a new pediatrician that everyone RAVES about at the private hospital where I was born...Dr. Brasheer..well, she went to get me diagmosed with reflux...which I do have, but Dr. B took one look at my hips and ultrasound and decided that the double diaper thing was the dumbest idea in the world.
She said to prevent them from getting worse, I needed to go see a specialist at the big public hospital (Think 10 times bigger than ST. Joes, but 100 times more disorganized oh...and still the arab speaking world) SHe told mom to go on any Sunday or Tuesday night at 5pm to see a Dr. who's name neither mom nor dad could read in room 318. SHe said to be persistant about her being seen because we were just going to walk in and I don't have a passport or visa or residency permit or country health card yet.



So mom and dad get there last nightat 4:30 (Sunday) and walk into this hospital and go up to the third floor and ther floor has two waiting rooms..with tons of patients...but not one person that works there...there are several cashier windows (all empty) several registration windows scattered about (all empty) several control desks (all empty) mind you neither mom or dad know where to go first or what to do and we are the only white people in a sea of arabs. SO they go to the male waiting room because females can be with males in the male waiting rooms, but males can never enter the female waiting area. About 5 pm people start crowding all the windows and desks...i mean the lines were this long...and they actually don't do lines...so it's just this mass chaos of people at every window. At 5:15 a guy walks by and mom and dad ask him where they are supposed to be...he says "emergency" dad said, "um no...room 318" and he pointed to some chairs.

Then a guy from Jordan next to dad says "you have to go to the other side of the building to pay". So, dad leaves me and mom in the male waiting area. (which some old arab guy was not thrilled with and gave mom the eye the entire time) While that all happens, someone shows up at the control desk next to mom....so mom waited for the mass chaos of arab men to clear the desk and then she explains the situation to the guy behind the desk...(who doesn't really understand her) and he finally says "appointment"... and mom said, "no..we can't...she has no id, all i have is a referral" and he says "come back 7pm"

About that time dad shows up and they wouldn't take his money at the cashier desk because we didn't have an appointment...they told him come back at 7:30.

They have started handing out numbers in the waiting room and they have these digital screens everywhere with the "now serving # whatever in room whatever" flashing on them. We can't get a number because we haven't paid and we can't pay because we have no appointment and they won't give you an appointment without a health card that I can't get for another two months.

Mom decides at this point (6pm) that this is bulldoodie and she decides to throw all manners out the door and act like the locals. So she goes up to room 318 and knocks on the door until a nurse comes out. SHe explains herself to the nurse who wants my passport...umm no, or my id...um no , or my health card...um no...but mom is persistant and the nurse took my blank appointment card and went into the room with the doctor. She came back with a stamp on my card and wrote next to the stam "to be seen today" and she told dad to go pay. Can you imagine knocking on an examination room door in the states to get someones attention?

Dad goes to pay and some young arab cuts in front of him, luckily an old arab behind dad yanked the young arab out of line and yelled at him and made him go to the back of the line. They actually take dads money now that he has this card with a stamp and then they give dad a number at the control desk.

So we have 11 people ahead of us and we are all watching the screen with much antisipation...during this time mom is watching the men pray during prayer time through a window... (catholics have nothing on muslims...they get up and down so many times its not funny and they go all the way to the floor). Then they amazingly skip 3 numbers for our room...Mom and Dad get excited thinking that they are in Vegas watching them roll through the numbers and start calling for their number like they are at a Roulette table in front of all these arabs. Then they skip two more numbers and dad yells out "come on 2220, come on 2220...baby needs a new pair of hips" mom is laughing hysterically at this point and everyone is staring at us and mom and dad could give a shit. About 15 minutes later after 2215 is seen, they come and get us skipping the rest of the numbers between us ( maybe we were causing to much of a scene).

So we get to see the doctor who is very nice and seemed t be a real badass. He looked at my hips and to much of the relief of mom and dad, told us that my right hip isat 95% and my left hip is at 80% of where it should be. After looking at the ultrasound he explained that both my hip sockets are shallow and that they are both open...but that he was going to put me in a splint and hopefully in a month or two It would be corrected since it's all still cartlidge and not hard bone. Mom and dad feel really good about this doctor and he signs the appointment card saying that we have an open appointment to see him whenever we feel like it. Awesome!

So he tells us to go to this other hospital on Monday and to just "walk in" (oh goody here we go again) anytime between 7 and 3 and I will get my splint. We made it home by 7:30 which was nice...considering that if mom hadn't knocked on the door...we would just be waiting in line to pay for an imaginary appointment.

Monday morning dad came home from work and picked me and mom up to find the 3rd hospital in this story. Wer finally find and walk in and once again...they are immediately lost and have no idea what to do. Mom asks security and they point down a hall...there is no prosthetics office down that hall, so then dad finds a public relations office with a tall arab guy standing outside of it...he tells us we are in the worng building and thatw e need to go outside and find the small white building. We do this and walk in and they tell dad that he has to go back to the other building and pay cash at the cashier...but that they will see us in a little bit.

Dad leaves to do this....


....As dad leaves, a fat doctor watches walk out and then walks over to the window and watches dad walk to the other hospital. He turns around and goes and talks to two other men behind the counter in whispers...finally a tall doctor says to mom "Where does your husband work...my friend recognizes him". "Mom says, "ooone of the Qatar Foundation universities" The fat doctor comes over and says "what does he do?" and mom says, "he is the director of graduate studies and research" (at this point mom realizes that Hamad had just applied for grants with QF and TAMU and that this guy probably did meet Clifton in some of these meetings they had just had) SO the fat dr. walks over to the other two men and all the nurses and staff and whispers...next thing you know, a nurse comes over and gets moms bags and the doctor picks me up in the car seat and says, "you have no need to wait...you should have said something earlier"

This is the funny part, they then walk into an examination room where a pakistani man was being fitted with a prosthetic arm and hand and kick the man out of the room and throw his arm and hand onto the side of the desk. I was hungry at this point and so, they said" no problem...you feed her, we will wait" and they leave. Then they come back and start doting on me with all sorts of attention. They start fitting my brace and the fat dr keeps telling mom that dad needs to fund all his research. At this point dad walks in and they finish fitting me for my splint. Dad unknowingly is sitting at the desk and picks up the prosthetic hand and starts playing with it....(mom finally whispers in his ear that the hand belongs to a man they kicked out of the room outside and to put it down)

Then the dr talks to dad for awhile about my hips and mingles abit about research and funding and how wonderful Hamad is and tells dad how important QF is. (which is cracking mom up)

Finally we get to leave.

So this is me and my "very important" dad in front of the prosthetic hospital...after much time and care from the staff.

hope that guy gets his hand and arm back...

So, I don't fit in my carseat and boppy ... but this bouncy seat will do, It only took mom and Josie 90 minutes of me screaming bloody murder for them to discover that...they are swift, let me tell you.

I can wear onesies and one piecies...but dresses are better.

I have to wear this for a few months at most ( most likely) I see the ultrasound fols in a month, then the pediatrician, the specialist if needed and then a one month refitting...I have to wear this 24 hours a day except when changing diapers or baths. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

End of story....

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CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE

Watering the yard