Healthcare adventure

So being the momma's girl she is Blythe seems to have caught my sinus troubles as of late. She has had a fever for 4 days today. It got up to 102.3 axillary which is so very close to my freak out limit! Now last might we spent most of the night fighting with fitful sleep and when she finally gave in to full sleep at 3a.m. she began sweating profusely she did not truly stop sweating until 3 the next afternoon. So with the fitful sleep in the night I assumed that she was not getting over her problems because the sinus issue had developed her an ear infection. I made an appointment with the pediatrician and we went (with Blythe still sleeping at every turn) at 2:30 in the afternoon. He found nothing that stood out (as was my observation- short of the fitful sleep that night) and was willing to send us home with close contact until she decided to "exhibit lethargy" he offered her a sucker with no real arousal. So with his "limited abilities/resources" he decided to send us to the emergency room at children's medical. ER! What we can't do something else. Oh the out-of-pocket!!! So after trying to find a clinic that would/could do blood work and other simple testing we succumb to the idea of emergency room visit. Ugh... It was as horrible as I remember it to be in a small town. It was actually much worse because you were like on a conveyor belt only they exhibited themselves as pressurized rooms! We proceeded to spend the next 4 hours waiting for them to help make our baby better. Only one of us went with her and the other of us was stuck in the waiting room with the older two. After an hour Mark decides to take the kids to goof off for a while. Me all the while hoping to get done so I can take my baby, who began to start crying anytime someone unfamiliar opened the door, to cuddle in the comfort of my own home. Those stretchers and hospital chairs really aren't comfy even with a child sleeping on you. The doctor came in after an hour and a half to decide that she was going to do a flu swab and take a urine sample. 30 minutes later we get the tests done. 45 minutes of waiting for the test results for the doctor (who I actually liked a lot) to say keep her fluid intake up and keep a close eye on her. One long miserable story later... my husband hates health care, my daughter is not keen on stethoscopes (or strangers for that matter) and the diagnosis we came home with was mild dehydration! Oh did I mention it cost us $95.00 to find that out! We knew that or we would not have been pushing water as much as we have been! My husband came to some excruciating realizations... damned if you do damned if you don't! We paid $20.00 for our PCP to tell us to go to the ER... His eye opening comparison was if I take my car to the mechanic and he says he can't fix whatever is wrong with the car (even if it is because he can't tell) here is the kicker... YOU DON"T PAY HIM! People actually wonder what is wrong with health care??? Also when we reviewed our health care coverage he wanted to take some of that expense away because we pay almost $4,000 a year for our coverage. but the lesser option which is $700.00 less a year does not allow for an abundance of cash flow to make it an option. We have difficulty as it is paying the copay for the most part let alone having a deductible or paying more out of pocket to free up cash flow. I honestly don't see how relatively healthy families could even consider not expecting more from health care.