Linda Smith: Mrs. Ivey. She's been to the emergency room three times in the past month. Why can't these parents just learn to give their kids the medicine like they're supposed to.
Linda Smith: [thinking to herself] I don't envy Mrs. Ivey. She cleans houses for a living. And on a meager salary, she can't afford day care for her daughter, so she brings her to work. As if having asthma wasn't enough. Poor girl has to tolerate dust, dirt, and all manner of cleaning chemicals on a daily basis.
Linda Smith: Holly, it looks like you have had some adventures at the hospital since the last time I saw you.
Mrs. Ivey: I brought her to work one day and let her play outside. I was cleaning the Walters house. They are big smokers. Her breathing sounded so bad that I brought her right to the emergency room. Then the other time, I had forgotten to bring the medicine they gave us. I brought her to -- to the Walters' house again, and she was short of breath so I brought her back to the emergency room just in case.
Linda Smith: Why didn't you bring her to see us after the first emergency room visit?
Mrs. Ivey: I had to leave work early, and I didn't get paid. And then the car was broken before that, and I spent all my money fixing it. Without my -- without my car, I can't work. We just didn't have the money to come here. We can't pay the emergency room bills either. I just tell them that. It's true.
Linda Smith: What was the third emergency room visit?
Holly Ivey:I was breathing and it sounded funny. I get really scared and it -- and I couldn't breath even more.
Linda Smith: Has Holly been taking her medicine?
Mrs. Ivey: We tried a while, but she still has attacks. You've got to give me something to cure it. I can't stand to see her suffer so much when she tries to breath.
Linda Smith: Mrs. Ivey, Holly needs to take her medicine. I know it takes a while, but you need to make sure that she takes it. And we also need to find out what triggers her asthma, like smoke exposure. And we need to try to manage it that way too. I'll tell you what. Can you -- can you come into the office next week? I'm going to explain to you then how to manage Holly's asthma. In the meantime, you've got to make sure that she takes her medicine. Oh, and -- and Mrs. Ivey, I'll have our staff check into something for you before your next visit. Remind me next week when you come in. There are children's health insurance plans in every state for children without insurance, even if a parent works. And I'm quite sure that Holly would be eligible.