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Amwell Urgent Care Services: Get Back to Your Routine Faster

December 4, 2019 by Rachel 36 Comments

Compensation was provided by Amwell via Momtrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Amwell or Momtrends.

Tis the season! Not just for the holidays, but for sickness, too! Between the inclement weather, work and life commitments, and just general busy-ness of the season, there is basically zero time to get to the doctor for an office visit.

Thanks to technology, we don’t have to worry about leaving the house for Urgent Care visits. Amwell offers online and mobile urgent care visits. They make it easy to be seen by doctors in just minutes to help combat illnesses like pink eye or the stomach flu.

I’ve been using mobile doctors for the last couple of years. Sure, we see our primary care doctor and pediatrician regularly. However, sometimes it just isn’t possible. Last week I was suffering from a headache that I just couldn’t get rid of. At first I thought it was just a headache, but when the pain moved to my jaw, I knew I needed to act.

I took a break while I was at work and I downloaded the Amwell app on my phone. Within minutes, I was connected with a board certified physician. She helped determine that, yes, it was likely an infection. An antibiotic prescription was called into my pharmacy and I was good to go.

That was it.

Why use Amwell for Urgent Care Services?

An urgent care visit can be expensive. And, unfortunately, most Urgent Care clinics are not open 24/7. Amwell is available day or night, at home or on the go.

What can I be seen for?

You can be seen for things like Fevers, Colds & Flu, Allergies, Sinus Infections, Stomach Bugs, UTIs, Rashes, Pink Eye, and more. They will not see you for an emergent situation (seizures, chest pain, broken bones, etc).

What can I expect during an Amwell telehealth visit?

You’ll need to create an account and enter in some of your personal information like insurance and health history. You can do this on either your phone or computer.

Then you can browse available doctors, review their credentials, and choose your preferred pharmacy.

Next, your video visit will start. The doctor will review your symptoms and assess your condition and set into motion next steps.

Complimentary Care

It’s still important to establish care with a regularly visited physician. Amwell is great for Urgent Care situations, but they are not a replacement for in-person care nor are they emergency care doctors.

Save on Urgent Care

The cost of an Amwell visit is $69, but if you click here and use the code itsahero you’ll receive 50% off!

Getting sick care shouldn’t be stressful. Don’t let it slow you down. Use Amwell to get your health back on track while you stay focused on everything else.

Ari’s Hospital Adventure // The Full Story + A HUGE Thank You

December 30, 2016 by Rachel 9 Comments

For those who have followed along to a couple of sporadic updates on Facebook and Twitter, Ari was admitted to Akron Children’s Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Early Saturday morning Ari started to vomit — a lot. Chad had already been exposed to direct contact with Ari, so he took over full-time care duty while I tended to Remy Bea. We stayed away from the boys the entire day. I didn’t have any last minute shopping to do, but I decided to go out anyways just to get out of the house for a bit.

We made a decision late Saturday night to still celebrate Christmas on Sunday. Even though Ari was passed out on the floor of the living room, I still managed to get my Santa duties accomplished without waking him.

When he woke up Sunday morning, the poor kid had barely noticed that Santa had stopped by. The one and only thing he was excited about was his stocking. We trudged through gifts with lackluster enthusiasm. You could tell he wanted to be excited (especially about his Hatchimal), but he just couldn’t muster the energy.

So instead, he napped. And while everyone napped, I washed the carpets — which I hope and pray doesn’t turn into a Christmas tradition.

Monday we all relaxed at home and — surprise — cleaned even more. Ari napped a lot, but wasn’t throwing up anymore. That is, until about 6pm. And then he started throwing up all over again. He was so weak; so malnourished; and so dehydrated.

At this point I started to worry. He was still urinating semi-regularly so we weren’t overly concerned; but the amount of times he had vomited and the inability to hold any food down was a serious cause for concern. I consulted by phone with a couple of people I really trust and I decided to just wait until Tuesday morning to take him to the pediatrician.

Come Tuesday morning, we got in to see a doctor at our family practice that I don’t particularly care for. I was certain I’d have to convince him that something might be seriously wrong with my little man (we have a pretty serious family history of genetic pancreatitis), but, to my surprise, the doctor was incredibly concerned after taking one look at Ari.

He immediately ran a glucose test to check for Type 1 Diabetes because of the sudden (and quite significant) weight loss and dry mouth. It came back negative. But the doctor said that we needed to go to the hospital to get IV fluids.

So Chad immediately came home from work to go with us to the hospital. We were lucky to get out of the waiting room right away. The resident — the poor, poor, resident — was not at al prepared for the wrath of Mama. And? To be honest, I wasn’t bad. I just definitely didn’t have the energy or patience. The poor resident came in to ask us questions. I told her about his symptoms and our family history. I told her we wanted a blood test of his lipase and amylase. She responded with “Well, we don’t even know if he needs IV fluids, so I’ll check with my supervisor to see if that’s even an option.” To which I responded that we had been referred to the hospital for the sole purpose of IV fluids.

Sidenote: Her superior was 1000% on board with our blood test request after hearing our family history.

Good news: Not pancreatitis! Bad news: Pretty badly dehydrated. He got hours of IV fluids right there in the ER, but after not seeing any significant improvement, they decided to admit him to really get his dehydration under control.

When the attending physician came by to tell us this, I asked her how we would have possibly known that his dehydration was quite this bad. I mean, you hear “if a baby is wetting xx number of diapers, they are okay,” or “if a child is peeing 4 times every 24-hours, they are okay.” But he was urinating that frequently. So… how would we have known!?

Their answer? We wouldn’t have. We were lucky to have gone to the hospital. That mothers instinct is legit, ya’ll.

When we moved up to his room I swear Chad and I breathed a collective sigh of relief. He wasn’t better yet, but we knew he would be soon.

Oh – did I mention we still had Remy with us at this point?? Yeah. Fun times trying to keep a very curious baby in one spot.

So at this point I went home to meet my mother-in-law, get Remy settled in for a nap, and leave her in good hands, before heading back — unhatched Hatchimal in tow (per Ari’s request).

The hospitalist came in that night to just go over the treatment plan. Basically, the plan was just to administer more IV fluids and get him to keep drinking and try and get him to eat. They really just wanted to monitor his progress and make sure he was able to stay hydrated.

Thankfully, that evening Ari’s appetite came back! He straight up begged for pancakes! Luckily, he could order breakfast for dinner from room service. This kid was in heaven!

After dinner he even got his Hatchimal to hatch. We were finally able to see his eyes light up the way we hoped they would on Christmas morning!

I left for the evening (since Remy Bea is still yet to take a bottle or sippy cup) and Chad stayed overnight with Ari. But I was back up at the hospital before the boys even woke up in the morning. I found out that Ari had developed some pretty bad diarrhea overnight, but when they drew more blood Wednesday morning, his electrolyte levels were getting much better still.

He ate more and opened about 30 cards that friends and loved ones had sent to the hospital. And then we finally saw the hospitalist again. He did an exam of Ari and told us that he was going to let us all go home!

Official diagnosis: Dehydration from GI bug.

At-home instructions: Keep him hydrated by whatever means possible. Don’t worry about pushing solid foods. Get lots of rest. And basically stay away from all other humans for a week.

And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since. I will say in the 36 hours or so since we’ve been home, Ari has improved significantly. He has been drinking, eating popsicles, and a bit of food. But the most significant changes have been in his demeanor — he’s playing with Remy and he’s almost back to his little 4-year old attitude self!

Wow this is a long post! But mostly I just wanted to update all of you that sent positive vibes and long-distance hugs!

Now TGIF! Can’t wait to spend this whole weekend in the house, playing with my two kiddos!

because pregnancy.

November 17, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

As easy of a pregnancy as I had with Moosh, I was silly to assume this pregnancy would be equally as easy. I mean, TWO easy pregnancies?! Ha. Riiiight.

Yesterday I went to see my OB for just a general 30.5 week checkup (because I accidentally missed my actual 30 week checkup. Oops. #PregnancyBrain). I left work during lunch (with plans to eat my lunch at my desk when I returned). I left my computer on, left papers for home on my desk, and headed out. Only to find out that my blood pressure was crazy high when I got to the OB.

The nurses asked me, “Are you stressed? Did you hit traffic? Bad day at work?” And I just responded, “No. For once, I am not stressed.” To be honest, I can tell when my blood pressure is up; and it’s been frequent throughout this pregnancy. Often times when I stand up, move, or just simply climb a flight of stairs. It’s odd for me because when I’m not pregnant, my blood pressure is generally low.

In addition, apparently the “normal pregnancy symptoms” I’ve been complaining about to my husband/friends for the last several weeks are not all that normal. Well, not at least when combined with high blood pressure. Apparently then they are ‘alarming.’

I’m measuring ahead of schedule (even though my belly is so much smaller than it was with Moosh).

I’m having frequent headaches and seeing stars in my vision.

And I’m SO uncomfortable. Like, I was only this uncomfortable with Moosh when I was 40-41 weeks. I can’t even sit up straight because there is so much pain in my upper abdomen — right below my ribcage.

Little did I know that these things + high blood pressure = no bueno. So they need to rule out hypertension/preeclampsia.

So they sent me to triage at Akron City Hospital where I had four hours of monitoring and testing before determining, inconclusively, that I would NOT be admitted. Instead I have to get rid of a bacteria they found via an antibiotic so that they can test me again next week and not receive skewed results.

So now we wait. If my ‘symptoms’ get any worse, it’s back to triage I go!

Somehow I managed to remain mostly calm throughout this whole process. I told Chad to stay at work and Ari stayed with the sitter until Chad picked him up at his normal time. I suppose that one thing that this pregnancy has taught me is to roll with the punches. So it’s almost funny that my blood pressure is high. Like, of course it is. Of course it’s high when I’m not stressing about it.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. If I have preeclampsia, that means my chances of a natural, unmedicated delivery, go way down. That means that I will need to be induced via pitocin (which also scares me because I needed pitocin to stop the bleeding post delivery with Moosh). That means a higher chance of needing a c-section. I understand that these are instances where it is medically necessary for the safety of both the mother and the child, and that truly is OK with me. But it still makes me a little sad to know that this is a real possibility.

However, the idea of this pregnancy not going to 40 weeks — or 41 weeks like with Moosh — is definitely appealing. I’m not gonna lie. So for now, we antibiotic, we monitor, and we do what we have to do.