A Trip to the Pediatrician's

Yesterday, all three kids went in for their yearly physicals. I like doing it at this time of the year; all three are past their birthdays, and the sports-physicals rush is well over at the doctor's office...making it easier for me to bring all three kids in and have the appointments done back-to-back.

Now, while it is well-known on this blog that I have issues with many, if not most, doctors...my kids' pediatrician is not one of them. He is worth his weight in gold, ten times over.

The family doctor we had before we made this switch was one of the worst doctors on the face of the planet (someday, I'll share the story of how he tried to have me arrested here). I had mistakenly believed that having one doctor for the entire family was the way to go...even though one of my kids has special-needs. He'd been recommended to me by a former neighbor, and if I ever see HER again, I'll spit in her eye (and for reasons beyond siccing me on Bastard Doc). After Bastard Doc sat on my daughter's prescription for a wheelchair for SIX MONTHS (he refused to return calls to me,to her physical therapist or to her neurologist...and when he finally did call back, he insisted she didn't need a wheelchair. She was four and couldn't walk and broke strollers underneath her...how the hell DIDN'T she need one?!?), I asked Wren's neurologist for a referral. That's how I found our current pediatrician.

Dr. B is probably in his late 50's, soft-spoken and has a genuine rapport with children. He is always up-to-date, which I appreciate. He actually LISTENS when a parent talks, and is a strong advocate when a child needs him to be. Once, when Wren was in the hospital seriously ill, he came to see her every single morning, and called every single evening to talk to me and to her nurses. He was completely on top of her care, every moment. As I said, we could ask for no better doctor or advocate than Dr. B.

Back to yesterday...we arrived at the office, and we all went back to the exam room together. Two nurses took blood pressure, did the eye charts for the older two, checked weight & height. Then in came Dr. B.

Wren went first, as she had a Campfire meeting to go to within the hour. We asked Dr. B about a referral to a new neurologist (remember me talking about the Siren Tin God?), but Dr. B said that as long as we felt Wren didn't need medication for her Tourette's just yet, that there was no need for a neurologist until she did. He would take care of her until then. I cannot express our relief at this.

Phoenix went next, clean bill of health, although his eyesight is a bit on the nearsighted side, and he may need glasses in a year or two. Both Jonathan and I were 12 when we ended up getting glasses, so it's not exactly a shock.

Then came Eden, who screamed through the entire appointment. Dr B was in no way alarmed. He's very used to the Terrible Two's, I imagine.

Then came shots for everyone: all three got Hep A and flu shots, and Phoenix also got a tetanus booster.

Wren went off to Campfire, and then we all went to McDonald's as a (rare) treat for kids who had to get shots that day.

Luckily, no one had any bad effects from the shots, other than the older two having sore arms and the younger being a little sleepy.

And thankfully, I don't have to do it again until next year!