Two down, none to go

Right now I am listening to thumping on my roof. And an air compressor. There is also some sort of sand papery sound.

We're getting a new roof.

Just wanted you to know what I came home to today, after the second trip to the big city in 24 hours.

There are virtually no pediatric specialists in this town, so we have two choices. We can hope one makes a trip down once a month or so and try to get an appointment at the children's health clinic. Or we can drive to the big city to see the specialists we need to see.

I feel sorry for parents with significantly health-impaired children. Luckily, M only has two specialists--a urologist and a orthopedist.

We're VERY lucky that her orthopedist comes to our town once a month and sees children in a very nice doctor's office. Not the children's health clinic. We've gone that route before. Not fun.
It's unfortunate that the times she's needed to see him just prior to the surgery and post-operative did not coincide with his trips south, so we had to drive to the big city. Not a big deal. We really, really like him.

We did not so much like the urologist. In fact, we didn't like him at all. I don't think I've ever been in a doctor's office where I was treated so poorly. He interrupted me, smirked at my questions. When I asked if she would have another VCUG, he said, "Oh, she WILL have another VCUG." I was tired of being condescended, so I said, "Well, WHEN she has her next VCUG, I want her sedated." His response? "I'll conceded to that." As if we were in a battle of M's health care!!! He was aggravated because she couldn't produce a urine sample--I won't get in to the details on that one. She COULD have given a urine sample of the receptionist had been on top of things and realized what was going on. His nurses were nice, thank goodness. But not nice enough to make getting on the road at 7:00 am in the dark worth it.

My friend encouraged me to call our ped to let him know. I thought about just waiting until I saw him again, but decided this morning to go ahead and call. M and I were shopping in the big city when he called us back. I usually deal with his nurse, who I like a lot, so I was surprised when he actually called me back himself. I felt vindicated when I told him about the appointment. I told him that I didn't really mind if that was M's urologist because we don't have to see him that often. The ped assured me that he would refer us to someone else. He said, "You should never go to a doctor and feel that way." I love our pediatrician.

So our trip to the big city yesterday resulted in lots of frustration and hurt feelings and feelings of helplessness. Some retail therapy helped alleviate those feelings.

Our trip to the big city today netted much better results. (Oh, the thumping on the roof just got louder. They must be directly above me now. Only one of them speaks English, so when I offered our bathroom, there was lots of confusion!!!!) M is cast-free. She was all smiles and giggles for the orthopedist today. He did not roll his eyes at me once or smirk at my questions. M even tried to take a few steps for him. There was lots of hugging and tickling between patient and doctor. When he left, he looked at me and said, "This is why I love pediatrics."

And that's why we love him.

Thankfully we're done with scheduled doctor's appointments for a while.

Two down, none to go.