More on the Doc

By Chris

Teresa beat me to the punch on the Doctor's visit report. But, there was more diary - worthy info to chronicle for the sake of history.

Nick can get anxious about stuff . . . and there is no stopping the freaking out when a full out panic sets in, so I was very nervous about my assignment for the evening. I knew there would be needles, awkward conversation and peeing in a cup (all potential danger areas for Nick). I had planned to check him in, get a word with the doctor about what I wanted to happen (you have to do that to get what you want in our health care system, I've learned) and then let him go back by himself, not wanting him to get some look from me that would set him off. So when they called him in, I sat down in the waiting area. Nurse and Nick came back to retrieve me. Nice try, but I was in it for the duration. As we waited, I could tell he was thinking things out. He was very chatty. He was talking to me, but was actually phsyching himself up. "I'll just look this way when they stick it to me. Can I hold your hand? No I don't need to. --nervous laughing---. What's in that red box. Oh, old needles. Oh my. . . ." I just listened. He's learned coping strategies for his anxiety, and I've learned thay my telling him there is nothing to worry about is not one of them (that's a hard lesson learned for parents, I think. But it makes sense. Telling someone who's worrying that there is nothing to worry about really doesn't make sense, does it? In their mind, they have obviously gotten past the point of deciding if there is anything to worry about. Better to give some real advice or just shut up and listen)!

Fortunately, our doctor is great. Just how great I didn't realize until yesterday. She had a resident in training with her yesterday who was young and, well, . . . pleasant looking. Nick started small talk with her right away, and I could tell he wanted to impress (sorry mom . . . but this stuff motivates middle school boys;) The Doc kept all kinds of converstion going about karate, Royal Rangers and camping (Nick's scouting-type ministry), brothers, school, his trumpet. She expertly weaved in questions about lifestyle, feelings, etc. until she had total credibility with the kid, all the while poking here and listening there. By the time she got around to the tough conversations and awkard exam elements (he had to have some private areas checked out, if you know what I mean . . .I still don't do well with that!) . . . Nick trusted her so much that it was incredibly productive. She even showed us his chart going way back, showed us how he is tall for his age and predicted he would get to be at least 6 feet tall based on the trend over time for him. This also opened the door for her to explain how the little weight side of the same diagram was trending, and how she knew of a way to get them right in synch. He offered up some opinions about fast food and stuff (trying to tell on Teresa) and said that he has nannies who give him lots of soda! (I am not sure where that came from, except that he must have sensed she enjoyed busting grown-ups). It was a perfect approach for a kid who likes everything in order. She knew this about him and appealed to that. It was visual, reasoned and effective. By the time the shot and peeing in the cup came, he was completely comfortable and his mind was so busy with the small talk, chart reading and reasoning that he didn't have time to worry. It was amazing! She spent like 40 minutes with us. So confident was he, that after he filled his cup he came out and joked with the nurse in front of the rest of the staff: "Here . . . you want my pee?!? giggle giggle" Before we left, she quizzed him on his homework (and mom's HA!), told him she would be talking to him again in six weeks, and patted him on the head.