12 Month Checkup and A Bad Experience

Annaliese had her 12 month checkup last week!  She weighs 21.5 lbs and was 29 1/2" long (both in the 50 percentile).  It's hard to believe that she was born at just under 6 lbs.  I look at her and I feel like I'm always in amazement.  Does this feeling ever end??  She also had to get 3 shots this time, which she was really less than thrilled about.  Hepatitis B, Chickenpox and Flu shot.  She cried like crazy during the shots (man, I hate that part) but after lots of mommy and daddy hugs and kisses, we had her laughing before we left the doctor office again. :)

Anyway, there was a problem.  We didn't have a very pleasant visit to the doctor this time.  I'll explain.  Our pediatrician is an older gentleman, probably late 50s, early 60s, and he's always pushing a wheeled office chair into the room as he enters.  This time, he did just the same.  He came in, greeted us and proceeded to tell us that he was going to be out of the office soon for back surgery.  He looked as if he was struggling to think of and tell us what months he would be out and took awhile to give us the verdict.  Never advised if there was a replacement doctor or what we should do in case we needed medical care in his absence.  Weird.

He asked if we had any questions.  We asked how much whole milk she should get a day.  We asked about the little birth mark on her back.  We asked a few additional questions.  As he answered our questions, he stuttered,  he slurred, didn't really give us any answer other than "I don't know" or "I'm not sure" and then preceded to jokingly tell us that our questions were hard.  Not cool.  Then asked if we had any other questions before he went on to give our daughter her physical exam.  I told him we did, and went to grab my phone (where I document all things I'm liable to forget) and while searching for the questions I had written down, I look up...and doc is straight up NODDING OFF!  Eyes closing.  Mouth opened.  Head falling forward.  I looked at Justin and gave him the "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" look.  I looked at the doctor, trying to purposely startle him and said "Hey doc!  Are you okay over there?"  He said, "oh, yes.  I'm so sorry.  I'm just really tired."  He took a deep breath and resumed on somewhat of an auto pilot.

Sorry kids, but that doesn't fly in my book.  If you are a medical professional and are that "tired", then you need to cancel your appointments for the day and stay home.  In my personal opinion, I believe that he may have been on some pain relievers for his back (possibly why he mentioned that he would be needing surgery) and was just having a bad day.  I completely understand.  Everyone is allowed to have a bad day, even doctors.  But when I heard that man slurring his words to me and saw that man start to nod off in front of me, the "Mama Bear" came out in me and he's lucky he didn't get an ear full, with a threat to call the Board of Health as I was exiting his office and not paying the co pay I was obligated to pay.

I bit my tongue and kept giving Justin some gnarly looks, I'm sure.  It was impossible for me to take anything he had told us seriously after that.  It was hard to watch him do his regular checkup check list with Annaliese after that.  Watching him check her mouth, ears, nose, joints, hips...even though she wasn't fussing over it, I felt like he was torturing her (which was not the case).  After everything was done and we got a healthy report, he wheeled his office chair out of the room and I was never so happy to see him leave.  The nurse walked in shortly after and gave Annaliese her shots, but still after all of those needles, I still felt like the doctor had done more damage to her than the nurse did.

I think it's safe to say that doctor visit did more damage to me than my daughter.  We are on the hunt for finding a new pediatrician.  I never thought I would ever experience that in my my life.  I just know in my heart that what happened wasn't right and no parent should have to tolerate that.  After "venting" to my friends on Facebook, I've come to learn that this is not the first time this has happened with that doctor.  I believe that he needs to hang up his coat and maybe think about retiring from that field.  Just my opinion.

But all in all, I am just glad that Annaliese is a strong and healthy baby.  That is all I have ever hoped for and I thank God every day for blessing her with a healthy body.  :)