First visit with Dr. B.

When we moved, P suggested that SS's next doctor should be a pediatrician, instead of a general practitioner. When SS came home, we had been seeing Dr. S for almost ten months, and felt comfortable with her.  We decided to have her see SS, but if there were concerns about SS's health, we would then look for a pediatrician. Since I was the one in and out of medical maladies, we became comfortable with combining our appointments. But SS is a big girl now, and it is time to move on. P asked his coworkers for recommendations (it really sucks to find a new physician to trust), and we settled on Dr. B. The coworker who recommended him has been taking her three kids to his office since they were babies. Her oldest is 17, and just graduated high school. and is still seen by him.  According to the mother they have been "encouraging her to move on," without success. Hey, if a college bound teen feels comfortable, then he can't be that bad. 

I received confirmation that SS was accepted in the immersion program when the school nurse called me about her immunizations. SS received her second MMR shot before her first birthday, and in order to be current, she would have to have another shot, but not before July 16. UGH, after Sula's day of a thousand needles, we were not happy about having one more shot. But we also want to do as much preventive care as we can, so we waited for the darn date, when we could make SS feel like a pin cushion again. Turns out that serendipity was making its way via this appointment.

SS liked the office right away, with the whimsical animal murals. Poor thing had been deprived of whimsical by her parents. The well child waiting area had black and white puffer fish, a contrast to most places, where one finds clown fish (Nemo), blue, yellow, colorful, cheerful fish. SS was fascinated by them. Later, P went into the sick child waiting area, and they have a huge puffer fish. Darn, the sick kids get the good stuff. 

SS is no longer afraid of doctor visits, a big plus. Vitals check went without a hitch, and SS shared with the medical assistant that she has a blood pressure cuff at home. Dr. B came in, introduced himself and the only part I dreaded began. He wanted to know about SS's birth circumstances.  One of the first questions in the intake questionnaire is if the child is adopted. He obviously had read that part, and if he didn't, it's not rocket science to figure it out upon first sight. Last (and only) time I was completely honest about what we know was with Dr. S. Four years later, it still stings, I thought time would lessen that sting, but no. On a positive note, he was as surprised as Dr. S was at how well SS has fared medically. We were once again reminded that on the malnourishment issue alone, things could have been really rocky for SS.

We mentioned the MMR shot, and stated we would be doing that after we left his office, but Dr. B asked us to wait. Part of the blood work he ordered would be to test if SS has the antibodies. He didn't feel the need to blindly have another shot, without knowing that. We were pleased that he was receptive to our need to know SS's blood type.  As much as we liked Dr. S, she never thought of it as important, always reminding us that in case of an emergency, SS would be typed anyway. Dr. B empathized with our need to know, simply because we are her parents. He also ordered other tests that he felt necessary given her birth circumstances. 

We then moved on to a hearing test, and boy did that bring memories from the three or four JJ had at age three. The test confirmed what we already knew, like most children, SS engages in selective hearing. We did get a bit of a surprise during the vision screening, SS had 20/40 on both eyes (at least she is consistent). We were going to schedule a vision appointment anyway, but Dr. B stated that he would make a referral. He said that 20/40 was "borderline for a five year old." We were wondering what age had to do with it. In SS's defense, I was standing next to her, with my glasses on, and could not distinguish the shapes.

Since we skipped breakfast we were looking forward to some Thai food, and were glad when we thought it was time to get out of there.  That is when we were handed a cup for a urinalysis. That is also when we discovered that SS has a shy bladder. OMG, we spent almost half an hour trying to coax a sample out of SS. First it was SS and I in the bathroom, then P joined the party. I could not care less what anyone thought about P being in there, heck, it's his freaking daughter. We tried turning on the faucet, a winner with me, but it did nothing for SS. We kept refilling her water cup, and nada. I finally had it and requested a cup to take home.  I had a feeling that as soon as we got to the restaurant SS would produce a sample.

Nope, SS held on to her precious commodity for a very long time. SS is quite the drinker, she is drinking water, milk or juice throughout the day. We made sure to keep the water coming during lunch, and got nothing. We resigned ourselves to wait until we got home. We were hypervigilant and reminded SS to let us know when she needed to empty her bladder.  That is not a problem, since SS announces every bathroom trip, in great detail. Not Monday evening. OK, Tuesday morning was going to greet us with a full bladder, or a wet mattress. P reminded me when he left for work, as if I could forget.  Darn the pressure! SS did not use the bathroom until 5 p.m. yesterday, when we were on our way to dinner, and were caught unprepared. SS has never gone that long without urinating. Sorry, I know, TMI. 

This morning was not better, even though SS was awake before P left for work.  This time it was the three of us in the master bathroom, waiting for something to happen. We had several false alarms, including one when SS was doing the I'm going to wet my pants dance, and still nothing. P wondered if it was the act of depositing in something other than the toilet. SS has had several daytime accidents lately, and has been devastated..Even when we keep reminding her that accidents happen, and there's nothing to be afraid of. Who knows what was going through that precious little mind.  At 8:45 a.m. with hit the jackpot, OMG, SS could have filled 4 cups. I was beyond relieved, the last thing we needed was for SS to be catheterized.  That would have definitely set her back to square one regarding doctor visits.

Dear God, the majority of this post is about a bodily function. I'm turning into my daughter. SS gained half a pound since her check up in March. She is now in the heavy weight division at 32 lbs. 8 oz.  She is still 40 inches tall, or two inches away from the cool rides at Knott's and Soak City. She's going to have to wait for next summer.  The medical assistant shyly told us that SS was in the 5 percentile for weight and 10 percentile for height.  She was almost apologetic, as if we didn't have a clue. We told her that she has at least finally made it in the US growth chart. Dr. S used a Chinese growth chart, because SS was nowhere near the vicinity of the US chart.

Gyoza