Starting to rebuild our medical professionals list
One of the most difficult things about moving is having to find new doctors and other care providers. I built up our long list of doctors slowly over the years as we added more children and more needs. This time around I have to do it all at once. I'm not enjoying it. Some of our specialists, whom I like and we don't see all that often, I'm keeping. There is no way we can replace some of them, and I wouldn't want to even begin to try. Others, however, are not people I'm willing to drive an hour and a half one way to see. Our orthopedic doctor was one of those. He was fine, but we didn't see him often enough or have a connection strong enough to warrant keeping him.
As I might have mentioned before, Y.'s AFO's are far too small for her, as she has done such a huge amount of growing over the past year. Well, the way things work, without a new prescription we can't get the new AFO's made. And without a doctor, we can't get the prescription written. And down the rabbit hole we go. I asked the orthotics people if they could recommend an orthopedic doctor, figuring they of all people, knew and dealt with this specialty more than anyone else I had contact with. They did, gave me a name, and I made an appointment for yesterday.
(This is a complete aside for anyone living in Chicago or along the North Shore. This new doctor is in Sycamore. Sycamore is north of DeKalb. It took me as long to get to Sycamore from our house as it did to get to our pediatrician in NW Skokie from our old house. Yes, I drove to Dekalb for an appointment, and didn't even think twice about it. Just ponder that for a while. We are really west.)
I never know what to expect when meeting a new doctor. Am I going to like them... get along with them... are they going to get along with me... am I going to have to educate them about adoption, trauma, and homeschooling? I try to keep an open mind and not let the chip on my shoulder be too evident, but I'm also not going to fight with the doctors we work with, so see them as probationary until it can be discovered if we can work together. Well, this was one of those times when I hit it off immediately with a doctor. She was not put off by me, and I liked her. It was a very nice appointment.
The short story is that Y. looks great, and she also likes this new doctor because, "She gave me choices." The biggest one was if Y. wanted to keep wearing AFO's during the day, or if she would rather wear them at night instead. It seems in Y.'s case, either would be equally effective. Y. chose night, and is so very excited to never have to wear AFO's during the day again. According to Y., "She [the doctor] knows what 10 year old girls want."
I liked this doctor so much that I asked if she had any pediatricians she could recommend. I got the name of the family practitioner she uses, which would take care of primary care doctors for everyone in the family. This will be my next doctor to sort out, as I am tired of writing we don't have a pediatrician yet on forms.
It's this kind of stuff that can make one feel as though they don't really live in a place yet, and when you get it figured out make you feel that much more settled. I may just be down to dentist and oral surgeon now.
Today's fun includes a cranio-facial team appointment with three children. It will be a nearly full-day extravaganza, made even more fun by having to take three extra children with me to the appointment.
As I might have mentioned before, Y.'s AFO's are far too small for her, as she has done such a huge amount of growing over the past year. Well, the way things work, without a new prescription we can't get the new AFO's made. And without a doctor, we can't get the prescription written. And down the rabbit hole we go. I asked the orthotics people if they could recommend an orthopedic doctor, figuring they of all people, knew and dealt with this specialty more than anyone else I had contact with. They did, gave me a name, and I made an appointment for yesterday.
(This is a complete aside for anyone living in Chicago or along the North Shore. This new doctor is in Sycamore. Sycamore is north of DeKalb. It took me as long to get to Sycamore from our house as it did to get to our pediatrician in NW Skokie from our old house. Yes, I drove to Dekalb for an appointment, and didn't even think twice about it. Just ponder that for a while. We are really west.)
I never know what to expect when meeting a new doctor. Am I going to like them... get along with them... are they going to get along with me... am I going to have to educate them about adoption, trauma, and homeschooling? I try to keep an open mind and not let the chip on my shoulder be too evident, but I'm also not going to fight with the doctors we work with, so see them as probationary until it can be discovered if we can work together. Well, this was one of those times when I hit it off immediately with a doctor. She was not put off by me, and I liked her. It was a very nice appointment.
The short story is that Y. looks great, and she also likes this new doctor because, "She gave me choices." The biggest one was if Y. wanted to keep wearing AFO's during the day, or if she would rather wear them at night instead. It seems in Y.'s case, either would be equally effective. Y. chose night, and is so very excited to never have to wear AFO's during the day again. According to Y., "She [the doctor] knows what 10 year old girls want."
I liked this doctor so much that I asked if she had any pediatricians she could recommend. I got the name of the family practitioner she uses, which would take care of primary care doctors for everyone in the family. This will be my next doctor to sort out, as I am tired of writing we don't have a pediatrician yet on forms.
It's this kind of stuff that can make one feel as though they don't really live in a place yet, and when you get it figured out make you feel that much more settled. I may just be down to dentist and oral surgeon now.
Today's fun includes a cranio-facial team appointment with three children. It will be a nearly full-day extravaganza, made even more fun by having to take three extra children with me to the appointment.
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