Small Town Drawback

[Impish]

ARGH!

 

Discovered 4 things this am.

 

1) No such thing as a walk in clinic around here.

2) No GPs are accepting new patients.

3) You have to go to the ER to be seen.

4) Boo has a dbl ear infection.

 

That, and I suppose I should include a #5: Drs still don't seem to listen to mothers, at least it seems to be in direct proportion to age. Older Drs, I've found, listen to moms. The younger they are, the less they do.

 

Had a young, looked like just out of school Dr at the ER. No, Boo isn't screaming. He is the worlds happiest, most laid back baby ever. But, the fact that he's up every 3-4 hrs at night for the last few nights, running a fever when the tylenol wears off, and fussy, there's something wrong. "He seems like a normal baby to me..." Maybe, but it's NOT normal for him. And no, it's not just teething.

 

I just *adore* being treated like I'm overreacting, hysterical, clueless. Could I get just a LITTLE credit for knowing my own baby? Please?!

 

Sure enough, both ears were red. He then tries to tell me that that could be from crying. Boo doesn't cry. He does this fussy, whimpering sort of thing, that lasts a few minutes at a time, but def NOT the kind of crying that would produce redness in his ears. He ended up agreeing that it was an early ear infection setting in.

 

*headdesk*

[Slipper]

I live in a small town and feel your pain. :) If you know anyone who is a patient for any of the other doctors and REALLY knows them (socially or sees them a lot), ask them if they can talk to the doctor for you. (That also works for specialists). They may say they are full, but at this point, it just means they can be selective about who they will treat.

[swellmomma]

I hear you. That is why we still make the drive back to edm to see our old dr's. PITA but no regular GPs here. There is a clinic in the next town over but you have to book an appt, luckily you do not have to be a regular patient to get in though it is usually booked full each day. In my town we have a dr office, it is open 3 hours 3 days a week. pretty useless to be seen. We tend to go to the ER in the next town to get seen.

 

As for dr's not listening, that is so annoying. I have only had 1 young dr act that way. I was exhausted from being up with a sick kid all night and in a very snarky tone said " I have been a mother longer than you have been a dr, I know my kid you don't, now fix the problem" I got the prescription fairly quickly. I don't make it a habit to be rude to dr's for thinking I don't know what I am talking about but that guy had it coming

 

Usually they figure out quickly I have 4 kids with issues, I know more about what's going on then they do and they don't even start with the attitude.

 

The young dr's are the worst because they want to prove themselves to be so spectacular and have the worried parents eating out of his/her hands out of gratitude. The older ones have learned to always listen to a mother's intuition when it comes to her kids, she knows when something is wrong.

[Walking-Iris]

Small town living here as well. But my experience has been opposite. Seems like the older Dr's act as if they think best and the younger ones try to listen and learn. And although we have a good Dr I know that a ton aren't taking new patients and several have left. I try to avoid taking my kids to the ER---the few times we've found it necessary it was such a joke. You can also add #6--you will have to be on a *long* waiting list and drive a *long* way to see specialists.

[fairfarmhand]

wow....Guess I'm really lucky, because the dr in my nearby small town DOES listen to me. So do his much younger associates. Perhaps it is because he's trained most of them, but I can't tell you the number of times he'll say, "Well, you are the expert on this child. I'm just a doctor. What do you think? Is something wrong and we need to keep looking or what?"

[Impish]

That's what boggles me.

 

We took Boo to see our old GP when we had to be back in town a cpl of wks ago.

 

I told the GP, "He has an ear infection."

 

Boo was happy, gurgling, smiling, purring. dr blinked at me, checked his ears, and yup, sure enough, ear infection. No debate, no arguing, nada...and he's been practicing 30+ yrs.

 

He commented, "You know how incredibly lucky you are, right? Teething, ear infection, and he's totally happy..." he admitted that he never would have guessed Boo had an ear infection by his behaviour, but he learned long ago to listen to Moms.

[justLisa]

So maybe it's not just the stereotype I made up in my head. Our ped is 60 and I fear the day he retires. I always thought maybe the older docs had more of a traditional family outlook and know the hard work it takes to be a mother and that we really DO have some medical street smarts :D

[Impish]

I wonder if it's not a 'theory vs experience' issue.

 

Young, newly minted Drs have had yrs of theory pounded into their heads, and have worked their tails off to graduate, so they're possessive about treatment plans, etc.

 

Older drs have learned the value of inclusion, that theories don't account for everything, and are less likely to look at the general public as the great unwashed, ignorant masses, regardless of their lack of MDs.

 

(I realize it's a huge generalization, I'm just basing it on my experience)