The Allergist

(this is one of the "tying loose ends" posts I mentioned previously)

First, I have to preamble this (hopefully) brief post by saying that I can't stand the way health care is in this country and I just dread going to the doctor here in the U.S. It's just so impersonal, so perfunctory, so... I don't know... negative somehow. 5 minute visits with the OB throughout two pregnancies (I didn't know I could have tried to have seen midwives in town and didn't have to use the university clinic, more here), also 5 minute-long well child visits every year (we did have a most wonderful pediatrician during our 2.5 years with Kelvin in Massachusetts). I like the family doctor I selected for myself last year and the gynecologist I went to twice already is not bad... but, I was pretty impressed with the allergist and, considering my previous experiences, this was quite surprising to me!

Leaving the allergy "torture session" aside, the questioning that the allergist did prior to thoroughly examining the boys was quite impressive. He insisted on talking about each boy separately (we moms tend to just talk about both, going back and forth) and asked everything about their births and first months of life and I -- knowing full well that allergists are a rare breed of medical professional that probably really knows about value of breastfeeding -- was able to brag most happily about our extended breastfeeding experiences! I was positively impressed at the length of the questioning. He did a physical examination of the boys and was able to talk and relate to them better than the "head" pediatrician in our practice does. Then he not only handed me the prescriptions perfunctorily as most doctors do, but he went over each boy's "action plan." We are supposed to see him again six weeks after the previous appointment (which reminds me that I have to call and schedule it, right?). The only problem was that the whole thing took us nearly two hours!!! And we missed Kelvin's very first piano lesson (that's another "tying loose ends" post coming up) because of that.

In any case, the allergist gets a thumbs up! Now if only he or I could take away whatever allergies the boys (and I) have, that's be great... :-(