Friday the 13th - Not So Bad.

October 13, 2017

We spent the afternoon at the doctor's office, this time not for Bradley - and yet, my sweet dude didn't come through unscathed.  Ther girls had their annual physicals, a much despaired event but necessary nonetheless, and for the most part they do fairly well.  Madison gets so nervous she babbles nonstop and calls the doctor the wrong name.  Granted she isn't our usual doctor but as young ladies with an opinion about life, God knows why I allow that, I let them decide if they want our regular pediatrician or his female partner to be their physical doctor.  They both chose her and off we went.  We see her off and on, and usually at least once a year, but Madison couldn't remember her name.  Good grief!

I have a fifteen year old that is 5 foot 7 ish and Sydney is 5 foot 4.  I am 5 foot 6 and Madison is topping me by about an inch.  Good Lord!  When did that happen?  They did their height and weight and then we all had to wait.  You see, as they were taking off their shoes Bradley was busy taking off his and setting them perfectly in line to theirs.  As he waited patiently for them to finish, he then climbed up and stood on the scales to get his weight.  You see, Bradley has been here a lot and he totally knows this drill.  Take off your shoes and then stand on the scale and get your weight.  There was a time when we would have taken note of his weight and I probably would have been typing it into my phone or in my datebook.  But today, we know that he's been holding steady at a solid 50  pounds.  Considering I just had him in there a week ago, I know that he's hovering between 48 or 50 pounds all the time.  He drops below that and we'll be concerned and writing down numbers again, but for now, we're good with the current status.

So after Bradley does his thing on the scale, he hops down and follows the girls to the little area where the nurse takes the girls for their blood pressure, eye tests, and hearing tests. Bradley won't let them take his own blood pressure, but was willing and quite determined to sit in Madison's lap while she had her temp taken, her blood pressure taken and one of the eye tests was done.  After that, Madison turned towards Sydney and Bradley reached down and climbed into her lap to sit patiently and wait.

Once in the room, he was confused by the fact that he wasn't the one getting to sit on the table.  Instead, he finally decided to sit down and started to watch and I believe; copy the dialogue, especially the screaming, from "Monster's Inc."  The doctor found it quite entertaining as she walked in carrying this massive four inch folder, with an inch folder on top and one that's about a quarter inch thick.  So Madison's is the quarter, Sydney's is the inch, and my poor son has a good four inch folder that contains his life since we got to Camarillo in 2011.  Good God!  And these poor docs are having to carry this massive, War and Peace epic novel-like folder around risking carpal tunnel.  I told them to make it smaller, I don't want their impending wrist injuries on my conscience.

So the girls are finishing up and the doctor tells me that they have flu shots in.  The good news is: Madison didn't pass out or freak out, she just kind of did some gentle hyperventilating but managed to pull it together.  This is a huge step for her.  She has been known to dissolve into tears at the mention of a needle.  Instead of panicking, she said she could do it, but asked if I would hold her hand.  I told her of course.  So Sydney went first, then I held Madison's hand as she had hers (and man she did awesome).  But then it was Bradley's turn.   This is not Bradley's usual doctor; but she is fully aware, as are all of the partners at this practice, that Bradley is a special case that requires certain precautions to help him get through each winter.  So when I say he didn't come out unscathed, he also came out with a flu shot.  And before I left, I left a note for his doctor requesting that he ask for pre-authorization for a pneumonia shot.  As a high risk patient, he needs to get the pneumonia shot to try to protect him each year.  Last year, I had to fight his insurance for almost four months because they couldn't figure out that my guy, at 6, is a high risk patient and needs the shot.  It finally got covered but what a pain in the butt!

As for the flu shot; as usual, we had to hold him down so he wouldn't move and that was the worst part.  My little buddy hates to be held down for anything.  As for the shot itself, he didn't even feel it. But for the last year, we have been taking Bradley in every week for allergy shots.  And we are seeing improvements.  He hasn't been on anti-biotics since last spring and that is an answer to a prayer.  Every week has moved to every two and then to every three.  The good news, he gets to join his sister on a four week schedule which makes us all very happy!  None happier than Sydney and Bradley for sure.  Poor kids!  I'm not sure if a shot every four weeks will be better or not.  Yeah for less shots, but darn if he will be able to forget about his shots in that long four weeks between shots.

At the end of the day, both my girls are very healthy and they have their protection from the flu that also will protect their brother.  Every little bit helps for sure.  As for Bradley, he is doing very well today too!  Not bad for a superstitious day like Friday the 13th, not bad at all.