I spent the entire morning in the pediatrician’s office Thursday morning.  

My youngest daughter took her turn first.  She’s been demonstrating some behavior lately that is not her typical norm.  It’d be pretty difficult to describe unless you really knew her.  Her teacher this year is a good friend of mine and not prone to an alarmist approach to life so when she shared some concerns about things my daughter was saying and how she seems to be handling failures or mistakes, I thought it might be a good time to seek out a decent children’s counselor, if for no other reason than to give her an opportunity to unload and me the opportunity to get some help in  dealing more effectively with my child.  In order to get in to see a child psych, I need doctor’s referral.  Little did I know, getting said referral is going to be easier said than done. 

My daughter was the first appointment of the day.  By the time the doc finished with her, he was running behind and had no time to meet with me so I had to reschedule a “Mom only” appointment with him.  Hmmmm.  Not going to comment about what I think about that and the added cost, even if it is only a co-pay.

Shortly before my son’s appointment, my son’s father walked in.  Ugh.  I cannot stand the man.  Of course, everything with him is a big act.  He’s been acting a certain way so long he thinks it is who he is, but it rings hollow when his pushy, demanding, patronizing and abrasive self seeps out. Which it does more and more often I’m noting.  Which it did in particular at this appointment.  I don’t think the nurses at that office like him at all.

Anyway…

The blood tests showed that my son’s thyroid is functioning fine, but one of the growth hormone indicator levels is really low.  So…since he has flatlined in his growth in the last year and since he is the oldest student in his class by nearly a year (due to his birthday falling on Sept. 1st we kept him out of kindergarten a year) but he is still the very smallest in his class.  Given that his father is 6′ 3″ and his mother is 5′ 6″ and his two older sisters are pushing 5′ 9″ and 5′ 10″, the genetics would not logically indicate that he would be a small and petite child. 

The doctor is referring us to some growth hormone specialist out of the noted children’s hospital up north in the big city.  She only comes to our area once every three months, so if she has an opening the next time she’s down then I guess we see her then.  Otherwise, a trip up North negotiating the medical world of a busy city and unfamilar hospitals will be in order.  So I guess the doctor is going to be setting that up for us as well.  In the meantime, an x-ray of my son’s wrists was necessary, so after spending all morning in the doctor’s office with two kids, who by then were getting hungry, I had to go over to the Imaging Center and wait a bit longer to get an x-ray of my 13-year-old’s wrist so we could give it to the growth hormone specialist when we see her in three months…or whenever it will be.

This could be an interesting Spring/Summer.