Doctors

One small thing I meant to write about here was our visit to the drs yesterday. The twins have a great GP. When they were born I simply took them to the local bulkbilling one I'd always used. He was scared of Hannah. He'd read her hospital release forms and the follow up letter from her OHS and could hardly bring himself to touch her he was so frightened she would break. When I said I wanted the flu injection for her (on her paeds recommendation) he looked very nervous. I had to tell him it was ok and what dosage was required. When it came to immunisations he used to make me come in intervals because he would only give her one shot at a time - a horrendous thing when you have twins and for that early stage it seemed as if I was in his office every week. Once I got a girlfriend to come with me so I could insist that he gave them both the shot at the same visit. He was oldfashioned and fussy and clearly not the best choice for a long term GP for us.

Once we had settled into the area where we now live I went and tested out the local family practice. I took her to a couple of drs there and in the end settled on her current GP - a fairly young (for a dr) male who had studied some paediatrics and worked in a regional hospital. He is great with Hannah and she loves going to see him. He speaks with her and is willing to communicate clearly with me about her medical needs. He acts in a way where I can see that we are part of 'Hannah's team' - a good model for her future.

So in that spirit when I took her yesterday - I prompted her to tell him why we were there. I had to remind her to look him in the face but the rest she did beautifully on her own - the benefit of a pussy ear - the visual is a great indicator of what is 'wrong'. For his part her GP was totally comfortable with that and as I walked out I felt good - a small step had been in my daughter's empowerment and self determination. Now if only the ear would stop oozing - it is grose!