As we approached Lula's two month check-up, I became nervous, aware of the fact that her immunizations were supposed to begin today. Though I had already begun to think about whether we wanted Lula to obtain all of her vaccinations or not, I hadn't put the time in to do the needed amount of research to make a solid and confident decision about this "hot topic." Discussing this issue with other mothers, I became aware of many of the debates, concerns, and rumors surrounding this topic...and I became frustrated and worried about having to make such a big decision for my child. Because Jay and I hadn't discussed it thoroughly, I didn't feel comfortable proceeding with the numerous shots Lula was scheduled to receive today. While I felt confident about holding off on the shots until further inquiries had been made, I prepared myself for the typical battle against the medical community I was sure would ensue when we contradicted the routine procedures. I was so gladly mistaken!
Those who have been following my blog may be aware that I'm not very confident in the medical community as a whole. Generally, I don't like to take medicine and often find the "advice" and "diagnoses" of doctors to be obviously rote and not thought out. I am tired of being treated like an unintelligent fool who can't think through my own problems and issues. As a matter of fact (my grandmother will love this!), I decided not to do my two hour diabetes test to make sure my gestational diabetes had gone away because my doctor wrote off my explanations for why I didn't need to have the test. He didn't even listen to my reasoning, and when I proceeded to try to explain, he barely listened and simply repeated himself. How about a discussion? How about assuming that I'm an intelligent adult who doesn't want to be treated like a child? If he had been willing to take the time to listen to me, reason with me, offer a thorough explanation, I might have taken the test. However, he angered me to the point of simply writing him off as he had done me. Now this may sound like a child throwing a temper tantrum and so you would ask, are you really an intelligent adult?! I know, I know...I've always been a bit rebellious when it comes to people telling me what to do with no explanation or discussion...this was not a good trait to have during the teen years!
So, what is my point? Lula's appointment went completely opposite of the above and I was so pleased that we just might go ahead with Lula's immunizations! The doctors and nurse practitioners at Dr. Michael Hanks office (in the Turner Center) are absolutely wonderful! We've met three of the four doctors/nps and loved all three of them. They take the time to address your concerns. They do not assume that there is always something wrong with your child. They do not prescribe medicine when they're not really sure what's wrong or if they don't think it's necessary even if the parent does.
Today when we told the doctor that we weren't comfortable with Lula getting her immunizations right now, she was perfectly OK with it! I was amazed after hearing horror stories from friends of this same conversation with their pediatricians. Not only was she OK with it, but she took at least 15-20 minutes to answer our questions and explain her viewpoint on the issue without ever looking down her nose at us. She said several times how that office wanted parents to feel comfortable about the decisions they were making and to feel understood. It was terribly empowering to hear her speak. To feel like my ideas and concerns were important and legitimate made a world of difference with how I feel towards doctors in general and also about this topic. Because of some of her reasoning and explanations, we will probably proceed with Lula's immunizations. Whereas if she had blown us off or acted as if we were backwoods ignorant fools, we probably would never have Lula immunized simply because I would have felt like there was no rational reasoning behind it.
While my decisions are obviously rather emotion-driven, the fact is, I would like rational, reasonable, intelligent answers to my questions and concerns. So a note to any doctors out there that might be reading this...treat me like an equal and you might just win me over. Treat me like an idiot, and you can be sure I will fight against you even more.
Side note: Lula is as healthy as can be. She is average weight and height. And her head is average too! Well, Jay is finally home...hopefully with a cheeseburger! I'll explain what the doc said about immunizations in a future blog for those curious! And no, Grandmother, I will not take my diabetes test!
