Jan 22, 2009

Why I hate Doctor shopping

I have been completely unfocused and scatterbrained this week. It could be the sinus infection, lack of sleep, of the added stress of Nick going to school. Regardless I feel the need to write something even with my filter off. Brace yourselves.......

We have been trying to find a new doctor. While I would love to have a naturopathic doc, or to just go back to our kinesiologist, I really need a traditional physician (one who accepts insurance). Teilee's toe walking is creating issues in her leg, knee, hip, and foot development. She may need to wear braces and or special shoes to correct this. I am hoping it won't be the Forest Gump kind.:) Whatever they are, we will call them her magic shoes and let her show them off to every person she meets. We tried out our first doctor today who came highly recommended by Grandma Betty back in the day. The first and only requirement that I have is that our new doctor needs to respect my decisions as a mother and be open to what it is I am doing. At least to not criticize or tell me that they know better. Most everything I am doing comes backed up with research, I am not making decisions based on a whim. You can imagine today when the doctor went to check out Landis' intact penis I was immediately on guard. Current research shows that there is no, I repeat no need to give any special care to an uncircumcised penis. There is no need to pull back the foreskin and clean the area. This is a natural part of a male body that, when the child is ready and able, he will clean and tend to whatever needs to be tended to. IN FACT retracting the foreskin can actually cause damage and problems. When a boy is around 5 years old he will be taught to retract and clean when it is necessary. Cleanliness is not an issue for most males. I have heard of only two cases where circumcision was necessary and one of those was a gentleman who would have no access to any bathing for years and worked with manure. The other was a sheep farmer in Kansas that had a hard time keeping sheep manure away from his member (yeah, I wondered why too). Why the rant...well....the first thing this doctor does when he checks Landis over is to pull back my sons foreskin. It has never been retracted, has developed normally, has had no infections, and there was absolutely no need. As I protested the doctor persisted. I was nearly pulling my son of the table when he finally stopped. Then he proceeded to tell me what he was doing and why (a little late a**hole). As if I had never heard what to do with my 2 year old's member before. I explained the research that I had read that was supported by 2 other doctors that we had seen in the last year. He had the audacity to say, "Isn't that interesting, you hear different things from different sources." And then proceeded to tell me why those other doctors were wrong. Regardless of what he knew to be true, here I was a mother clearly objecting to what he was doing and being invalidated. According to him I had no right to do what I thought was right for my child because he was clearly the superior. The entitlement he felt was completely inexcusable and yet runs rampant through the medical field. I am so tired of the neglect and abuse (yeah abuse) that my children have recieved by those that I hire to help me care for them. You may not agree with what I am doing, but I have a right to educate myself and make an informed decision about the welfare of my child. Please respect that or shove it where the sun don't shine!

5 comments:

KBH said...

What a jack! I seriously encourage you to report him or send a letter to him at his office. I think it would be important for him to know that even though, he 'thought' he knew what the 'correct' information was it was totally out of line for him to disregaurd your judgement and continue his actions.

Unknown said...

I hope you find a good doctor! Maybe try a younger doctor that has more "up-to-date" knowledge of medical and and more importantly, ethical methods. I find the older ones to be stuffier...

Keep us updated on Teilee's treatment! :)

Andi said...

I will have to try that. The last youthful doc we tried kept prescribing adult medications for our kids.
I miss Dr. Dan. He was so wise, so helpful, so respectful, and well researched. If he didn't know, he would find out (but he generally knew).

Unknown said...

You can actually schedule an "Interview Appointment" with doctors. No cost! That might work better so you're not pulling your kids off the table... :)

Andi said...

That's what I need to do.


My new umberella!