The doctor's office just told me that they were not allowed to call in

[pnwmom]

240. There are good doctors, and there are M.Deities.

I have great doctors now, but I have run into more than one in the past that wasn't a good listener. And being a good listener is a critical skill.

I brought my two year old in to see a pediatrician at the only practice in town. His regular doctor couldn't see him, so we saw the doc with an opening. My son had a fever and visibly swollen lymph notes in his neck, and he wouldn't turn his head up to look at me. He was my third child and I'd never seen anything like this before.

The doc examined him and talked to me for about five minutes, and then diagnosed him with a "virus." He said he saw a lot of it going around, and that there was nothing to do but wait it out, and make him comfortable with Tylenol and fluids. So we left.

Halfway home, I changed my mind, and took my son to the emergency room instead. They took a blood sample and discovered he had a serious bacterial infection. They told me it was very lucky I'd gotten him in when I did.

When I told my regular pediatrician what happened, she said she was going to have to speak to the other doctor about it. She said he wasn't always a good listener, and he needed to know that this had happened.

And she underlined that, as a parent, I should always trust my gut. My gut feeling had been correct, and the doctor -- despite his medical degree -- was wrong. It wasn't the "virus" that was going around.