Why you should Interview your Pediatrician

I was never one of those moms that felt I had to interview Doctors before choosing them to care for my children...

That all changed 2 years ago.

Before our son was born, we had moved from South Texas to California and had to start all over with finding new Doctors.  This is something I've grown accustomed too over the years as we have moved often, so it was just another thing I had to do.  The only problem I had, my kids are never sick, so if they needed to run to a doctor for something it was because of a broken bone, which meant emergency room visits.  We aren't the type to run to the doc if someone had a cold, or a fever.  All three of my kids have had a broken arm, one of them twice, and we had an appendicitis episode and stay in hospital for Allison, Emma had her tonsils and adenoids removed, but none of this was anything we needed a pediatrician for.

It seemed simple, all I had to do was look on my list of approved providers, call and see if they were accepting new patients, and ask a couple questions.  I really wanted to know if english was their first language since after a couple experiences with doctors that didn't speak english as their native language, I couldn't understand them.  My thinking was this:  If I can't understand them, then they likely can't understand me.  Seems logical, right?

Turns out, some Doctors speak only one language.  It's called:  "I know what I am talking about, I am the Doctor."   So, no matter the language, everything I said was foreign and didn't fit his way of thinking.

What I learned from not interviewing, hit me like a ton of bricks the day we sat in the waiting room the morning after bringing Johnny home.  We were incredibly worried for our son, and as I walked into the doctors waiting room, the worry grew.  If I had interviewed this particular pediatrician I would have turned around and walked out the door at just the sight of the waiting room.

What had me worked up, you may ask?   Well here it is in a nut shell:

The first thing that caught my attention were hundreds of little ghosts hanging from the ceiling.  It's not like it was October and these were halloween decorations... It was April.  The next thing I saw that made me uncomfortable was the magazine rack...

It was as if I found myself in an episode of hoarders.  Seriously, it was that bad.  It was a book shelf full of stacks of old magazines there were hundreds of them, and there was more than one.  Not only gross and full of germs, but such a mess.  That was just the beginning.  Next came the patient rooms.  Fake spider webs and fake spiders along with creepy pictures on the walls.

Yup, I would have walked out had it just been an interview.

I have a new found appreciation for the case to interview Doctors before putting my child's life in their care.

Had I interviewed this doctor before the birth of my son, things may have turned out very different.  A different doctor may have listened to our worries, and may have caught the growing problem that eventually spiraled out of control and took our sons precious life.

Maybe, things would be different.  We will never know for sure.  I do know, I wouldn't have chosen to put my sons care in this doctors hands...not ever in a million years.

Interview your Pediatrician.  It could save your child's life.  It could make all the difference in the world.

I feel better now.