When Owen was born, we were living in Watertown, a couple miles from Newton Wellesley hospital. At the time, my primary care doctor and my obstetrician both had offices in the green building at the hospital, so it only made sense (since I was delivering there) to pick a pediatrician for Owen that had an office in the hospital as well. This is how we ended up with Dr. Y. He fit the geographical criteria, as well as had the added benefit of having a PhD in pediatric gastroenterology in addition to his MD, which was attractive to me because of the strong family history of GI disease. He was also, to be honest, the last pediatrician anywhere at Newton Wellesley who was accepting new patients. At first, Andy and I thought there was probably a good reason for that. As much as I have come to adore Dr. Y over the past 15 months, there is no denying that he is one of the goofiest looking human beings on the planet. Combined with his odd mannerisms, a tendency laugh at his own (unfunny) jokes awkwardly hard, and an extremely strong chinese accent, Dr. Y is an experience. He's an excellent doctor. But he is definitely an experience.
Since we've moved, it no longer makes much geographical sense to have doctors at Newton Wellesey. In fact, of the realtor-advertised benefits of our location now is that there is a huge Harvard Vanguard Medical Centre 3/4 of a mile from our house. Andy and I have already switched into PCP practices there, and I have a new OB there as well. It's within walking distance, has a lab and pharmacy contained right inside it, and every sort of doctor from pediatrician to geriatrician, all within walking distance. Every week I think "it would make so much more sense to switch Owen to one of the pediatricians at the HV." But something always stops me. I just can't bring myself to do it, because I am so attached to Dr. Y.
Today, Owen had his 15 month appt. at Dr. Y's office. My plan was to ask the receptionist to fax his medical records over to the HV pediatrician's office. I had gone so far as to find out which of their doctors were accepting new patients, picked one, and decided to go ahead and do the deed. But once again, I was so charmed by Dr. Y's wackiness and obvious care for Owen that I couldn't do it. Dr. Y acts like he has exactly one patient, Owen. He remembers absolutely everything about him, as if he'd seen him yesterday instead of 3 1/2 months ago. He makes weird jokes that (amazingly, since Owen understands about 10 words total) make Owen laugh hysterically. He performs each part of his exam (each individual part: looking in his eyes, then his ears, then in his mouth, etc.) very seriously, and then each and every time looks at me, concerned, and says "hmmm....I think Owen is....Perfect!" and then bursts into laughter. His enthusiasm for being a pediatrician is at once confusing and infectious. You can't help having a good time when you go to his office. In addition to all the good times and hillarity, Dr. Y is almost suspiciously accessible. Sometimes I wonder if he actually DOES only have one patient. I have his pager number, which he carries at all times and encourages me to use at every visit (calling the office can take too much time for the message to get to him!). When Owen is sick or hurt, he calls himself to see how he is doing. When Owen was 3 months old, he called 4 days IN A ROW to see how he was responding to the zantac he prescribed. And he has never failed to spend as much time as I feel like sitting in his office on an appointment. We have twice had appointments run over 45 minutes.
But it's so inconvienient to get to his office! when Owen is sick or needs to see him at a non-regularly scheduled time, I always think how much easier it would be if we had a doctor at the HV. And when I think about the possibility of adding a sibling at some point (and start multiplying the enormous number of well-baby/well-child visits that kids seem to involve, plus all the times you have to go in for sickness) it seems silly to keep driving to Newton Wellesley. I should just switch practices and be done with it. But I probably won't. After all, what would Dr. Y do without his only patient?
3 comments:
Do you mean Dr. Yuan? Yes, he is wonderful and makes your child feel like he/she's the only patient. I say stick with him! It's not only about convenience, it's also about the chemistry and comfort level you have with your doc. That kind of thing is so hard to find.
I agree with the first comment. . . it is very hard to find a good pediatrician. After we moved here, I got a pediatrician in Connecticut close to work. But, when sick, they acted like it was acceptable for a kid to be sick for six weeks straight (actually, he said it was normal for a kid to be sick for 140 days straight). Turned out, Mikie had pneumonia; but he also had croup so badly that you couldn't hear the fluid in his lungs when you listened to his chest. I never saw that doctor again. I now drive 40 minutes from work to take my kids to our current pediatrician (or 20 minutes from my house). It kills an entire morning when one of them has to go. But, I know that they are getting good care.
Incidentally, I was similarly burned by daycare. I put Mikie in a daycare that was more convenient for me. . . in that it was close to home so that I wasn't the primary caregiver. But, he was miserable, and ultimately, I ended up putting him back in daycare close to work. It isn't convenient, and I would love a break. But it is easier to leave them during the day, knowing that he is happy and well cared for.
So I'm sitting here thinking I should wake the girls up from this very late nap, but instead decided to read some of your postings since they're always interesting! I can't believe how awesome your pediatrician sounds and I hope you don't change Owen's dr! I had to threaten a lawsuit against my ped's office before I was taken seriously when Mya was having problems. I would LOVE to have a pediatrician like yours...personal calls, remembers your child, pager number and spends as much as necessary with you! You are sooo lucky!
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