Friday, August 25, 2006

For as long as I can remember, I’ve scheduled the older boys’ annual checkups at the same time for my own convenience and for the practical reason that their birthdays are only two weeks apart.

Now that both are in school, the checkups are complicated by the state and school health forms. Last year, the doctor’s staff did a piss-poor job completing the paperwork, including recording the results of Kenny’s TB screening test on Timmy’s form! They corrected that error this year by not recording the test results at all! Nice.

So, on our way out yesterday, the nurse handed me their forms, supposedly completed.

I flipped over the first page and checked the second page to see that nothing had been filled out. I returned the form to her and told her that we would be in the waiting room while she finished the paperwork.

After a few minutes, she gave us the forms and we went to the car where I checked the paperwork a second time. She had not recorded the results of the vision and hearing tests on Tim’s form.

I entered the office again and showed her what was missing. She took the forms again for a few minutes and when she returned them, I didn’t want to insult her, so I didn’t stand there and check them again in front of her. Still, in the car again, I noticed that Tim’s blood pressure was not recorded even though it was taken as a part of the exam.

I decided that if the school wants to make a big deal about it, I’d call the doctor’s office and get the information over the phone. I just want to spare myself another trip out there to Cream Ridge.

Of course, the physical results were fine. Everything checked out for both of them: vision, hearing and other vitals. My sister-in-law had warned me that her six year old received a newly recommended Hep. A vaccine, so I asked the doctor about it and she said Kenny is up-to-date without it. There’s not even a spot for it on the state’s health form.

Tim needed his final polio and DPaT dose and making that happen was pretty tough. It took me and two nurses to hold him down. But, as painful as a shot may be, the fear of it is worse. Tim’s medical experiences have not been very pleasant in his short life.

We've been concerned about Tim's chronic weight problem and his illness in April when he lost two pounds in two weeks didn't help. But, comparing last year's results with this year's and also with Kenny's from the same period, Tim is doing alright, registering between 50-75th percentile on weight (depending on how accurate this site is, he's in the 64th percentile), when not too long ago he was below the chart, below 0. Tim grew two inches over last year and measures an inch shorter than Kenny at the same age, rather remarkable, I think. He gained four pounds since last year and weighs just 1.5 pounds less than Kenny at the same age, which if you take into account the height difference, might work out to no difference at all.

The frustrating thing about the state form is that some versions of it do not include a spot for recording the varicella (chicken pox) immunization, yet my school cares about knowing that information. I have told the school nurse, “Look, if you want that information, request it on the form,” to no avail.

As in years’ past, when I dropped off their tuition payment a month ago, I picked up blank copies of the state health form. Just last week, the school mailed their “welcome packet” with school calendar, emergency contact forms, uniform guidelines and the mandatory health forms. The form that they sent is different from the one that I picked up a month ago, most significantly in leaving off a spot for varicella! I probably should call the school nurse about the Hep. A series because I don’t want any surprises.

Two years ago, the school required the MMR booster for four-year-olds, a big surprise; I don’t know whether they are going to require that again. I should ask her that too. But, then, in my experience, when I try to be proactive in such matters and ask such questions, they answer in the negative because frankly they don’t know for sure and they change their mind later when they find out the facts. So, I end up wasting my time and getting a false sense of alles in Ordnung followed by surprise trips to the doctor's office.

No comments: