A Trip to the Doctor

It is 4:20 a.m. and I’ve been awake for over an hour. Rather than toss restlessly I decided to come to the study but only after I checked Clark. He has been sick off and on for the past month or two and is not improving so we took him to the doctor, and family friend, yesterday . Normally, Clark’s anxiety about going to the doctor causes him to be defensive. From my March 2004 journal

“Dr. P. and his nurse earned their pay today when I took Clark and Phil in for physicals (Special Olympics requires one every three years). Clark did fine until he was asked to deposit a sample in a cup. He informed Jason (the nurse) he was going to call the police so Jason got me (I was in the waiting room).”

There was no success in getting a sample five years ago or yesterday. We were told that we could get a sample at home, put it in the fridge and bring it in today when my sweetheart takes Clark in to get a chest x-ray. Phil saw the successful sample later in the day and asked why there was pee in the fridge. He had his own problems five years ago at that same physical.

“Phil wanted me in there with him. When he was asked to walk on tip toes, his heels, etc. we did it together. Then Dr. P. wanted to check his eyes. ‘Open your eyes wide Phil.’ Phil opened his mouth wide and his eyes became slits. ‘This is serious, Phil. Open your eyes. Close your mouth.’ When he closed his mouth his eyes also closed. Dr. P. gave up. Phil is petrified of needles so I couldn’t imagine what he would be like when he had to have blood drawn and a tetanus shot. He wanted to hold my hand and then he was incredible. He pulled a face and jiggled his feet when he was having his blood drawn but he held his arm perfectly still. He was still for the shot. I was very proud of him.”

Even though I found this trip to the doctor hilarious, Dr. P., the nurse, and I were exhausted when the physicals were over. I was glad it would be three years before I would have a new "trip to the doctor" to write about.