Changing Doctors...

We've been blessed with an ideal pediatrician, a family doctor who truly cares about our family and tends to Yarrow with gentleness and good sense. We adore him, and Yarrow looks forward to her annual check up. 

"My doctor is a nice doctor!" she says, "My doctor doesn't try to shoot me."

She's horrified by the idea of 'doctors who shoot kids', and by dentists, though the thought of acupuncture doesn't bother her at all.

We tend to avoid vaccinations and with all the arguments over vaccines on the internet, she's gotten nervous from the many photos of kids 'being shot'. I've tried to clarify, "these doctors are trying to help, honey, they aren't being mean.." but Yarrow will have none of it. Thanks to my recent issue with platelets, Yarrow's decided that it's easier to assume all these children have low platelets and are getting their blood checked. I let her hold onto the idea, as it's not as scary for her.

Her doctor is supportive of our decision to keep away from immunizations, he'd made the same decision for his own child, and prefers to encourage building a natural immunity, eating well, and keeping medications to a minimum. We feel safe and well cared for with him. I couldn't wait to introduce him to Ilya.

But perhaps this winter was too harsh for him, as it was for many people. Our doctor is leaving us for southern weather this spring. Ilya won't get to meet him, and we're in search of a new doctor. It's a rough search, and harder now that I have such high expectations of my pediatrician.

I've heard horror stories from friends of pushy doctors arguing over immunizations in front of the children, and I can only imagine Yarrow's response. My tender girl hates arguments, fears shots, and is deeply protective of her 'precious and honored Baby Ilya' (I've no idea where she came up with 'precious and honored', really I don't!). 

Ideally, I'd have picked a naturopath to replace our dear, naturally-minded doctor, but our insurance (which we have to have under the ACA) refuses to cover naturopaths. I'm tempted to find an acceptable primary care doctor and a naturopath and treat the latter as the kids' true primary doctor, but it seems excessive. Do I really need two doctors anyway? As of today I've gotten a few recommendations, and had a lovely conversation with a naturopathic doctor in the area. There's a lot to think about though, and right now, I'm just going to open a beer and think about how much I wish we could just stay with our current doctor. We're really going to miss him!

How do you go about choosing doctors for yourself and/or your children?

What do you value in a doctor?

Ilya's last check-up with the midwives is just a week away, so I suppose I should find someone sooner rather than later, especially as our doctor was very popular, and his move is going to 'flood the market' with people looking for that rare, nurturing doctor, one who will actually encourage them to take charge of their and their children's health, with his full support and understanding.

Wish me luck!