Kids respond well to caring docs

Two things never fail to impress me: a caring physician and how tough kids are.

Our big boy was in hospital last week for a tonsillectomy, adnoidectomy and possibly tubes in his ears to alleviate congestion.

I was apprehensive about our little man’s impending operation. He’s only three, I dissembled, just a kid who hasn’t really experienced pain before. Sure, scrapes and such, but surgical incision – no.

I feared when he went into the OR and saw all those masked faces over him, he’d freak. I’d hear the roar all the way to the recovery room and then see a small, johnny-robed figure streaking down the hall and out the front door.

Of course, that’s just my imagination (as the Rolling Stones said) running away with me. Nothing like that happened, but it was an adventure just the same.

His surgeon, Dr. Chris Maltby, did a fantastic job. Our man is well on the way to a full recovery and he can breathe finally rather than struggle to catch a breath when he’s asleep.

It has been hard to watch these past couple of years. He’d go to sleep just fine, only to clog up and fight mightily to inspire. He’d be soaked in sweat minutes after falling asleep and wake up crying because it would reach a point where it became unbearable.

The surgery literally opened things up for him in many ways and Dr. Maltby thinks he’ll grow like crazy in the next 3-6 months. Kids grow when they sleep, but if there’s difficulty breathing, energy that should be used for growth gets eaten up by the battle to gain a breath.

After she explained this, I imagined a six-foot three-year-old by Christmas who will tell me – rather than ask – what he wants under the tree. Lovely! But if he’s doing well and breathing normally, I’m cool with that.

Another thing that was totally cool was Dr. Maltby’s approach. She briefed us prior to the operation, of course, and did a post-surgical visit, but what impressed me most was how she handled her young patient.

I think some doctors tend to speak over kids and more to their parents, which is odd. Kids are pretty sharp and pick things up fast, so why not discuss a procedure with them?

Some docs tend to think, I suspect, that the child just won’t get it so they tailor their remarks and direct their conversation elsewhere.

Dr. Maltby spoke directly to her patient and asked prior to the operation if he had any questions. How cool is that?

She chatted with him afterward and offered suggestions to him rather than for my benefit. He was attentive and obviously impressed, and he wasn’t alone.

She did a great job, in the surgical theatre and outside of it. He’s so much better and full of such P and V now that I’m sure I’ll be consuming a heck of lot more java in the near future just to keep pace.

Not a problem. It’s an example of how the system should work: a caring loop in which the patient, no matter the age, is the primary focus.