Follow up

On Wednesday Will had an appointment at Cardinal Glennon with his neurosurgeon, Dr. Flannery. She is the surgeon that performed his tethered cord release surgery in November 2006. This was just a follow up appointment to make sure that his legs are working (mmmm, yep!). Sometimes nerves can be damaged during the surgery so they must follow up annually to make sure that everything is working right. She asked what all he was doing and I told her. She seemed very pleased with his progress and said see you in a year!

But then she told us that we would be followed by a different neurosurgeon because she is moving to Chicago. Boo! We really like Dr. Flannery but we are happy that she was given the opportunity to move closer to her family.

After she told me that she would be leaving, I got to thinking. Isn't it crazy how we as parents form a bond with these doctors and nurses? I mean really, Dr. Flannery has only spent short amounts of time with us a handful of times but I was so sad that Will would have to see someone else next year.

I think that my bond with Dr. Flannery is so strong for several reasons. One, she doesn't beat around the bush. She is to the point, no candy coating it. I respect that about her. Two, I trusted her with my four month old baby's life, that says A LOT. She did spinal cord surgery on my baby for goodness sakes. Josh and I had to hand over our poor, defenseless baby to an almost stranger and say "please don't let him die". And she took him and protected him in the surgery room and then gave him back to us, all safe and sound (plus a brand new bandage).

And when the kids pediatrician, Dr. Rahman moved away, I cried. Alot. I just could not image a medical crisis without him saying in his VERY thick accent, "Ms. Pillers, Willy is a strong boy" and helping me through my fears that he did so often and sweetly. During Will's first year, I saw Dr. Rahman and his staff on a regular basis, almost weekly. So they are like family.

We trust all of these doctors with our most precious possessions, our children and with that trust comes an instant bond. But I guess as Will gets older, doctors will come and go. It is something that I will have to get used to I suppose.