This past Thanksgiving I spent a day at one of my favorite havens- Boy Scout Camp. No TV, plenty of outdoor activity for the boys, and limited junk food. However, this past visit had its disappointments- many of the kids I…
We can tell by the paramedic’s voice on the radio if a child is truly sick. This time his voice has that urgency that says “be ready.” Moments later they come trundling in, oxygen cylinders hissing, monitors beeping, and the…
When I was in medical school, one of my professors told a story of when he was snowed in in a cabin in the woods, and one of his kids got a cough and runny nose. He had no cold medicine with him, so he mixed his own like they did…
Every pediatrician has come to know The Look. The parent’s face falls. They are obviously disappointed, sometimes angry. It happens when the parent came in expecting that the doctor will prescribe an antibiotic for their child’…
The following is not an unusual situation: The paramedics pull up on the scene of an injury. They assess the patient, and let’s say the patient is a seven year-old girl with a broken leg. Mom: “Can you take her to Regional…
Sometimes when a parent is talking about her sick child, I hear about things they have already tried to make the kid better. Usually these are the regular things like pain medicines or hot compresses. Sometimes parents try…
One of my most dramatic cases recently started like this: The police were called to the home for a domestic dispute between drunken parents. When they arrived, they found a home littered with liquor bottles, trash, and pills. …
Take it from me, the father of three teenagers: teenagers are trouble. They whine and grump when asked to do the dishes, fold clothes, or clean up. They beg for fast food day and night. The good manners they practiced just a…
The room was suffused with pale light. There was no noise, no breeze. Two children lay on hospital beds, sedated. The only sign of distress would come every few minutes when one of them would tense his whole body, breathing…
When I was in college, I volunteered at the local homeless shelter. Back then you were allowed to smoke indoors, and the morning after a night shift I would leave with my hair stiff with the smell of cigarettes (I had a lot more…
When I was a kid, I remember my parents getting a call from my older brother Pat's teacher. He was falling asleep in class. Perhaps, the teacher suggested, he should get to bed sooner? You would think, both my parents being…
Every so often a parent brings their teenager to the Emergency Department for a drug test. The parent is suspicious that their teen is using drugs, even if the teenager denies it. There is obvious tension in the air between the…
