I couldn't help thinking of this vignette from Dr. Seuss, as the doctor removed a foreign object from Liam's left ear. Liam told me about it while I was giving him a bath.
"Mama, that hurts when you scrub my ear. Because of the rock in it."
"How did a rock get in your ear?"
"I put it in there." (Duh, Mom.)
"WHY did you put it in there?"
"I don't know."
"When did this happen?"
"At Jeannie's house." (That means it had been in there already for at least two days.)
Then he went on to describe the rock, and the insertion, in enough detail to convince me that he wasn't making up a story. I looked in his ear, and sure enough, there was something in there - but way too far for me to safely get it out.
The appointment took about 40 minutes, and we had to fill out 4 sheets of paper, and see three different health care professionals, and answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with the problem at hand. Does he have a fever? Is his throat sore? Is he allergic to any medication? NO!! I already told you, he has a ROCK in his ear!! The rock removal took all of 30 seconds, and as an added bonus, the doctor reached back in and took out a giant disgusting hunk of ear wax. I guess that was worth the $300 they will charge to our insurance? At least the doctor was really great with Liam. And Timothy was thrilled to get a turn in the special chair.
Post script:
Now Liam is more curious than ever about what's inside his body. As a four-year-old, he is particularly interested in scatology. So I drew him a diagram of the digestive system, complete with a slice of pizza going in the mouth, and he was delighted to color the stomach and intestines, and draw the poop and pee coming out.
No comments:
Post a Comment