Sometimes things that seem routine to medical professionals can cause a lot of anxiety for patients and their families.
Last summer one of our teenaged children had his wisdom teeth removed. From a medical standpoint, everything went smoothly and there were no complications. However, being the one who cared for him the rest of the day reminded me why parents worry. He was so helpless, drifting in and out of sleep and hallucinating about elephants on the drive home. I had this big surge of a paternal protection instinct. And when his local anesthesia took longer to wear off than I expected, I started imagining permanent nerve damage. From a medical perspective, he did great. But from a parental perspective, it was an anxious day.
I have also had the experience of almost fainting while
watching a routine procedure on a family member. Something that I had seen many
times had a completely different effect on me when it was being done to a loved
one, much to the amusement of the nurses who were there and knew me
professionally.
Our family has also dealt with a genetic, metabolic disorder.
It is extra work, expensive, and a pain to have to deal with. But it has not caused any real medical problems and the
treatment is a huge medical success story. But as a parent, one worries about
all of the “what ifs.” I even had some of that protective feeling when I recently took one of our beagles in for a procedure. Even though he often drives me crazy barking at night, I was surprised to find myself worrying about him.
Sometimes the best thing I can do for a patient and her family is remind myself what it is like to be on the patient side, what it is like to be a parent with a sick child who you love more than anything.
