If you didn’t know, I’m a last minute planner, and it drives my Type-A first born daughter ridiculously crazy. Anyway, I wasn’t real worried about planning for Halloween, as we always come up with costumes, and the creativity that comes with last minute planning is kinda fun. (most of the time. Sometimes it’s stressful…) It’s also resourceful! This year was NOT stressful, which was awesome!
Ruth Ann had a LaLa Loopsy doll costume thanks to grandma and a yard sale this summer. She was way ahead of the game this year! Knowing we had a doctor costume, I figured I’d better put the bug in Josiah’s ear, so if that didn’t work, I could start thinking of something else that he would find acceptable. As soon as I mentioned it, he was excited! He also proceeded to tell EVERYONE that he was going to be a doctor for Halloween. Samuel decided to be a hunter, and thought it even better that we allowed him to carry his BB gun with him (it wasn’t loaded!). Grace wasn’t sure what to be, and decided to be Josiah’s patient. I wasn’t sure exactly how we would pull that off, but knew it could be done. I found Nathan’s old knee brace for her leg and used one of Josiah’s arm braces for her arm (she’s small!) and her and a friend picked out an outfit, put bandaids and wounds on her face and arm, topped off with a bandage around her head. It was pretty cute, and it all came together around 5:00pm last night, right before we headed out to trick or treat!
I have to say that I was a little shocked that Josiah agreed to be a doctor. He knows doctors very well. He knows that a trip to the doctor usually means a shot, blood draw, or IV poke. He has the Beads of Courage to prove it! Yet he agreed to it! (Perhaps he wants to be on the OTHER side of the table!) 🙂
Regardless of his reasoning, I believe that it is only because of the amazing care we have received through MU Healthcare that Josiah was excited to be a doctor for Halloween.
The last appointment Josiah had was with a dermatologist last week. He was fine with going, but did repeat that he did not want to get a shot. I probably heard that phrase 100 times within an hour; no exaggeration. I did reassure him there would be no shots. He informed the doctors and nurse, and they were very understanding. And Josiah was still friendly, talking to them, telling him about being a doctor for Halloween, about the cartwheels that he does, which then included a demonstration, and all the other things Josiah likes to talk about. I love how friendly he is, even in a situation that he is unsure about.
I personally think it’s crazy that Josiah will avoid auditoriums, church sanctuaries, pavilions at the park, and anywhere else he thinks there will be people clapping; all because he cannot handle the noise. Yet, he’ll walk into a doctors office without a problem – even when he knows he has to get a shot. I think it speaks volumes for our healthcare providers that even though most visits require a poke of some sort, he still goes willingly – and happily!
The care we have and continue to receive through MU Healthcare is AMAZING. We are VERY impressed with each doctor, nurse, and staff member within every department we’ve been in.
We absolutely love our family physician. He is wonderfully amazing! He has been our doctor for almost 12 years now. When we learned I was pregnant with Grace, we began the search for a family physician. This doctor was the first one we saw, and we had no reason to continue the search! He delivered both Grace and Samuel, but unfortunately, was out of town and unable to deliver Ruth Ann and Josiah. Ruth Ann LOVES going to see him, and sometimes I think she hopes to be sick just so she can go! Josiah loves going as well, and it probably helps that it’s the nurses that give shots and not the doctor! Even when he was right out of surgery and very clingy to Nathan or I, he would willingly go into our doctor’s lap. Grace and Samuel also enjoy him, although now that they’re older, they rarely see him other than their well visits each year. They all love his Donald Duck voice! He has been with us throughout Josiah’s journey. I remember when he visited us after the surgery, he said that Josiah was his first child to have this diagnosis, but was going to keep him as his patient, working closely with all of Josiah’s new doctors and learning what he needed to in order to be able to provide the best care. Now, we just need to convince him that he can never retire!
For a very long time, our family physician is all we knew. When we moved away from Columbia, many of my friends wondered why I would keep our doctor and make the drive to Columbia. We even chose to have our babies delivered at Women and Children’s Hospital. Nathan had hoped to be able to have a good reason to speed on the highway to get me to the hospital because I was in labor and about to have a baby at any moment. That didn’t happen, thankfully! When Josiah was diagnosed and spent time at the hospital, my friends then understood why we chose to keep MU Healthcare as our primary care, even if we had to drive. In fact, I’ve told Nathan I don’t want to move to Texas because I don’t want to leave our doctors! (one of several reasons, but it’s a big one!)
The first stop we made with Josiah was the Pediatric Procedure Suite and MRI. Then to Neurosurgery, Endocrinology, Opthalmology, Surgery, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, Pediatric Floor at the hospital, Neurology, Oncology, Pain Management & Rehabilitation, and Occupational and Physical Therapy.
Our neurosurgeon is wonderful; both in her skill as a surgeon and in patient relationship. I remember late one evening she stopped by Josiah’s room to check on him – after she had completed a very long emergency surgery. We were also very pleased with the updates we received during Josiah’s surgery. The nurse in the waiting room that day was excellent and a joy to be with during the day. We would sometimes spy her and wave as we walked through the surgery unit on our way from