Love In Unexpected Places ✓

Chapter Nine

The weekend flew by just as fast as it came. It was finally Monday morning. My alarm sounded through the speakers of my alarm clock as the sun was beginning to rise up into the sky. I jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom, taking a shower and brushing my teeth before getting dressed for work.

I walked outside of my apartment complex as the sky was painted in different shades of oranges and yellows. The sunrise always instilled a feeling of peace in me. I no longer worried about the path life had taken, but marveled in thanks that I was able to awaken another day and take a breath of life. It hurt my heart that there were those in the world who weren't so lucky.

I got into my car, turned on the radio, and made my way to the pediatrician's office where I work. When I arrived, I parked my car and made my way inside the building. I took a seat in the lounge with my laptop while looking at my schedule for the day. I had a few well-child visits, some that were sick, and some newborns coming in for their first visit.

I walked into the breakroom to get a cup of coffee that one of our nurses had made. I sipped the hot liquid as I waited for the waiting room to fill with our patients.

Finally, 8 AM came and it was time to get on about our day. The nurse called in the first few patients, took their weights, and heights and put them all into an exam room to wait for me to come in and speak to them.

The first patient on my schedule is a little boy by the name of Chandler. He came in for a four-year-old well-child checkup and shots. I walked into the exam room that he and his mother occupied, and saw a big smile creep upon his face. I knew that by the time he would be leaving the office his smile would diminish, being left with tears from the shots.

"Hello, Chandler. How are you doing today?" I asked him as I made him a glove balloon from one of the exam gloves. He's the kind of child that needs to have an object close to him to make him feel safe. He has had bad experiences with physicians in the past and it took a lot of trust on his part to finally feel okay to have a doctor. I made him feel at ease.

He responded, "I'm good" as he took the glove balloon from my hands and held it under his arm.

I took a look at his charts then washed my hands to prepare for the checkup. I looked into his ears to make sure they were looking good and weren't infected. I checked his throat to make sure it wasn't red or shown any other indications of possible strep. I then moved onto his heart and lungs.

His heart thumped as it should, making a lub-dub, lub-dub sound. It was a nice strong heartbeat. His lungs, however, concerned me. I could hear a wheezing sound inside his chest cavity. I needed to get this child sent to a specialist to check for asthma and allergies. News like this was always tough news to break to the parents.

I took a deep breath and prepared to break the news to his mother. I knew it wouldn't be easy. I worried about how she would take the news too. She had been through so much in the last year and this would be the cherry on top that would make her whole world come crashing down.

"Ms. Aldrich, after accessing Chandler, I find it important that I voice my concerns to you."

Just by speaking those words, she reacted by putting her hands over her heart.

"By listening to Chandler's lungs, I could hear a wheezing sound when he breathes. I suggest that we send him to a specialist to be tested for allergies and for asthma. I'm not sure exactly if he has asthma but I can't rule anything out just yet. It could be possible that he has allergies that are triggering asthma. We call that allergy-induced asthma. In order to be properly diagnosed he will need to have the standard asthma testing and then test him for allergies if needed. Then we can focus on a treatment plan after."