Mommy’s Plate

I take care of sick hospitalized children.  I try to use evidence-based medicine when I evaluate and manage patients.  So, the doctor in me (DIM) is very serious and thoughtful when I sit before a medical record. 

Unlike some members of my profession who say that you should take emotion out of the practice of medicine, I believe the opposite.  I treat children like I would want my children to be treated.  I treat their parents how I would want to be treated if my child were sick.  No, that doesn’t work for all my patients and their families, but you can’t please everyone.

The DIM is very different at the bedside.  I am fortunate to have young children, it makes me look hip to a 3 year old when I can chat about Uniqua (what the hell is she anyway?).  Kids like it when I sing “Go Diego Go!” off-key and play with their Transformers and Barbie Dolls.  

As for dealing with parents:  At a minimum, you’re going to know why your kid is in the hospital, and why I think they’re sick or that I don’t know why they’re sick, and what we’re going to do about it.  I always start with the truth, how much I tell them at once and in what detail is determined by the parent’s anxiety and interest level. It’s hard to believe, but sometimes all they care about is when they get to go home.

So the DIM is a complicated beast who wants nothing but the best care for the families I have the honor of meeting in the hospital.