Medical appts. for school

[KimRaye]

I know I'm not alone so please, share your experience here.

DD (5-1/2), entering Kngr, had her 'check-up' earlier today. YIKES! Mind you, she has received all her vaccines so, she was current but, you all know the story...kngr, 5th and HS needs boosters. Poor thing had her body invaded in 5 places!!! TB test on forearm, finger prick (the most painful, imo) for bloodwork/iron level, 2 shots in one arm and, one shot in the other! HOW MUCH do these Drs.(the State, actually) think a kid can take in one day?!?! Thank goodness she had the chicken pox vaccine at 1yo or, she would've needed that, too!

Well, my DD was a SUPER TROOPER! At least she didn't scream. She was teary-eyed after the TB and blood that the nurse did and, I held her and told her it was ok to cry (just please don't scream). Just then, the Dr. walked in and, she got brave all over again. The Dr. gave her the 3 shots.

I have NO CLUE what the bill was since I didn't pay anything while there but, let me tell you how much it cost me anyway: One $1 barbie outfit from the dollar store, a PAID new release rental from Blockbuster (she gets free kids rentals, non-new release) AND, MY WDW BARBIE! She had been eyeing that Barbie since I got it and, really wanted it for her (Dec) BD but, I gave it to her now after watching all that today!!

So, who hurt more? Mom with guilt or, DD with REAL pain??

Tylenol/motrin/advil can be such a lifesaver!!

Here's to ALL our kids who have to endure all these well-visits just to get educated!

{{{{HUGS}}}}

 

[catsrule]

Kelly is a very brave little girl. I would have screamed!

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Yup I remember DSs Kindergarten shots. Ive been told he will need more shots to enter 7th grd next year.
Tomorrow's pedi visit should be ok - there's forms but no shots.

 

[cgcw]

Seems like they are hitting them earlier with those big tests. My DS3 just went in for a 3 year old pre-school checkup. A blood test in the big toe (ouch), a TB test where they don't use the little 4 prong thing -- they actually used a very short needle and injected it under the skin -- a couple of times. And, because I declined the chicken pox vaccine when he was 1, he got that too.

This mom took the chickens way out -- DH took DS3. I went shopping with DS8 for school clothes. I think I got the better end of that deal. DS3 told DH he didn't like being there and didn't like the shots. But all in all, he was a trooper.

Our pediatricians office always refers to the 5 year old checkup as the "5 year old special". I don't see much of anything special about it though.

One thing I learned with my older DS is I never, never tell the kids what's going to happen before we get there. When DS8 was going for his kindergarden checkup, I told him he was going to have to get "a" shot a couple of hours before the appointment time. I thought he was going to have a nerveous breakdown by the time we got to the doctors office. He worried and cried like there was no tomorrow. Low and behold, we get there and he had an ear infection -- so no shots. This just made him worry more and more because he knew the next time he was going to get the shot(s) and it gave him more time to fret about it. Now I just keep this to myself and deal with it at the doctors office.

 

[believe]

It must be a state thing....DD, who is also entering Kindergarten this year, did not go through all that. She had to recite the alphabet, count and do a urine specimen. Other than that it was a normal physical that she received the year before. I did have to take her for her first eye exam, which is now mandatory.

 

[Mskanga]

I did all that in pre-school , last year she would have needed the chickenpox shot , she had the chickenpox though so all she needed was the note stating she had it. I didn't take her to the doctor when she had it but she knows because I called her , so she just made a note. My kids didn't get any bloodwork last year but I think they will this year, they are going for their physical next week.
I took dd1 for her eye examination to the eye doctor, they said she would probably need glasses within a year, in December she had the eye test in school ( not mandatory but any tests they give in school I will take ) and she came home with a note saying her site was tested and turned out 40/70, it scared the heck out of me because only then she told me that she couldn't see the blackboard from her desk, she was on the last row in the class. Her true test came back 20/30 , it wasn't as bad as the school report had said. DD2 is being closely monitored for that too, dh's entire family wear eyeglasses and my kids seem to inherite all those things.
I think us parents feel worse for our kids , I know I do in the winter when they get the flu shot , but then again I do it so they don't spend the winter getting sick ( which they do without it ) , and when DD1 got eyeglasses, for a while I thought it was my fault for not "noticing" it sooner, yet I had been taking her to doctors.
It hurts more when it's our kids than when it happens to us.

 

[JESW]

It must be different in different states. DD4 got her booster shots on her 4 year old visit and I was told no more shots until she was 12 or so. I forget when DS8 got his. It was NOT fun with DD as I had to hold her down while they gave her 3 shots in her legs.

When she was a baby she was diagnosed with level 2 kidney reflux on both sides so she went to the dr's a lot, had the vcug (ugh!) and shots.

Somewhere inside her she has never forgoten and it has NEVER been easy to take her to the dr. I'm hoping that she gets over it soon as she really puts herself through heck when she has to go to the dr. I didn't tell her a thing about the shots last time.

Your poor little one - I feel for her and you!

Jill

 

[peg2001]

My DD3 must be strange because she LIKES trips to the doctor and dentist. She frowns real heavy when she gets shots and announces "That hurt!" But if I ask her on the way out if she enjoyed the doctor visit, she says yes.

She asks to go to the dentist and gets upset if she doesn't get all the treatment that her older sister gets, like X-rays and molar sealant.

Peggy

 

[Rock'n Robin]

DD#2 had 3 shots at her K checkup. The doctor gave DS one of the boosters when he was 4 so he only had 2, but it was enough. He also had an eye check (although he goes to an opthamologist every 4 months) and a hearing check.
He's really shot-phobic right now. At the emergency room this weekend the nurse asked if his shots were up to date and he said "SHOTS? I DON'T WANT ANY SHOTS!!" I had to calm him down all over again!
Robin M.