(or, “The Case for Concierge Pediatric Care”)
Sense 1: Hearing
At 7:30 in the morning, you find yourself in the kitchen. Your 6 month old is held fast in your left arm as you finish skillfully putting together a sandwich before placing it into the yellow Minion’s lunch box. You’re tired because the baby woke up 3 times in the middle of the night crying with a cough and runny nose. That’s when you hear a faint, but somewhat familiar sound coming from upstairs. It’s a bursting combination of a growl with a rushing brook and it occurs in an almost rhythmic pattern. You turn towards the stairs to investigate.
Sense 2: Smelling
An acidic aroma with a touch of peach and oatmeal hits your nose. It conjures up a familiar and pleasant time about 30 minutes ago when your 3 and 5 year olds were sitting at the table eating, laughing and telling you about their teddy bears. It is not completely unpleasant, but it’s not as alluring as breakfast was. You follow the wafting trail, led astray several times into the wrong rooms before regaining the scent.
Sense 3: Seeing
You finally make your way into the playroom where you see a brilliant Technicolor sunrise splattered across the newly painted wall, extending down over the carpet. The orange is so vivid you need to squint as you look and it seems to stick out almost as if it were more of a collage than a painting. As you get closer, you see there are pieces of half-digested food sticking to the wall. They extend onto your 5 year old who is literally dripping with gastric contents.
Sense 4: Feeling
All your senses heighten as you run to your child with the baby still held firmly to your side. You hear the rumbling sound of the roaring brook one more time just before feeling vomit coat you in a sudden impromptu waterfall. You have become part of the painting.
Sense 5: Tasting
A small amount hits your head with a couple drops landing in your open mouth. No more needs to be said about this sense. You are instantly aware that you will soon become an artist yourself.
Call a Public Investigator
Dripping, you reach for the phone and call your standard Greenwich Pediatrician. Before getting two words out, you are put on hold for 10 minutes. The phone disconnects, forcing you to call again. After a 15 minute wait, a busied and unsympathetic voice tells you that the doctor can see you in 3 hours. It’s not a pediatrician you know well, but you take what you can get.
Several more masterpieces are created as you wait to go in. All 3 kids are dressed and squished into the car. Your child vomits and coats your car and other children 2 more times on the way there. You then wait in a waiting room, which is surely filled beyond capacity for another hour and watch your 3-year-old put the booger-covered train into his mouth. Finally you are abruptly led back to a small room. After another wait, the doctor comes in, examines your child for 2 minutes, tells you its viral and there is nothing needed. He mumbles something about dehydration, which you don’t quite understand. You ask if he can just check the baby’s ears, but he says no and closes the door.
You need a change!
Time for a Private Eye
Dripping, you reach for the phone and call your Concierge Pediatrician. You are instantly greeted by a friendly and familiar voice. Noting your urgency, you are connected to one of two doctors who know you and your family well. After making sure that there is no life-threatening emergency, your doctor tells you they will call in Zofran, a medication that helps decrease nausea and vomiting, to a pharmacy that delivers to your house. The pediatrician tells you that one of them will get to your home in 30 minutes and examine your child.
After a thorough examination in the comfort of your own living room, you are assured that everything is ok. A detailed description of what to do and what to look for is given and all your questions are carefully answered to your satisfaction. You are not made to feel stupid for asking questions.
He finishes by saying, “of course I can also take a look at the baby!”
Mystery Solved
Next Generation Pediatrics, your Greenwich Concierge Pediatric Practice, is the humane choice for the care of your family.
