The doctor will see you now.

Let’s face it, going to the doctor is usually not something you look forward to; for me, even worse is having to go the dentist. It all stems from when I was 6 years old and had to have several cavities filled. If that wasn’t bad enough, it was my birthday. Now who would make a dentist appointment on a child’s birthday knowing he was going to have cavities filled---yet alone several of them? That would be my Mom; thanks Mom, it only took me more than 40 years to get over that appointment.

Being a doctor has changed a lot over the years. I remember when they made house calls but I don’t remember it happening too often. If they did I was really young, and as I got older the thought of a doctor coming to your home was about as likely as the shot they were about to give you really not hurting. We know the truth about shots.

I believe I have written about this before in “Snap.Shot,” but please bear with me; it must be our family, but for some reason when pediatricians and dentists were being selected to care for us kids, they must have been in short supply when they got to our name. As kids we went to Dr. Friedman; of what I recall he was about 5’7” or so, had grayish hair, wore a lab coat that of course had his name on it, and really didn’t care how much the shots hurt. His nurse, I believe, took great pride in seeing us in misery---oh what a fun experience.

What could be worse?

Dr. Wallach. As I described a while back, he had 3 things I remember most about him---bad breath, hairy hands, and one leg. Yes, he had had cancer and had his leg amputated; certainly you can’t fault him for that, but he could have had better oral hygiene and the hairy hands were too much to deal with. Oh yeah, he would also not recommend Novocain because he said the cavities were always small and it would be over with a lot faster if he didn’t use it. Thanks Doc, that was one good decision on your part as I lived with it for many years.

Of course not all doctors are mean or uncaring; this past winter when our youngest child was hospitalized, we met the doctor of all doctors. She was a combination of Marcus Welby, MD and Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy---we will never forget what she did for our family.

The photo above is of my dentist, Dr. Edward LeMire. Because of Dr. LeMire’s patience and understanding, he helped me get over the fear of “sitting in the chair.” Of course I don’t love being there, but it’s much better than what I went through when I was young. What’s the biggest difference? Besides recommending Novocain when needed, he wears a shield so you have no idea if he has bad breath and his hands do not need braiding; I have been going to him for nearly 30 years, there is no stopping me now.

Thanks for stopping by.