Why It's Important to Thank the Medical Professionals Who Help Our Children

“Your daughter has a heart problem, and we need to send her to another hospital.”

These are the words I barely remember a doctor saying to me when my daughter was less than a day old.

It wouldn’t be the last time a doctor or other healthcare professional gave me bad news about my daughter’s health, but it was the first and I was in shock. I had also given birth the day before and wasn’t thinking clearly.

Unfortunately, the bad health news kept coming. There was the doctor who told me she needed immediate heart surgery. However, another one told me she had a genetic disorder. And the list goes on and on and on. Can you relate?

I know how hard it was to hear the news. After all, I have broken down crying in doctors’ offices in anguish as well as in joy. To be completely honest, I had never really thought about the doctor who had to deliver the news. What is it like to deal with a devastated mother or father? Or stoic parents? Or an angry parent when treatment isn’t working? Or a parent with a long list of questions? Or a parent that has no questions? Or parents who get tired of being the one to hold down their child in appointment after appointment? The situations are complicated and endless.

And I haven’t even gotten to the patient, your child. Any procedure or test on a child comes with unique challenges. Some kids have white coat syndrome and scream when they see a doctor. Getting younger kids to sit still for anything can be a challenge, but blood draws are especially tough. If you’re in a hospital setting, they have Child Life Specialists who are worth their weight in gold!

So, hug your child’s doctor today as well as other healthcare personnel and thank them. Thank them for helping families navigate terrible health news. Pediatric doctors have child-sized patients as well as adult patients, mom and dad. It cannot be easy serving them all.