Taking Sides

KAREN NAZOR HILL: Though I have been a parent for more than three decades, I still cannot stand to see a child in pain. I’ve become stronger over the years, and no longer feel faint when I see blood or panic when a fever tops 103. My precious 2-year-old granddaughter, who moved with her parents to Chattanooga a year ago, had an allergic reaction to a prescription last winter that sent her, her mom (my daughter) and me to the emergency room one night. The doctor was trying to get blood from a vein in her arm while she was screaming, fighting and crying. My daughter and I had to hold her down. My daughter looked back at me during the commotion, probably for comfort, and tears were flowing down my face. It just kills me.

MARK KENNEDY: I know what you mean. I once had to hold my son down while a doctor removed splinters from his feet. It was the worst feeling ever.

Last week, our 2-year-old son was sick for several days with a stomach virus. To see a child go from being a fun-loving goof-ball one minute to a ball of pain the next is excruciating for parents.

My wife and I often bog down about when to take the kids to the doctor. I’m usually optimistic that mild illnesses will run their course. My wife is more cautious, and wants to be sure the boys are OK. Several times, her intuition has paid off. Still, it’s something we go back and forth about.

KAREN: With four children, I did learn that you can’t take your child to the doctor for every cold, scrape or fever. Still, you never want to take a chance that your child isn’t getting proper medical care when he/she needs it, but you have to be practical. As a young mother with my first child, I would take her to the pediatrician if she fell and got a slight bruise. By the time I had my fourth child 10 years later, I had become seasoned enough to know when a doctor was needed. It took a lot more than a bruise. But, believe me, Dr. Gary Meredith, our pediatrician, was always a phone call away. He became an extended member of our family simply because we saw him so often through the years.

MARK: We feel the same way about the boys’ pediatrician, Dr. Max Bryant. He has taught us it’s never a bad thing to call and ask questions. Finding a good doctor certainly solves a lot of problems and takes a lot of the guesswork out of parenting a sick child.