1605 mile trip in less than 72 hours, a high-energy six-year-old boy, bad weather, and a two-and-a-half-hour wait in the waiting room, all for 15 minutes with the doctor.
Roughly four times a year, my son and I drive from our home in Kansas City to Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit to visit his eye surgeon. Sometimes the entire family makes the trip and we try to make a vacation out of it, but usually it is just my son and me. We usually leave on a Sunday and drive to St. Louis and stay the night with my sister and her family. On Monday, we pack up and head out early and tackle the ten to twelve hour drive (depending on the number of potty breaks required) from St. Louis to Royal Oak. After spending the night in an apartment operated by the hospital, we head for the appointment with the surgeon. We get the earliest possible appointment and hope the doctor is not running too far behind. We hit the road immediately after the appointment and do the ten to twelve hour drive all over again. We spend Tuesday night in St. Louis and finish the drive Wednesday morning.
When I tell people about these trips, they usually shake their heads in amazement and then the questions come. Why don’t you get a doctor here in Kansas City? Why don’t you fly? Why does it have to be Detroit? After the questions come the statements like, “I don’t know how you do it” or “I could never make a trip like that with my children”. These people usually tell me how sorry they are for me, which is when I shake my head in disappointment because they just don’t get it.
The reason we go to Detroit is because the eye surgeons here in Kansas City have already done what they can. They were the ones who sent us to Detroit in the first place. We don’t fly because if my son has to have surgery, the pressurized cabin could damage his eyes further, and we go to Detroit because that is where the doctor who can help my son is, plain and simple. These trips aren’t easy, but they are necessary. When it comes down to it, we do what we have to do for our kids and this is what people don’t seem to understand. When they feel sorry for me and tell me they couldn’t or wouldn’t make a trip like the ones we make four times a year, I just want to scream, “You would if you love your kids!”
People also say that it is ridiculous that we only see the doctor for 15 minutes before heading home. They look at this like it is bad or something. Truthfully, I thank God we only see the doctor for 15 minutes because if he needs more than that then something is wrong and we are looking at surgery. In my book, 1605 miles in under 72 hours, a high-energy six-year-old-boys, bad weather, a two-and-a-half-hour wait, for only 15 minutes with the doctor is not only priceless, it is perfect.