September 30, 2014 Tuesday "three again"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 30, 2014  Tuesday

A three year old was having his check-up.

"How old are you?"

"Three."

"Is your birthday coming up"

"Yes."

"How old will you be?"

"Three again."  

               Westport, Connecticut 19990's

September 28, 2014 Sunday "my knees"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 28, 2014  Sunday

     To my dear Readers: I am sorry that I haven't made a recent entry.  I have been in Chapel Hill, NC for the last four days.  Yoga, music, chess, family…

"Two Moons"  (from a detail of a ceramic plate)

     "How old are you?"

     "I'm two and a half but my knees are seventeen."

     I guess my recent entries, from my solo practice in Connecticut that started 28 years ago, seem to be about birthdays.  I actually compiled these anecdotes in chapter form about fourteen years ago and this chapter, titled "Birthdays and Other Math Problems" is one of my favorites.  

September 23, 2014 Tuesday

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 23, 2014  Tuesday

"How old are you?" 

"Six...just plain six."

September 22, 2014 Monday "ca"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 22, 2014  Monday

     There are many ways to get a diagnosis.  

     Joseph, age two, was speaking but I couldn't quite understand him.  I asked the Mother if he was leaving the final consonant off at the end of words, which could be a sign of a mild hearing loss, i.e.  saying "ca" instead of "cat."  

     She thought for awhile but just couldn't remember.  Finally, she looked at little Joseph and asked him, 

     "Joseph, are you saying "ca" when you say "cat"?  

    He looked down and nodded yes silently.  

          Westport, Connecticut 1990's

September 21, 2014 Sunday

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 21, 2014 Sunday

     One five year old had chronic ear infections and it was pretty obvious that he had decreased hearing because of fluid in his ears.  I decided to check his hearing with the audiogram just to document the degree of loss.  The nurse would press a red button in her hand and then he would raise his hand if he heard the sound.  

To everyone's surprise, his hearing was perfect, which would be a miracle because of the state of his ears.  The Mother was suspicious and kept quizzing him.  

“Did you really hear those sounds?”  

He finally cracked under pressure and said, “No.  I just watched her hands push the button.”  We all laughed despite our disbelief.  Finally, the mother wanted to know why he would cheat like that.  He said, 

“I had to watch her hands.  I couldn’t hear the sounds.”

              Westport, Connecticut 1990's

September 20, 2014 Saturday "Forbes"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 20, 2014 Saturday

            Only in Fairfield County, I thought.  
         Some of the scenarios in my office in Westport were a little different from my days in the Public Health Service in inner city Paterson, N.J. or my subsequent time at migrant health centers in the Carolinas.  And yet the underlying feeling is always the same: Mothers and Fathers doting over their children, with all of their innocence and affection. 

         I went into the examining room and found the Mother reading an article to her eight year old son. The glossy page had a colorful picture and seemed to have a lot of interesting facts.  What a pleasant picture: a Mother taking the time to educate her son.  Just to be together, reading and talking.  Idyllic.  

         I smiled and told them these thoughts and then asked, 

        “What are you reading?”  

 She turned the magazine over and the cover said, “Forbes.”  

                  Westport, Connecticut 1990's

September 18, 2014 Thursday "Yes, Dr. Feole"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 18, 2014 Thursday

Anecdote:

     "Do you take your flouride every day?" I asked Will dubiously.  

     Will had a mind of his own and I wondered what he would say.  

    He nodded earnestly and then felt the need to explain this admirable activity that filled him with pride.  

     "Yes, Dr. Feole.  I take one pill every morning."  

     I was about to congratulate him when he continued, 

     "And I throw it in the toilet.

          Westport, Connecticut   1990's

September 16, 2014 Tuesday "Schmeeka"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 16, 2014  Tuesday

Interesting Name:

     Schmeeka 

Anecdote:

The six year old bent over so that I could examine his back.  

"Is that a bat bite?" he asked.  

I peered at the tiny red mark: no break in the skin, slightly elevated, and miniscule.  

"No.  It's not."   

"Well, what is it?"  He asked me with consternation in his voice.  

I said, "Well, let's see.  How long has the mark been there."  

He threw his hands up in the air and said, 

"Ever since the bat bit me."

          Westport, Connecticut, 1990's

September 15, 2014 "Yair"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 15, 2014  Monday

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

"spams in back"  (spasms)

Interesting Name:

       Yair

Anecdote:

     After the throat culture was done, I complimented Jake for being a brave little chap.  I said, "Jake, you're a great guy."  

     He turned to me and said, "You're not so bad yourself."

          Westport, Connecticut  1990's

September 14, 2014 Sunday "fall from haystack"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 14, 2014  Sunday

from the NYT's, a musician in her home studio in New York City.

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

fall from haystack  (computer diagnosis when searching for "fall")

Interesting Name:

       Bethzabeth

Anecdote:

     The Mom had taken David to another doctor when I was off call.  He had a sinus infection and was put on Amoxicillin.  She said, "He doesn't usually do well with amoxicillin.  He usually is on suprax historically."  

     David, age seven, looked at her in a puzzled manner and said, 

    "Hysterically?"

          Westport, Connecticut  1990's

Coup de Essai:

"But you must take a poor man's word for it that I'm in greater need of plasters than of sermons,"  Sancho Panza to Don Quixote, Part I, Chapter 15, page 114.



Poetry:

North Star

In Hanko, Finland
a young woman boards
the vessel in the Baltic
for a ship across the Atlantic.
The North Star shines in the sky.
She's carrying in her valise
a change of clothes
a packet of seeds
and the sauna dipper.
Distance pours between constellations
between English words on her tongue
through storms and sun.
In New York City, she buys
a one way ticket
boards the train going
across the continent
arrives on an inland sea.
The winter ground underfoot
is familiar with frost
as she transfers to a northbound
along the Vermilion Trail
in Minnesota.
Ahead of her waits a man
a house to be built
and a fire that burns it down.
Ahead, eleven children
to bear, a few she must bury,
the cows in the barn
needing to be milked.
Unbroken ground only hers to till.
Above her, the North Star
inside the aurora borealis, northern
banners waving welcome —

     by Sheila Packa, 

     from Night Train Red Dust: Poems of the Iron Range. © Wildwood River Press, 2014. 

Favorite Musician/song:

Flim and the BB's  "Dream Boat"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP0OIEc4wdQ

    Jimmy Johnson, the exquisite and humble bass player for James Taylor…probably my favorite of all time.  Very sensitive, underplayed, thoughtful and creative bass.  This song is lyrical and transporting.  From their best CD, New Pants.

September 13, 2014 Saturday "prickly heat"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 13, 2014 Saturday

At my favorite store in Boston, called Ink, they have post cards.  This is one of my favorite artists:
Michael Sowa from Berlin, Germany.  Web site: www.inkognito.de
This picture is called "Bayerische Sternsinger"

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

   "prickly heat"

Interesting Name:

     Layza

Anecdote:

     Shanice was a three year old sweet, very thin African American girl.  She was here for the first time with her new Foster Mother.  The Foster Mother looked like she was in her sixties.  She was immaculately dressed in a pharmacy technician jacket from Bi-Lo food store…she was very warm and compassionate.
     Shanice didn’t say a word during the exam and pretended to be asleep at first.  She had severe allergies, had a horrible sinus infection, and was wheezing badly.  She needed asthma treatments three times a day the Mother said.  
     She was extremely thin but the Mother said that she had actually put on a lot of weight since she got her a month ago.  She asked me with much concern if her stomach was alright.  
     “I know her stomach can’t be that big, but she’s always hungry.  She always goes to the refrigerator, and if there is no food, she steals food from the garbage.”  
     I told her to feed her as much as she wants.  She needs it.  

     I gave her a litany of prescriptions and told her to come back in two weeks.  She was going to get better no matter what, I said.  When I opened the door, Shanice and her new mother were giggling and teasing each other.  She walked out with her sneakers with holes in them, her pants dirty and worn, but I had a good feeling about her.  All would be well.

              April, 2008  South Carolina

September 12, 2014 Friday "my woman"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 12, 2014  Friday

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

     "ha"    (headache)

Interesting Name:

   Excess

Anecdote:

       Jonathan, age three and one-half, motioned to me to bend near to him.  
       He whispered discretely, 

            "Do you know what my woman is called?"  

       It sounded like he had been watching a little too much MTV to me.  

            "No, I don't," I replied.  

        He leaned forward and said softly, 

            "Mom." 

                                       Westport, Connecticut  1990's


Poetry:
August

Just when you'd begun to feel
You could rely on the summer,
That each morning would deliver
The same mourning dove singing
From his station on the phone pole,
The same smell of bacon frying
Somewhere in the neighborhood,
The same sun burning off
The coastal fog by noon,
When you could reward yourself
For a good morning's work
With lunch at the same little seaside cafe
With its shaded deck and iced tea,
The day's routine finally down
Like an old song with minor variations,
There comes that morning when the light
Tilts ever so slightly on its track,
A cool gust out of nowhere
Whirlwinds a litter of dead grass
Across the sidewalk, the swimsuits
Are piled on the sale table,
And the back of your hand,
Which you thought you knew,
Has begun to look like an old leaf.
Or the back of someone else's hand.

      by George Bilgere, from The Good Kiss. 

September 11, 2014 Thursday "9/11"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 11, 2014  Thursday

     September 11… thirteen years ago, and a time of grief and remembrance for me…for us all.  My only consolation today was a moving article in the New York Times (some of it is scanned in below):

     There were 3,051 children who lost a parent that day and about 300 of them were in kindergarden.  100 of them are now 18 years old and starting college, tuition free with full scholarships from the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund which was formed a week after the attacks.  
     I remember the feeling of love and compassion in the time just following 9/11... so many Americans reached out, wondering how they could help.  This fund was created with such generosity and compassion, initially with the help of President Clinton and Senator Bob Dole.  There were over 20,000 donors.  

September 10, 2014 Wednesday "Make that eight"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 10, 2014 Wednesday

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

     "fusssy"

Interesting Name:

   Jaemayeoust  

Anecdote:

     I was lying down with my son John, age nine, at bedtime…the beautiful, magical time for a parent.  We were talking about what it was like being married and how Mom and I were so happy together.  

      I said, "Just think, John.  Somewhere in America right now there is a nine year old girl out there who is going to sleep right now whom you will marry some day."  I looked over and John was looking up at the ceiling with a big smile on his face.  

      He turned to me and said, "Dad, make that eight."

                                    Westport, Connecticut, 1990's

September 9, 2014 Tuesday "Geronimo"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 9, 2014  Tuesday

Interesting Name:

     Geronimo

Anecdote:

     I saw James, a 16 year old African-American male, almost two years ago.  His chief complaint: daily very painful migraine headaches for a year.  When I  examined him I realized that he had chronic sinusitis…for a year.  A little different from my private practice in Connecticut where a few days of even mild suffering would have been enough, warranting an immediate, thorough evaluation.   I treated him aggressively and, low and behold, the headaches completely resolved.  
     Here he was today, one and one-half years later and he was doing well.  No headaches.  He had a dirty jacket on that was pulled together in the middle with a pin.  The zipper had broken.  His jeans were dirty and ragged.  Yet, he sat there very quietly and was grateful for the treatment today.   His mother was dressed poorly and had a brown winter hat on and a large, worn winter coat.  She sat there quietly, a sweet smile on her face. 
          South Carolina, March, 2009 

Poetry:

Season

This hour along the valley this light at the end
       of summer lengthening as it begins to go
this whisper in the tawny grass this feather floating
       in the air this house of half a life or so
this blue door open to the lingering sun this stillness
       echoing from the rooms like an unfinished sound
this fraying of voices at the edge of the village
       beyond the dusty gardens this breath of knowing
without knowing anything this old branch from which
       years and faces go on falling this presence already
far away this restless alien in the cherished place
       this motion with no measure this moment peopled
with absences with everything that I remember here
       eyes the wheeze of the gate greetings birdsongs in winter
the heart dividing dividing and everything
       that has slipped my mind as I consider the shadow
all this has occurred to somebody else who has gone
       as I am told and indeed it has happened again
and again and I go on trying to understand
       how that could ever be and all I know of them
is what they felt in the light here in this late summer

     by W.S. Merwin, from The Vixen. © Knopf

September 7, 2014 Sunday "Windy"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 7, 2014 Sunday

Taken yesterday

Chief Complaint: (written on the chart before I go in the room)

“may be just meek and out of shape”  (pulmonology consult for a child with dyspnea)

Interesting Name:

     

        Windy

Anecdote:

     Manuel, a chubby and very friendly Hispanic patient, was twelve years old.  We have a great relationship and I have know him for years.  He is very expressive and exuberant.  When I came in the room, he said, "Ahh!  Dr. Feole!  My favorite doctor!"
     He came in with a racing heart.  I eventually gently brought up the subject of his weight…pointing to my own stomach as evidence of the struggle.  
     I asked if he drank Coke.  
     “Yes!  I love Coke!”   
     “Pepsi?”  
     “Yes!   It’s great!”
     “Dr. Pepper?”
     The same answer…as he also did for Mountain Dew, Gatorade, energy drinks and sweat tea.  
     I nodded and said that they were tasty, as he nodded vigorously in return acknowledging my good taste.  I pointed out the enormous amounts of sugar and caffeine that they had and maybe he would want to consider water.   
     His Mother suddenly came to life and started pretent to rhythmically pound gently on his large stomach as he lay there on his back on the exam table.
     “Water!  Water!  Water!” she chanted with a smile with every downward thrust of her hands as he winced.  “Tell Dr. Feole what you say to me when I mention water.”
    He said, “Water makes you rust.”
    I said,  “Don’t worry.  I can give you something to melt the rust away.”

    He said eagerly, “Like Coke?”
          September, 2014 South Carolina

Coup d'essai:

Favorite Musician/song:

Favorite Book/author:

Favorite Movie/DVD:

September 6, 2014 Saturday "Summer Breeze"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 6, 2014 Saturday

Interesting Name:

   India

Anecdote:

     "Does he have a fever?" I asked the Mother.  

     Billy, age five, defiantly looked over at his Mother and said, 

     "She won't let me have a fever."

          Westport, Connecticut  19990's

Poetry:

Summer Breeze, by Seals and Crofts

See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evenin' on a Friday night
Little light is shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's alright

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

See the paper layin' on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walked on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day's work
And you're waiting there, not a care in the world

See the smile awaitin' in the kitchen
Food cookin' in the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Favorite Musician/song:

Seals and Crofts, "Summer Breeze"

    An all-time favorite - a motivation for my life, just as reading all of James Herriott was.  

September 5, 2014 Friday "Sweet Melissa"

First Words

      …thoughts of an anachronistic, solo pediatrician

                    by Glenn Feole, M.D.

        "Be careful too that the reading of your story makes the melancholy 

        laugh and the merry laugh louder," Cervantes, Prologue to Don Quixote

Contact: ishmaelish36@gmail.com

Blog site: ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

September 5, 2014 Friday

Interesting Name:

  Alaska

Anecdote:

     The world does belong to the humble, I thought, as I stood before her in the exam room.  Fairfield County had its disproportionate share of nannies, and in a few rare instances I seemed to know the nanny much better than the actual Mother.   

But this was different.  This particular nanny was special.  She was seventy-seven years old, frail, immaculately dressed in a long coat and very soft-spoken.  Her eyes seemed to radiate kindness and acceptance.  She explained to me that she had had no children of her own but “loved” all the many children she had taken care of.  She was with the newborn and Mother this morning and was doting over the baby.  

As we finished, the Mother said, “Go ahead and show Dr. Feole the letter.”  She slowly pulled a worn manila envelope out of her coat pocket and gingerly slipped out an envelope and some pictures.  The elegant light purple envelope had a striking white lettered address.  Inside was a note addressed to the Nanny that said, 

“Dear Joyce, 

President Kennedy would be thrilled to know that you are taking such good care of his first grandson.  Thank you so much.”  

Fondly,

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  

She also had a picture of herself with Caroline Kennedy and her family and also a separate picture of her with John Kennedy, Jr.  This, of course, got "oohs" and "ah’s" from the nurses as the Mother commented on “His Hunkness.” 

She very carefully put the letter and pictures away, treasures to her and a wonderful memento both to her gentle care and to Jacqueline Kennedy’s compassion in writing her such a caring note.  The nanny smiled …and then turned her full attention to the baby before her.

          Westport, Connecticut  1990's

Favorite Musician/song:

The Allman Brothers, "Sweet Melissa"

    One of my daughters just sent this song to me as part of a "Dad Mix" that she periodically sends me…a gift more precious than gold to me.  The songs so often sustain and motivate me musically and creatively.  
     This song brings me back to sweet memories of innocence and youth…the age of being in my twenties, pursuing my music and philosophy, with the anticipation of my future…  A love song of great beauty and poignancy.
   

    

Favorite Movie/DVD:

Paperclips

     A very touching documentary of children in an elementary school who decide to collect paper clips as a remembrance of the Holocost.  Compassionate and poignant.