School and vitiligo

So, I'm finally almost completely caught up with all of my assignments. Which is good, this class ends on Friday. I have one more book report to do, and Voila!--3 more hours of credit. Is it sad that I'm doing supposedly graduate-level work and it consists of book reports? I always loved doing book reports in grade school (no, seriously). I always felt so accomplished every time I'd finish one. I read the book and then did a little paper on it. For a 3rd or 4th grader, that's big doin's. Somewhere along the line, I guess I lost my zest for paper-writing.

I have one more class to take this summer unless the powers that be at SBU will allow me to take one more class in July. If I can take one more, I'll already have 18 hours finished!! I think I may even be able to finish this degree up by the end of next summer. Then I'll be raking in the big bucks, as they say.

Now, onto less-boring topics.

Today was Riley's appointment with the pediatric dermatologist. (For those of you who haven't seen it, Riley has a weird spot on her arm, back, neck and chest.) The appointment time was 10:00. I actually managed to get there at 9:44--16 minutes early--so that I could get all the paperwork filled out. Turns out, that since this office is part of the same system as the pediatrician, they already have all of our info. Great, right?

WRONG!

Those 16 minutes that I spent trying to be a considerate mother of a patient would have been better spent waiting in the car, where Riley could be strapped into a car seat. You see, while I was considerate, the doctor could not extend that same courtesy. At 10:35, after almost an entire hour of me trying to keep my monkey-child from climbing on the chairs, toys, and other people in the waiting room, we were finally called back to the exam room, where a took information and looked at Riley's arm. For the record, I have nothing against residents. They're fine, and I know that they need to learn their craft. But seriously, if you have a resident working under you, shouldn't you be able to see patients on time? You would think that would expedite things a bit. At any rate, perhaps you should be setting an example for the young doctor, since you are her mentor.

Anyhoo, Riley has vitiligo. Basically, she has a loss of pigment in her arm, back , neck and chest. It's not serious or painful. It's mostly an aesthetic thing. It has been linked to thyroid issues, so we'll have to watch for potential thyroid problems both in her and her brother (it's all inherited/genetic, apparently). The doctor wrote a prescription for some topical creams to use next winter, and then she'll need some sun exposure next summer to hopefully get her pigmentation back up again. All in all, if my child has to have some sort of disease or problem, I'm glad it's this one. It could be far worse.