Beginning when he was not much more than a toddler, David suffered from persistent strep infections in his throat area. His excellent pediatricians prescribed the drugs of choice, switching from one to another antibiotic and extending the time of course of treatment, from the usual 30 days to 3 months, then 6 months, and finally a year, which he didn't quite reach before they were to recommend the last resort of surgery. His doctors even had the entire family, and the pets, on an antibiotic, but as soon as the drug was stopped, the child developed another severe and debilitating case of tonsillitis, attributed to strep.
Pediatricians Grattan and Symansky were based in Cohoes, and they most often utilized the 3 Troy hospitals for their patients. But they were concerned for David, and when he was 5 years old, they recommended a tonsillectomy with a bright young phenom of a surgeon at Child's Hospital in Albany.
We had the interview and the surgeon concluded surgery was the best choice for the health of the child. At the time Child's Hospital, named by the way for a person and not because its patients were children, had the policy of allowing a parent to stay in the child's room during the period of hospitalization. Most of the patients on the children's floor were there for cleft palate surgery. Parents were welcome to visit but only if they could stay as the kids would cry when the parents left, thus jeopardizing the surgery. Reclining chairs were provided for nighttime sleeping for the adults.
David was 5 and his doctors had told me about the policy, and I wanted to stay as he was not used to being away from home. But the young surgeon commented to me that he did not think it was necessary, as David was not a baby. Never mind that he at age 5 he was old enough to be more worried. I was dismayed and told Dr. Symansky what the surgeon had said, that he didn't think I needed to stay. Here is where I received the best advice of my life and it has followed through to this day.
Dr. Symansky was young, very capable and confident, and kind, and at that time he would talk to me in a direct and social manner; we were about the same age. He said, "What do you care what the surgeon thinks you should do. We recommended him because of his skills in surgery, not for what he thinks. This is your child. Do what you want to do." He told me this in his usual friendly and kind of casual tone--no problem, no need to plead your case, just do what you want.
So I stayed the 3 or so nights, before, during, and after the surgery. The surgery was successful, and David was glad I was there, though one night Dave and Dorothy and Gus stopped by and we went to supper at, I think, the Lark Tavern. Another mother staying with her baby in the same room agreed to watch over David. We hurried back as soon as we could. She told me David spent the entire time under a chair. For a long time, he never forgave me for abandoning him, possibly still harbors resentment. What's more, I was pregnant, and still slept in a chair away from home for the duration. Kids and their gratitude.
What brought this to mind is I have been searching for an ENT for myself. I scrolled through the list of those in this area, and the name, Dr. Lyon Greenberg, showed up. Maybe it's the son of that exceptional doctor, I thought. But no. His vitae says he has been in practice for 63 years. He is 88 years of age. BTW, he is accepting new patients.
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