Last week, I had to miss school (darn!) to go to my yearly doctor visits at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. I ahd a total of 8 appointments, to check my kungs, heart, diet, weight, spine, bones and so on….

On my first day, I met with the dietician who suggested that I should drink more dairy, further suggesting that I should have chocolate milk! Yum! Our next one was at cardio (heart). They did an ultrasound of my heart. The operator told us to wait for the doctor in the waiting room. Two hours later, the receptionist called us in to the doctor’s room. Once again, the doctor increases my heart medication dose every single time. The whole meeting was 5 minutes. Waiting two hours for a five minute appointment isn’t ideal.

On day 2, my first appointment was at 8 am and my last one was at three – long day. Some doctors I like, some I don’t. I like the doctors that are friendly and aren’t afraid to ask questions. I don’t like the ones that are serious the whole time and speak in a monotone voice. It makes me feel not welcome.

Then I saw the respiratory doctor and his student. First the student came in and he was friendly, then he left and came back with the respiratory doctor. He sat down and spoke only to my dad about my lung function…I felt terrified because I thought something really bad was happening. He didn’t even look at me. Then he finally spoke to me…my lung function has gone down a bit, which is what happens with DMD. The doctor then suggested that we take a sleep study to see if I needed a respirator while I slept. They hooked me up to some band-aids that stick to your chest – they noticed that I had good breathing.

They’re not very fun but it’s what I have to do every year.

Tristan