A few days ago one of my former partners Dr. Jim Algiers and I had a brief discussion about the “old days” in medicine. This discussion soon turned to the value of doctors making house calls. While there is a lot to learn from seeing a patient in his/her home, that’s something we can discuss later. But it reminded me of a house call I made many years ago. I think you’ll enjoy the story.
One very, very cold Wisconsin night a mother of one of my patients called me about 2:00 AM because her toddler was sick. She said his temperature was over 104. He did not have any other symptoms but she was worried. From what she said he needed to be seen. At that time I had a choice, I could meet them in the hospital emergency room (the hospital did not have ER doctors at that time) or see him in his home. Because it would cost a lot more for them to come to the hospital I asked Mom if she would like me to come to her house. She said please do!
I pulled on my warmest clothes, braced myself for the 20 below temperature and drove the 6-7 miles to their home. The bright moon reflecting off the white snow lit the way. I could have driven with my light off, but I didn’t. Nights like that have a way of soothing me and by the time I arrived I was fully awake and energized.
Mom greeted me at the door, thanked me for coming and rushed me into the family room where her son Jason was sitting in the middle of the floor playing with his toys. He looked the picture of health. I examined him carefully and found no sigh of illness. He did not feel febrile and Mom assured me that she had not given him any Tylenol or aspirin.
I extracted my thermometer from my bag only to find that it had frozen and broke from the cold. I had left my bag in the car in our unheated garage. I asked Mom if I could use hers. She smiled and brought it to me. Jason’s temp was 99.2 rectally, normal. I advised her to put him back to bed and call me in the morning. If his temperature recurred he might need a urine test or some other lab work. Her husband thanked me for coming and I drove home wondering what was going on in their home.
Mom called in the morning and told me that Jason slept the rest of the night and seemed well. I explained that we don’t always know what’s going on and if he should have another bout of fever or acted sick in any way to let me see him. I did not hear from her again.
At the end of the month our office sent a bill for the house call of $25. A few days later Merlin, our business manager, came to me with her check for $24 and a note saying she was charging me $1 for use of her thermometer. I thought that was the best touché ever, and called to tell her I appreciated her sense of humor. She was not amused, she said she was not trying to be funny but was upset that I did not have a working thermometer. She went on to say she was transferring her children to a pediatrician in Menominee Falls, a town some 15 miles away. She did, and I did not see her or the family again!
Now there may be a lot of things we could say about this story. Why Mom was worried, how was it that she recorded his temp at “over 104”, why a broken thermometer caused her to fracture a relationship, how her husband may have reacted, was she using angry to cover embarrassment, did I make her feel “dumb”, what should I have done differently, and on and on. But that’s not the purpose of the story. I just wanted to share an event that I thought was, as we say here in the South, a real hoot!
I hope you thought, like I did, that the dollar for using her thermometer was a great come-back and got a laugh out of it! We need to laugh more!