Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Amy nodded again.
Jacob smiled and turned back to Gilly and me. He looked between us. “Dr. Peters, what would you do first.”
Gilly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She clearly hadn’t been expected to be put on the spot. “I . . . I’d . . . I’d order a scan,” she said.
Jacob looked back to me. “Dr. Scott?”
I should mumble that I didn’t know, but I didn’t want this beautiful, clever, impressive man to think I was an idiot.
“John’s blood pressure and temperature is normal. He’s nine weeks old and the chart tells me he’s in the fiftieth percentile for weight. He seems well to look at him.” I turned to Amy. “Is he well in himself?”
She nodded.
“His head is turned significantly to his left.” I turned to Amy. “Tell me why you came in today?”
“It’s just his head. He doesn’t move it. It’s like it’s fixed to the side.” Her voice started to break.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’ve done the right thing by bringing him here. When did you first notice that John’s head was bending to the left?”
“It’s hard to say,” Amy said and she took a deep breath. “He likes to lie on the sofa and watch television. I noticed that if I turn him around, he just stares at the back of the sofa. He doesn’t turn his head to the telly.”
“Has that been since birth?” I asked.
“Maybe. I mean, I think so,” she replied. “Not as bad as this. He used to look forward.”
I nodded. “Was everything okay at his six-week check?”
She shrugged. “We’ve had to rearrange that a couple of times. I’m due to take him next week.”
I nodded, trying to give her space to explain why she hadn’t taken her baby to see a doctor for his six-week check. “And have you mentioned the issue to the health visitor?”
She shook her head, clasping and unclasping her hands. “She’s not been for a few weeks. When she came before, he wasn’t so bad.”
“So it’s become worse recently? Is that why you brought him in today?”
“He’s been turned like that for a few weeks now. My mum saw him today and went mental. She said I had to bring him here.”
I nodded. The poor girl. She couldn’t have been much past eighteen herself. I had a suspicion that she hadn’t seen a health visitor for more than a few weeks. They would have picked up on an issue like this before it had gotten so serious.
“Dr. Scott, what would your next steps be?” Jacob asked.
“I’d do a brief exam.”
“Go ahead,” he said.
I paused, expecting him to say that he was joking and that he’d take over. Then I nodded, set my iPad down on the spare chair, and pulled out some fresh gloves from my pocket. “Is it okay if I examine him?” I asked Amy.
She nodded, her eyes a little glassy. “Should I have brought him in sooner?”
“You’re in the right place now. I’m just going to have a look at him. I won’t hurt him,” I reassured her.
I glanced up at Jacob and he gave me a nod. I needed to remember who I was. John was my first patient as a fully qualified doctor, and one I would remember forever. I stepped toward the cot. “Hi, John,” I said. “I’m Sutton. I’m just going to have a little feel, if that’s okay.” John gurgled back at me and I took it to mean he didn’t mind at all.
“Do you like tummy time?” I asked him.
“He hates it,” Amy said. “He’s much happier just lying on his back. We like to watch telly together.”
I gave him a quick examination and found no unusual lumps or unevenness in his body or skeleton.
“You’re a very happy little boy,” I said. He was adorable with big, edible cheeks and a huge smile.
“He seems happy all the time,” Amy said. “He doesn’t seem bothered by his neck at all.”
I finished my exam and stood back and glanced at Jacob.
“My next step would be to get physiotherapy down here,” I said.
“Likely diagnosis?” Jacob asked.
“Congenital torticollis.” Our eyes locked for a second. We’d talked about it during our dinner and how much Jacob enjoyed reassuring patients that their babies were going to be okay.
“What’s that?” Amy asked, her voice breaking again. “Is he going to be okay?”
Jacob gave me a nod, and it was like he’d turned up outside my bedroom window with a boombox over his head.
“Yes,” I said, trying to hide my relief at being able to tell her everything would be okay, and my pride at being the doctor who’d diagnosed John’s issue. “It just means that in the womb, he got a bit too comfy in one position. And since he was born, he’s still preferred that same position. We’ll send the physio down and they’ll give John and you some exercises to do. You’ll have to make sure you do them just as the physio says and come back here for progress checks, but this condition resolves itself fairly easily in most cases.”