Just thinking. Question whose answers I haven't seen addressed in MSM.
Was Maddie being seen by a pediatrician regularly?
I'm so old I never had a pediatrician. The only time my parents took me to the doctor was when I was sick. That wasn't unusual; that's just how it was back then.
That aside.
So to all of you more modern-day parents out there who take their kid(s) to the pediatrician regularly, do you think it would it be likely or not that a pediatrician who saw her regularly would have observed signs of SA in Maddie, which apparently began when she was eight years old?
I have no idea what a regular wellness exam performed by a pediatrician would encompass.
I have older children, boys. (College age.)
It has been a couple of years since I was last present for an appointment, but typically it is pretty similar to an adult exam--height, weight, BP done by the intake LNA. Ask if any concerns, etc. Then pediatrician comes in and does quick visual eyes, ears, throat, listens to heart, that type of thing. Asks kid how school is going, friendships, any extra curriculars, general pleasant small talk. If you have any necessary vaccines, that would be mentioned. If you need any forms filled out for sports or summer camp, same.
They do a quick check of private areas, but it is literally like they tell the patient they are going to look there. They also have kids bend over and check spine for scoliosis, forgot that. As kids approach puberty, I think right around the age MS was, they ask parents to leave the room so they can chat in private for a few minutes with them. This chat is to check in with the kid about any concerns they might have they were not comfortable talking abut in front of a parent--sexual activity, drug use, peer stuff.
Where I live at least, I tried sending mine in totally alone as mid teens to help foster independence and get used to doing things for themselves, but the providers still wanted me there for part of the exam as well.
On the note of SA, I know someone who had to bring their child in for an exam involving suspected abuse. Since it was someone very close to me, I can share something of what that involved, but will not go into too much detail. I can tell you they were pretty upset and worried because the physical part of the exam was inconclusive and the doctors told them that area of the body heals pretty quickly, so it isn't unusual for signs of abuse to not show. In their child's case, I think it was more like something that had happened once or twice and the child told them right away and it was acted on though. But with that knowledge, I think it is very possible SS may have just backed off from harming MS when he knew she would be seeing a pediatrician. He could have even gne to her appointments with JS. Such a creep.
My kids were rarely sick, and I don't remember if they got a full exam on the handful of occasions where they needed something like stitches or an antibiotic. Another parent might be able to fill you in on that.