The following Friday, I had an appointment to see my new endocrinologist. Since the appointment was at 3:30 in Lewisville, I left school around 3:00. The travel time for Mom and me was about fifteen minutes. It was just enough time to talk about my day on the way. I was in a terrible mood for I had been teased in gym class again. Mrs. Brown had heard what Chandler had said. She made him run laps for his unsportsmanlike behavior. Now, Chandler was mad at me for he blamed me for his running laps.

Once we had entered the office, I saw about twenty chairs in the waiting room along with a small T.V. Mom started filling out the paperwork the receptionist handed her. I sat down to watch what was playing on the television. After viewing it for a few minutes, I realized that it was one of my favorite books. I had never seen the movie, “Because Of Winn Dixie”; I had only read the book.

In California, the endocrinologist was always running behind schedule. I usually waited about thirty minutes after arriving before I finally was called back to a room. However, this office was quite different. I only had to wait fifteen minutes. When my name was called, I slowly went to the door where the nurse was standing. I did not want to take my eyes off the T.V. as I walked.

The first thing the nurse did was have me step on the scale in the corner. She said that if I knew how to run the machine I could do it myself. Since I have been coming to a doctor’s office every four months since I was born, I knew how to use a triple beam scale. After being weighed, she measured my height against the wall. I touched my toes and reached up high just like I had done countless times in the past. Lastly, she took my blood pressure. She said it was in the normal range. Then, we went to the examining room and waited for the endocrinologist.

We did not wait long. Dr. Hinckley quickly came in and started asking questions. First he asked what type of medicine I was taking. I told him I take Hydrocortisone (Cortef) and Fludrocortisone (Florinef). I explained that I take half a tablet twice a day of Florinef and one full tablet three times a day of Cortef. Then, he asked how I had been feeling lately. He wanted to know if I had been sick since my last doctor’s visit. He asked if I had used any stress dosages. I told him I had not had to triple my Cortef.

After he finished asking questions, he told me that my weight and height was following the curve nicely. He said that I was a healthy young lady and to come back in about four months. Before he left the room, he gave my mother a form to take to the lab so they would know what blood tests to draw. We left the examining room and made an appointment in January for my next check-up. Mom paid her co-pay for the doctor’s visit and we left to go home.

Mom picked up Joy from school for she had stayed late to audition for choir. When I got home I called Sammie. We talked about 30 minutes while Mom cooked dinner. She talked about gym class and I told her all about my doctor’s visit. When Mom called Joy and me to dinner, I ended the phone conversation.