A Letter To My Son's Pediatrician...UPDATE!

Last week I took my 3.5 year old son to a new pediatrician. I had heard good things about this office, it is very close to our home, and they're covered by our health insurance. I had heard that the doctors were open to holistic ways of treating children, and that they didn't balk at parents who wanted to explore an alternative vaccination schedule. The office is nicely decorated and has a cornucopia of wooden toys that are well-maintained, as well as books, and a mechanical horse out front to ride. The receptionist even has tokens for each kid to ride for free, which is truly generous and thoughtful.I was really surprised when I noticed a bowl of Splenda-sweetened, artificially colored lollipops in the examination room. I was wide-eyed and gulped when the very nice, very capable, and respectful doctor offered one to my son when he was finished with his exam. Luckily, I convinced him that he needed to eat lunch before having a treat, and was able to get rid of the chemical laden lolli without him noticing. It was blue.Rather than give in to my growing fear and anger, lash out at the doctor, and say something inappropriate and stupid, I waited. All weekend. I said nothing. But this morning I wrote a letter to the doctor and plan on taking it, along with some of the wonderful, naturally colored and sweetened lollipops from http://www.naturalcandystore.com/ by her office.Here is what I wrote:Dear Dr. XX,Laken and I truly enjoyed our first visit to your office last week. He was obviously very comfortable with you and your staff, and I appreciated how respectful everyone was in speaking with him and asking him to participate in various tests. He loved the toys, of course, and it was so generous of your office to give us tokens to ride the horse out front – he had been wanting to ride for ages!Just to give you an idea of what I do for a living, and where my head is most of the time, I work as a food and health writer, and as a Holistic Health Counselor. I have published two books: The Great American Detox Diet, and Living Vegan For Dummies. My next book, Vegan Cooking For Dummies, will be published this November. I mainly work with busy, professional women who need to get their health concerns cleared up so they can continue to go after big goals, while juggling family and career. Most of my clients are parents and often have children with health concerns and learning disabilities.In researching various aspects of vegan living, I have come across mountains of information about snack foods and candy. Because many kids in Laken’s school have food allergies and sensativities, there has been a lot of conversation between parents and the staff about what types of treats we may bring in to share.Much of the research regarding candy and food colorings has lead parents to request that all treats listing  artificial flavors, artificial colors, and artificial sweeteners like Splenda be kept at home.  I have felt a lot more comfortable offering Laken the occasional treat that is colored with natural food dyes and is sweetened naturally.I thought you might like to try a couple of products that I have found. Both of the local health food stores in our neighborhood carry these items. They can also be found online at http://www.naturalcandystore.com/category/organic-lollipops.Thanks again for making us feel welcome to your practice, and I hope the rest of your summer is fun and easy.Sincerely,Alexandra Jamieson**If you run into a similar experience, let me know. And feel free to copy-paste my letter!

UPDATE!!!

So, I dropped off the letter along with a couple of packages of healthier lollipops from www.naturalcandystore.com. I breathed deeply and hoped that the doctor would be understanding. I was amazed at the response!Within 2 hours I received a voice message from our new favorite pediatrician. Not only was she impressed and thankful for my letter, but she was deeply gracious and kind. She said she was going to start offering the healthy candy I had dropped off - in fact, they were already on order! She said she had been considering the change for a while and had ordered the healthy stuff a few weeks ago. She was thrilled to know that I had a similar viewpoint and is also specializing in childhood nutrition - in fact, she's writing a book!I couldn't be happier with how this all turned out. I'm also glad I didn't jump to conclusions and get emotionally defiant in her office. She's a thoughtful, positive doctor and I'm glad we're a part of her clientele.Happy ending!Alexandra