Re: Clinical Perspective - Taking a Child's Temperature with a Glass Thermometer Oral or Rectal -- Rectal Temperature Stories

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:45:46 12/29/08 Mon
Author: Raymond
Subject: Re: Clinical Perspective - Taking a Child's Temperature with a Glass Thermometer Oral or Rectal
In reply to: Phillip 's message, "Clinical Perspective - Taking a Child's Temperature with a Glass Thermometer Oral or Rectal" on 02:44:12 06/25/08 Wed

It may be said that there are many isolated areas in the country that may be thought of as if they were "third world countries." It happened to me only a couple of years ago when I forgot it on a camping trip because I forgot to bring a medication on a camping trip. There were only one two doctors in the nearby town, and only one was a general practice doctor. I called in hoping to make an appointment and was to my relief, able to get squeezed in.

When I got there I saw was a double-wide trailer that had a gravel parking lot and there was no sign. It was outside of town on a dirt road. But there were cars, I mean some beat up cars, parked outside it. When I entered, there were several kid patients and no adult patients. It turned out because so many kids are seen there that adults tended to go to the internal medicine doctor. I felt uncomfortable at first, like a fish out of water, wanting to cancel and go to the other doctor, but felt compelled to stay and just get my prescription and leave. The only adults there were parents and other caretakers.

Temperatures, weight, and height were taken in a room just off the interior main waiting room. That is, there was small waiting room, like a reception room, for the general public, and a large waiting room behind it. I figured it was set up that way to contain the germs. A female receptionist worked in the entry waiting room and a male medical assistant worked in the real waiting room. Right after I entered the main waiting room, I was asked to come into a cubby area and he took my weight and height and sit down. There was an examination table right in front of me. Next thing I knew he was shaking down a glass thermometer and told me to open up and he put it in. I was surprised that temperatures were taken with glass thermometers. You see something different every day.

Just then he called out a boy's name and asked him to come in. He got his weight and height, and he directed him to get up on an examination table directly in front of me and sit down (instead of sitting on a chair next to me). To my amazement, the boy was prodded to unloosen his trouser, jeans I think, and the next things I know he was told to lie down on the table, and after that, rollover on his tummy. He wasted no time in tugging his trousers and underwear all the way down to his knees. His bare rear end (very white compared to his darker back and thighs) was in plain view of the folks in the waiting room. It did draw attention to the other kids there, which caused the boy to look back to see who was there looking. He expressed his displeasure about it and it did not seem to change the events that followed.

I watched with excitement as the medical assistant took the thermometer out of the glass container, shook it down, applied KY jelly from tube to the thermometer, and his cheeks were spread wide open and inserted the thermometer into his rear end. His mouth went wide open as it entered and he exclaimed it was cold. Other kids watched with excitement and their remarks were not appreciated by him. He was red faced and did not like them seeing that and watching the thermometer sticking out and made it clear as he fussed at him. He continued to complain about having it taken there instead of his mouth like the other kids. His complaints were deferred and he seemed to only draw attention to himself even more. He could see grins and there was giggling as well.

Another boy, a little younger than him, came up and greeted him and asked him how he was doing but he did not take his eyes off of his behind. Uncomfortably he said the something like, how come he is having your temperature taken in his butt than in his mouth like me. The medical assistant said that his is not ready to have it taken in his mouth yet and has to have it taken in his "behind." I found out that the 10 year old was a special needs kid with some sort of learning difficulty, and that a rectal temperature was appropriate in his case.

It was only a couple of minutes when I had the thermometer removed and checked and he stuck it in my mouth again. A minute later the thermometer was out. As I was standing up he did the same thing to the boy and we saw the thermometer inserted with some amazement. He again showed his displeasure when the other boy chuckled when the the boy protested as the thermometer entered again.

It was a long wait to see the doctor and got chummy with the medical assistant and conversed with him while he was doing his work, which included taking more rectal temperatures. I found out later that girls are taken in back to have it done and hung about until he got back with those patients. I was wondering why only boys got rectal temperatures, though it seemed that boys were picked on for that more than girls.

I got my prescription and left. That experience left me with an fascination with rectal temperatures. I have come to find that nothing has changed at that place since then with regard to taking temperatures with glass thermometers. More on that later.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]