Good Parenting during a Pandemic
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/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2021

Good Parenting during a Pandemic

There are so many important things we do as parents to help our children become happy and healthy adults. Vaccinating your child fits right in with the other crucial lessons you are teaching them every day.

Prepare them for emergencies. Whenever you insist your child to put on their seat belt or review your family’s fire evacuation plan, you are helping to prepare your child to survive a worst-case scenario. We can’t protect our kids from everything, but we can prepare them. Vaccines give your child the best preparation for fighting COVID and could help them avoid long-term consequences.

Show them how to evaluate information. You teach your child to evaluate two different products at the grocery store, because you want them to know a good value when they see it. It may involve numbers, calculations, and expert reviews, but you know it is an important skill. The data and expert reviews supporting vaccination are overwhelming. There are so many benefits, practically no drawbacks, and they are free. You can’t get a better value than that!

Encourage self-discipline. Brushing your teeth twice a day, doing your homework, practicing your sport or instrument. We insist that our children do these things, because we know that a small investment in time and effort now will pay off in the long run and that they will be healthier and happier as a result. The same goes for getting them vaccinated. It’s a little bit of effort now that increases the likelihood of their health and success later.

Teach them to be kind and considerate. You encourage your children to say please and thank you, so that they come to understand the value of others. Vaccinating teaches the same concept in a different way. You vaccinate so that you are less likely to pass the virus to others and because you care about your community.

The single action of vaccinating your child is good for their health and the health of everyone they encounter starting as soon as the shot is given. It also teaches them important lessons that they will carry throughout their lives.

Meghan Gunn, MD, is a pediatrician with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Pediatrics, part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, in Bennington.

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Introducing Dr. Amy Freeth

Amy E. Freeth, MD, resumed endocrinology services at SVMC in March 2020. The practice, known as SVMC Endocrinology, is a part of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC). It replaces the Bennington Osteoporosis Center, where Dr. David Gorson had provided similar services to the community until his retirement in 2019.

How do you describe endocrinology to people who don’t know what it is? The endocrine system is made up of glands that make hormones. These hormones are chemical messengers that travel via the bloodstream to communicate with the cells and organs of the body. Hormones are important for growth, development, mood, metabolism, and reproduction. These glands include the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, adrenal, testes, and ovaries.

Endocrinology is a practice of medicine that specializes in disorders of these systems. Disorders most commonly are related to underactive or overactive function of these glands and require replacement of the hormone or specific treatments such as medications, ablation, or surgery.

Since hormones function in feedback loops and are part of a larger complex functional system that exists in flow with the human body, replacement hormones or treatment of endocrine disorders can be challenging and involve changes to our lifestyles that support the optimal functioning of the body.

What diagnoses are most common among the patients you treat?  Pituitary tumors, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, hyperparathyroidism, osteoporosis, diabetes, adrenal insufficiency, Cushing’s disease, primary hyperaldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, obesity, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

What sorts of treatments do you offer? I offer comprehensive consultation and management of endocrine disorders. I also interpret testing and make treatment plans for endocrine disorders. I also provide interpretation of bone density reports and perform fine needle aspiration biopsies in collaboration with Radiology Associates of Bennington. Technology is increasingly becoming more important in the management of diabetes. Technology includes glucose meters, insulin pumps, and continuous glucose monitoring (sensors). I work with certified diabetes educators to create a team approach to diabetes management. As we develop this new department, we are looking for innovative ways to help people regain and optimize their health. I have training in nutrition counseling and health coaching to help people find their path to good health.

Why is it important for patients who need an endocrinologist see them regularly? Your endocrinologist is part of your health team and has experience and a deep understanding of what is happening within your body to help assess, guide, and co-manage your disorder. There is testing that may need to be done to make sure you are living with optimal hormonal balance. Allowing hormones to run too low or too high can have lasting adverse effects on the body leading to other disease or imbalances.

How do you help protect patients who need to come into the office from infections, like COVID-19? At this time, I am seeing patients via telemedicine and phone visits. This week we are starting to see a portion of our patients in the clinic. Patients can register on the phone and wait in their car until the room is ready. Patients will be screened for fever and should wear a mask. Staff will wear proper protective equipment and follow guidelines for handwashing and cleaning of the rooms.

Since many patients who will likely want to come to the endocrinology clinic will be members of high-risk populations (diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and the elderly), patients will have a choice of the type of visit they have.

Dr. Freeth sees patients 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday - Thursday in Suite 307 of the Medical Office Building located at 140 Hospital Drive in Bennington. For an appointment, call 802-447-4555. The schedule will expand to additional days as needed.

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