Teens and Health

[rainingcatsanddog]

Ds1 is 17. He recently booked and went alone to a GP appointment to discuss a health issue. The GP said that what he described sounded serious so took bloods and referred him to a specialist.

He got a missed call from the GP earlier this week. He WILL NOT listen to the voicemail. I tried to reassure him that it's probably a request to come in and see a doctor because they don't leave good or bad news via voicemail. I offered to listen to the message for him but he says no way is he going to listen to it. I even offered him cash to listen.

What do I do? I assume that GP surgeries wouldn't discuss things with me as he's over 16 and probably wouldn't consent to me knowing details.

Oh dear this sounds tricky. How long has the VM been there for? Can you make him an appointment and then he can just find out there?

Actually they may not discuss the details with you but its worth ringing them and telling them what is going on. My DS has serious long term health problems and is terrible at ignoring calls from the doctors, not getting blood test done etc. Our GP surgery is really helpful and will discuss certain things with me. It is fairly common with teenagers I think.

I'm going to ask him one more time then I think I'll have to call the GP.
The VM has been there since last Friday.

Why not get his dad or another person who is close to him to talk about it so that he doesn’t feel like you’re on his case all the time?