Hearing a name of a disease you probably never have read up on may not seem to be much of a help. In fact, it's going to change your life. You can stop worrying about all the things that might be wrong with your child, and in the next chapters we'll start talking about the things you can do to deal with your new reality.
Your doctor may have a problem with passing the diagnosis on to you. Especially if his or her self-respect is pegged to the notion that a doctor can fix anything, it may be a blow to the ego to have to admit that there is no cure here. He or she may take that out on you: some parents can tell you horror stories about how tactless their pediatrician was. Doctors have been known to curtly tell parents that their child has DMD, that nothing can be done about it, and that they should just go home and accept it.
Such an attitude is inexcusable in a professional. Your doctor, and every other professional you deal with, can be measured by this standard of excellence:
They can embroider that and hang it on the wall.
You may have a hard time believing the diagnosis. In the next chapter we'll talk about ways to deal with it. One reaction is to doubt the truth of the diagnosis. If that is the case, ask for a second opinion. Your doctor should not have a problem with that. MDA does not pay for second opinions, but your insurance may. And even if you have to pay for it out of your own pocket, if that is what it takes to convince you, it will be money well spent
