The Unlikely Daddy

• 9 •

"Alfie Brooks" the receptionist at the doctors office said.

Alfie and his mum stood up.

"Dr Luton is ready for you in room four, just down the hall" the receptionist smiled.

Alfie was nervous about seeing the doctor. He knew he was going to have to talk about all of his most embarrassing secrets.

"Good morning, Alfie" Dr Luton said warmly, holding his hand out for Alfie to shake.

"Hello" Alfie said, weakly shaking the mans hand then sitting down.

"So, you came in a couple of months ago regards what we would call 'anxiety induced bladder incontinence'" Dr Luton started, looking through Alfie's notes as he spoke.

Alfie nodded.

"I'm assuming you've come back because it hasn't gotten any better?" Dr Luton asked.

"I guess" Alfie confirmed shyly.

"He's been really struggling to stay dry" Alfie's mum added.

"What I will say is that I would've expected things to be improving significantly by this point. So, I am slightly concerned that there is something underlying causing your accidents" Dr Luton explained.

Alfie looked at his mum, worry flooding his face.

"Something underlying like what?" Alfie's mum asked, equally as concerned as Alfie seemed to be.

"I would need to run a few tests to know for sure, but I am worried that there is a deeper neurological issue that is disrupting the messages being sent from Alfie's bladder to his brain" Mr Luton elaborated.

Alfie's mum audibly swallowed. She had thought for a while that there could be more to Alfie's accidents, but she'd always pushed that idea to the back of her mind.

"I'm going to do a nerve conduction velocity test to see how quickly those messages are being sent" Dr Luton said, setting up his equipment as he spoke.

"I don't want that" Alfie panicked, moving himself away from the doctor.

Truthfully, Alfie didn't want to hear that there was something majorly wrong with him. He'd rather live blissfully unaware of the problem.

"Sweetheart, sit down" Alfie's mum comforted.

"It isn't going to hurt and it'll only last around 15 minutes" Dr Luton smiled.

"No" Alfie whined, very scared.

"Come and lie yourself down, please" Dr Luton said.

Alfie shook his head in protest.

"Please don't make me" Alfie appealed to his mum.

"Alfie, this is important" Alfie's mum sighed.

Alfie could tell his mum was exhausted by him and he couldn't help but feel guilty about that. So, he decided to stop arguing and went to lie down.

"Thank you, sweetheart" Alfie's mum said, putting her hand on his thigh to try aimlessly to make him feel safer.

Dr Luton then placed some stickers onto Alfie's lower tummy and connected them to a machine.

"This'll only tickle" Dr Luton said, turning the machine on.

The machine started producing a graph, with the line staying low, pretty much unmoving.

As Dr Luton had said, the test only lasted a few minutes, so it wasn't long before he was removing the stickers and gesturing for Alfie to sit up.

Dr Luton looked at the graph, writing some quick notes as he did so.

"So, what this test suggests is that Alfie's nerves connected to his bladder are working at a much lower rate than we would expect" Dr Luton explained.

"What does that mean?" Alfie's mum asked, worried.

"It means that when Alfie needs to go for a wee those messages aren't being sent to his brain, so he's struggling to understand when his bladder is getting full" Dr Luton answered.

"This'll account for why he wets the bed. As those messages aren't being sent to his brain, he doesn't realise he has to wake up before he has an accident" Dr Luton continued.

Alfie didn't like the sound of what the doctor was saying at all.

"So, Alfie's body is reverting back to how it would've been as a young child, where there is a distinct lack of control surrounding his bladder" Dr Luton went on to say.

"What can we do to fix it?" Alfie's mum asked hopelessly.

"There are a few medication option that we could explore. What I will say is that with each of them there will be a period of things getting worse before they start to get better again" Dr Luton warned.

"When can we start those?" Alfie's mum questioned.

"I can get a prescription sent out this afternoon and I assume they'll be ready to be collected by tomorrow" Dr Luton answered.

"What do you mean by worse?" Alfie asked, not liking the sound of that.

"While the medication starts to enter your system it may be the case that your body gets confused and causes you to have wees when you don't mean to" Dr Luton said.

"No" Alfie said, rejecting the thought of taking this new medicine.

"Alfie, we really need to try and get you back on track" Alfie's mum begged.

"But what about school?" Alfie sniffed.

"We'll figure something out so we can manage until the medication starts to work properly" Alfie's mum told him.

"I would suggest pull-ups as a precaution, but I know that's not something you'd particularly want" Dr Luton said.

Alfie violently shook his head.

"Maybe that would be a good idea until things get better" Alfie's mum agreed with the doctor.

"No way" Alfie argued, horrified by the suggestion.

"Then you're going to need to carefully manage going to the bathroom while you're at school" Dr Luton said.

Alfie knew he already struggled not to have accidents enough as it was, but the idea of wearing a pull-up to school was out of the question.

"Is there anything else you need to ask me?" Dr Luton asked.

Alfie shook his head.

"Would you suggest him to drink less so he's less likely to have an accident?" Alfie's mum asked.

"Definitely not. It's important that Alfie keeps hydrated to keep the rest of his body healthy. I know it might make things a little bit more complicated, but it is vital that he keeps drinking enough throughout the day" Dr Luton answered.

The doctor then signed a few pieces of paper. Then he handed a booklet over to Alfie's mum with some advice about how she could beat support Alfie.

"If you need anything, just give us a call and we'll be happy to help" Dr Luton said as he led Alfie and his mum out of the office.

Back in the car Alfie couldn't help but break down in tears.

"Sweetheart" Alfie's mum said softly, pulling him as close as she could from the drivers seat.

"I want it to stop" Alfie cried.

"I know, buddy, I know" Alfie's mum shushed.

"I promise you're going to get better" she continued, rubbing circles into her baby's back.

"When?" Alfie sobbed.

"Soon" his mum said vaguely.

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Lots of love,
B Xxx