Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Rule #58: Doctor's are always late.

Evan met his new pediatrician today. After I posted the conversation with Dr Black it was decided by basically EVERYONE I know, that he needed a new pediatrician. Most of my friends at work don't live near me, so I couldn't ask for theirs, so I waited. For a long time. Finally his 15 month appointment was coming, so I decided to go with a woman in my sisters neighborhood.

I waited to be seen for over a half an hour...but I was assured by the receptionist it shouldn't have been that long, and that future visits would not be like that. Then the usual waiting for the doctor came. All told, I was there for an hour and a half! But I'm not complaining, it was a good decision to switch!

What a difference I tell ya! There was virtually no chit chat what-so-ever. She came into the room, sat down and asked if I had any concerns. (Why yes I do, thank you very much for treating this like a professional meeting) She was quite good with Evan, but by no means does she want to be friends with me. And I'm okay with that. She listened to what I had to say, offered opinions, and assessed my boy, all without talking about nudist in France! All in all I think it's safe to say that we will be keeping her.

Here are Evan's stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 3 oz (10%) He moved up!
Height: 32 inches (80%) Getting to be so tall!
OFC: 18 inches (15%)

In reference to the concerns I have for my son, Dr Burnett decided to have his hearing checked and referred me to Early Intervention. For those not in the Know, Early Intervention is a group of therapists; developmental, occupational and speech, that work with children who have deficits. Don't go thinking anything has been decided about my son, but he is showing signs of a communication delay of some sort. So, sometime in the future strangers will come to my house, play with my son and tell me what they think. Whether he is just on a different timetable than most kids, whether he's capable of communicating but it too stubborn to do it, or if he would benefit from therapy and programs to overcome a deficit.

I'm very excited about this.

It's strange to think I am excited to have strangers come tell me if something is wrong with my child, but I'm excited to have some knowledge one way or the other. I can handle anything, whether it be stubbornness or something more. But I cannot handle not knowing. I can't. So I am excited for some information.

I feel validated. I was worried she would think I'm some crazy paranoid nurse, who's looking for problems. But she didn't. I don't even know if she knows I'm a nurse. (I guess that depends on what Emilie has told her?) I feel justified in my concerns, and that's very relieving.
His hearing test still needs to be done. I think Evan can hear just fine, but it is possible that he has some mild hearing loss, or fluid or something, and that can Definitely affect speech. But it's not just that he won't "talk" to me. He doesn't really try to communicate. No pointing, no mimicking. Hence my mild concern.

I'm thrilled to now have a pediatrician that doesn't want to "wait and see". So thank you to everyone for voicing your opinions about Dr Black and convincing me to go and seek elsewhere!

As for my toddler, he is a walking machine! It's hard for me to remember a time when he wasn't walking. He's just as cuddly as ever, and I love when he toddles up to me to sit on my lap, or bury his face in my lap....it's all affection right? He continues to love reading, but prefers to read to himself I think. He adores Jasmine and thinks everything she does is the funniest thing ever. Yawning, eating, walking past him...it doesn't matter. It's all hysterical! His laugh is contagious and I can't get enough of it!

I love this little man!

7 comments:

AmyPoll said...

I am so glad that you have found a new pediatrician that you like. That is so scary to try and find one and you lucked out. I am so glad that she is listening to your concerns and taking you seriously...we all need that even if it was something funny. I hope everything checks out with the therapists.

JD and Elena said...

Oh - i forgot to mention this when you'd posted about it. We'd seen Dr. Black twice because Huck's other Dr. was out of town. Man - he was crazy!!! He was nice, but crazy! So I don't blame you for looking elsewhere. I'm glad you feel happier about your new one. Congrats!

Evan is beautiful! And thanks also for sharing your concerns. Huck isn't a huge talker either, and I had asked about that at the dr. JOsh thought I was so insane for being worried, but as a mom, sometimes you can't help it. I totally understand the whole - I can't handle what is is, jsut can't handle not knowing. So true. So true. So thanks - from one mom to another :)

Chrissy said...

Meghan, you are such a great mom. I know how hard it is to balance the whole be aware and want the best for our kids without becoming paranoid. I fight this really hard with medical issues because of a lack of knowledge, I worry a lot if I should worry about something or not.

Evan is absolutely adorable. You can tell just by looking at him that he is loved, and that he knows he is loved!

April Weeks said...

Thanks for detailing all of that. Is that why you are relieved on facebook? I am excited to see what, if anything is up with this little guy. Regardless, we all love him and you and Alex to bits!

Mary said...

I'm so glad you feel good about your new pediatrician! And I agree, it's so much easier to deal with whatever, if you just know what it is. The not knowing/not being sure is the hard part.

Brianna said...

When Marlee was around four months old I was sure that her head was growing in crooked, for which she would need a helmet. I also was sure she had a head tumor of some sort at the back of her skull. She went to physical therapy for her neck and crooked head and dodged the helmet. Her "head tumors" turned out to be lymph noids. So you never know, but at least I had a doctor who listened and validated my concerns... real problems or just paranoid mommy issues.

Good luck with all his testing, and I'm glad you found someone to listen. :)

Team Carter Jay said...

I'm really glad that you found a doc that you like. I've learned with Carter that it is SO important to feel comfortable with your son's docs. I'm quite well-versed in the land of Early Intervention, so please let me know if you need someone to chat with, or if there are any questions I can answer. The tables could be turned lol! :)