A healthy boy, and doctor politics

Ian was examined by Dr. A today, the leading pediatrician in the state. He had alloted half-an-hour for the introductory consultation, but ended up spending three times that amount reading Ian's progress reports, making phone calls to our current pediatrician and getting to know Ian as well as he could.

For the first time since his birth, we finally feel like we've found someone who will advocate for Ian. Not only did he call our pediatrician, but he also called our cardiologist after Annie left the office. The same cardiologist who gave us a pat on the back and said, "See you in March," a few days after Ian's heart surgery.

The phone rang around supper time this evening. It was the cardiologist. She now thinks it might be a good idea to examine Ian in the next few weeks. It seems like Dr. A has a lot of pull around these parts.

According to Dr. A, we were right to resist trying out various medications on Ian to see what might work to alleviate the pressure in his lungs. (Our pulmonary specialist had prescribed various medications, which we did not feel comfortable giving Ian based on her lack of conviction in diagnosing the root of Ian's problems.)

Ian is fine. We'll still meet with the cardiologist just for the sake of dotting all the "i's", but no medication. Dr. A did insist we meet with an audiologist because Ian's response to sound seems a bit delayed and because children with Down syndrome are so prone to hearing problems or ear infections.

OK, so that's the skinny on that. Now we just have to convince Dr. A to take Ian on as a permanent patient. But we'll save that battle for next week. Whew!