Monday, December 10, 2007

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!

12 comments:

Lori said...

I am so happy for you all. What a relief to really "connect" with a Dr. Good news on Ian. I guess you got one Christmas present early this year! :)
Now, has the ice got to you yet? We're digging in here, it's suppose to hit after midnight...

Steve said...

Good News!

Tricia said...

He sounds great! I am hoping he'll take Ian too! :)

RK said...

Yay for attentive doctors! Hopefully he'll sign on as THE guy.

Unknown said...

Nice. Excellent news. You would think that every doctor would be a real advocate for their patients, but I guess that is just silly thinking.

Tom said...

Appreciate it, everyone, and Lori, no ice coming our way. Looks bad on the news, though. Hope everyone is safe.

Anonymous said...

Tom so glad to hear a good dr. story :)!! We'll keep our fingers crossed that he will take Ian on. A huge time saver finding a good dr. if you want a good ENT (for ears) I strongly recommend Dr.Barbra Malone, before her we saw a few that we were not overly thrilled with, she is awesome. I believe she made the cover on Mpls/St.Paul magazine for top docters a few years back. And she is not that hard to get into. take care, Monica

Shannon @ Gabi's World said...

He does sound like a great doctor. I hope you can convince him to keep him on. I bet he will!

Jessica said...

That's great! I'm so glad to hear that you guys have found such a great doctor and advocate for Ian!

Laurie said...

Awesome news. Glad you could finally find someone that is willing to spend the time to truly give Ian the best possible care.

Good Parenting Points awarded to you :)

Tom said...

Thanks for the name, Monica. We'll check her out. And appreciate the applause, Shannon, Jessica and Laurie. We're pretty excited ourselves.

bella said...

This is really good news.
What a feeling of relief to find someone who really sees and listens and will do what needs to be done, whatever that may mean.
I can feel the exhale from here.