Frenzied Friday

I normally try not to book us for more than 2 things in a day...try would be the key word there...this Friday, we had:

David's private speech therapy at 10am
Electrician at the house at 12 noon
Meeting with the school board rep (our new case worker) at 3pm

then, I made the call to explore our options for a new pediatrician...

It's been bothering me for quite sometime. What with being asked each time I call for a wellness visit if I'll be bringing my "other child Kuylen this time" and having to frequently see "a colleague" as our regular pedi (and I use the term regular VERY loosely now) "isn't in today"...among other things - rude office staff, taking over 30 minutes to make an appointment due to hold times, a phone menu that is seriously as long as a credit card service, not to even mention the belittling for breastfeeding "so long" and the rampant over use of medication. Anyhow, I've sort of been picking and choosing advice, calling things a win if my opinion is at least tolerated rather than argued against, and brushing things aside that I didn't agree with or knew full well were totally and unbelievably out-dated.

Thursday night, I attempted to call the nurse after hours to discuss Mary Louise getting a double dose of medication and was asked what insurance we had before even being asked our situation or for goodness sake, a name! Then I was put on hold for almost 10 minutes while they attempted to charge said ins. FOR A PHONE CALL. Then I waited another 45 minutes to even hear from the nurse who had not bothered to either find out, listen to or receive the reason for my call in the first place. (umm, don't worry, I'd already called poison control who had time for advising and even called back to double check on us about 10 minutes after the nurse finally called.)

Friday morning, one of my "to do" list top 3's was to call a new pediatrician who came highly recommended by a friend of mine. It made an absolute world of difference:
I got immediate answers by a very polite office staff who even offered to have our records switched for me! and an appointment Friday morning for Mary Louise - 10am. This really put the pressure on all of us, but thankfully, Brent was able to lend a hand and work from David's speech therapy waiting room.

Mary Louise and I went to fill out paper work and meet with our (possible) new pediatrician. The wait was rather long - but I'm pretty sure that was at least in part because of the new patient paperwork which I did for both Mary Louise and David.

This doctor...oh...she was an absolute breath of fresh air for me. Mary Louise LOVED her and was a very big girl for the whole check up. The verdict was that she has some pretty nasty sinus congestion - but it was staying in her face, no wheezing or chest congestion noted.

The doctor not only discussed updating Mary Louise's OTC medications but also discussed prophylaxis and holistic options COMPLETE with up to date research references!! Oh. my. gosh. My nerd-tasticness was just oozing with excitement.

Rather than conventional decongestants, the doctor stated that a teaspoon of local honey (the darker the better) given every 4 hours has been shown to be as and many time more effective than Robitussin and Dimetapp. Also, giving a teaspoon daily helps immensely with seasonal allergies - comparable to allergy shots specific to pollen and plant related allergies.

Don't believe me? (I know most have heard this before) Mary Louise and David started their "honey therapy" today and haven't coughed at. all.

Oh, P.S., David started with a runny nose this morning.

Not only that, but Mary Louise hasn't needed a breathing treatment since last night. We are to use the honey to soothe coughs and throats and Mucinex (children's) along with as much water as Mary Louise and David will take to help to thin mucous secretions. (This, of course, along with the breathing treatments that Mary Louise already gets as needed. To the treatments, she added that she would like to keep a close eye on Mary Louise as, again, newer research states that giving up to a daily dose of the Pulmacort, if needed, can help to prevent at risk patients from developing chronic conditions such as emphysema and/or related to childhood asthma and respiratory allergies later in life.

She was fully supportive of long term breastfeeding. She supports and routinely recommends use of probiotics for healthy digestion. She listened, asked over and over if I had any questions and not only asked Mary Louise questions, but she actually waited for a response!

So, we have a new pediatrician and I'm hoping that we have found our medical home base.

The electrician came to finish up installing the television - so high now that I need a ladder to clean it.

Nanny Zoo came for a quick afternoon visit. The kids were more than happy to play outside with her and with Brent for a bit while I monitored the electric work progress and had a sit down with the school board rep.

In short, David will qualify for speech services beyond age 3 years. I have a meeting just before his birthday to form and finalize his IEP (individualized education plan). The IEP made will then be good for 1 year and the evaluations we just finished will be good for 3 years. Beyond that, they will have to be renewed (papers resigned). David will have services until the age of 9 years at which point he would need a medical diagnosis to continue.

We discussed the results of David's evaluations. Although I feel very strongly that the results are far, far, FAR below his actual abilities (and I made it a point to make my thoughts known), I do feel that he would benefit from continuing his speech therapy at this time. We'll see what happens at the IEP meeting. The small silver lining is that comparatively speaking, David is making obvious improvements in all areas of development. We looked at the evaluations from his admit into Early Steps in September and compared them to the evaluations from a few weeks ago. So, though he doesn't "perform" to his top ability during these evaluations, he shows significant improvements over time none the less.

It was a long day - but it was productive. By the end, I was exhausted, but sort of thankful for the many distractions from what stayed on my mind - my dear Mommom's birthday. She would have been 97. There are no words...

xo,
Heather