Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Moms - opinions needed please (semi-long)
We have been dealing with Domenic being chronically sick since he was about 3 months old. He had off and on ear infections mixed with bouts of bronchiolitis where his lungs sounded like Darth Vader, really raspy and crackly breathing. Our pediatrician treated him for the ear infections and gave us an inhaler to treat his lungs which never seemed to do anything for him. Fast forward - at the beginning of November, Domenic was again sick and this illness lasted 7 weeks, with zero relief. We went to our pedi when it first started to avoid a flare up and he did NOTHING to treat him except to say that it will get worse before it gets better...well, when it went on for 4 weeks, on a Saturday I called the on-call pedi and we went in to the office (a different dr) and he gave him some antibiotics for another ear infection (post tubes being put in). These cleared him up for 2 days, and the cold, and bronchiolitis was back again in full force. He was sick for a total of 7 weeks and we went back to our pedi because his cough became croup-like. Again, he chose to do nothing to help us and basically told me that it was because of daycare and that I should really pull Domenic out. At this appointment I asked him about prescribing an oral steroid for him because when I get bronchitis this is the only thing that will make it go away, and I figured Dom may be similar to me. The pedi didn't want to prescribe it and said that it was proven in a study that it did no better than an inhaler at clearing up bronchiolitis. I was fed up at this point that our pedi thought it was acceptable for Dom to continue to be so sick for 7 weeks straight so I decided it was time to see a specialist. I took him to an allergy/asthma specialist who did prescribe a steroid and Dom has been completely clear with zero symptoms since day 3 of the steroids. The specialist also suggested doing some blood work to see if Domenic was born without immunoglobulins in his blood, meaning that he cannot fight off infections as easy as other kids. I guess this is a pretty common thing (1 in 750 babies born w/o them), and he was surprised that our pedi didn't offer to investigate why my child is so sick all the time any further. The blood work should also tell us if he is having some type of allergic response to something. (we can't test for exactly what at this age yet)
My question is - would you say something to the pedi about this? if so, how should I go about it without sounding like a complete b!tch, and lastly - would you switch pedis?
Re: Moms - opinions needed please (semi-long)
I don't post on here often but I just read this and it infuriates me. Mom's know their children best and I am glad you went with your gut and got another opinion and some relief for your little guy. I would 100% switch pedi's and write a long letter telling them WHY!
I understand (to a point) that it is the season and they probably see children all.day.long. with similar symptoms but with lingering issues and a history they should NOT have dismissed you and your child's health.
Glad he is felling better. The simple remedy of writing a script for steroids was not an unreasonable request on your part at all. I also would pursue the further testing.
i know i'm not a mom, but i agree with this 100%!
Hey there, I definitely think you should change pediatricians.
Jen
without a doubt change pedi's.
I had to do this when P was younger. he kept brushing off my concerns about a dry spot on DDs head even after i told him i had excema. The new pedi saw DD and the first thing she asked me was if anyone in the family had excema. I was happy she helped DD and really pissed at the other doctor. I never said anything to him and i switched in the same office. I refuse to see him even for a sick visit now.
I would change pediatricians. Dominic has been on and off with his respiratory infections for the past 3 months. However every time that I call his pedi they want to see him. She always listens to my concerns and never makes me feel like I am bothering them. The last time that I went to see her was a couple weeks ago. He was put on a steroid and that helped out a lot. She had told me that if he gets sick again in the next month or so we need to see a specialist to rule out asthma.
Of course this week he started again with the coughing so I am gonna wait it out for the next few days and see. Thankfully he is with me and my mom all week due to daycare being closed so I can monitor him more.
Good luck Kelly.
100% agree!!!! Get out of there!!!
I would DEFINATELY say something about it and not give a sh!t about possably sounding like a b!tch!!!!! And then I would switch pedis.
Where do you go anyway?
THIS!!!
and do tell us...where are you going now? i want to make sure i don't go there
1) Get the hell out of that pedi's office
2) definitely tell him about the specialist and why you are leaving. They need to treat patients, ESPECIALLY little ones, better than that. Being sick for 10 or 14 days is one thing... it lasting 7 weeks and being constant on/off for over 6 months is NOT normal and something is causing it.
As for daycare, I would wait for the specialist to make changes. But it could be that there is someone there that is a carrier for something that keeps getting him sick. I got strep throat at lest 3x a winter when I was young b/c there was a carrier in my class in school. Someone who never got it but I was susceptible for some reason. Thankfully I had a good doctor who realized it wasn't my tonsils or anything else but spending that many years on antibiotics was NOT fun. So there can be environmental causes as well as other factors. Just something to think about. Is he in a center? Maybe a home daycare with limited exposure would be better if he is a bit immuno-compromised? All just food for thought.
I'm glad to hear he's doing better on the steroids and I hope they figure this out fast for your sake and his!
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
I wouldn't care about sounding like a b!tch in the least. I'd tell him (face to face, I say schedule an appointment!!) that you're leaving because he did not do what he's sworn to do, look out for the best interest of his patients. Sounds to me like you're the ONLY one who was doing that for much too long.
Then, I would find out who the head of the practice is (if there is one), and let them know as well.
UNacceptable!
I am so sorry that you have been going through this. I hope that he is feeling better!