Health Watch

Lucas' 4-year checkup was yesterday. I had been looking forward to this appointment for weeks, ever since I finally decided to switch pediatricians to a highly recommended practice in the area. I had been very satisfied with the doctors at our previous pediatric office, but it was the staff that were constantly infuriating me. It was common practice for the advice nurse to not call back, the front desk receptionist was rude 85% of the time, well checks had to be scheduled 6-8 weeks in advance, rarely could a sick child be seen outside of their "sick clinic" hours, and I won't even get into the details of the billing debacle that I encountered when their billing agents NEVER returned my calls. This new office had been recommended to me by three different people. It took a lot of effort and phone calls to find out if this new office was covered under our insurance. Literally, the minute I found out that my insurance covered their office, I called to schedule a well check for Lucas. The receptionist was so friendly AND they could have fit me in for an appointment that same week! I was sold! So you can see why I was excited about this appointment. I arrived early to fill out the paperwork and got into the PRELIM room with the nurse within 10 minutes of turning my paperwork in. The nurse was patient and attentive and even didn't seem to mind Eli screaming in the room while she was administering the vision test. Then it was time to see the doctor. We were guided into this tiny exam room (almost too small to fit the stroller) where we proceeded to wait for OVER ONE HOUR to see the doctor. When he finally came in to examine Lucas... he spent all of 10 minutes with us. I had no time to talk to him about Lucas' history with being underweight or my questions about why Lucas is tired all the time. I just feel so cheated! What happened to this great doctor who spends a lot of time with his patients, who doesn't make you feel rushed, who I was supposed to feel like I could rely on to be there for my kids?? I left there longing for our old practice... and the doctor who not only took the time to talk to me about the child she was examining, but also did a check of my other kids who were exhibiting signs of infections. Jason has convinced me to give them another chance, which may come soon if Eli doesn't stop coughing and choking.

So, now that I'm done with my rant... let me focus on Lucas' exam. His weight is 31 lbs (10th %ile) and his height is 39 1/4 in (25th %ile). This is the same boy who caused his parents to nearly do a jig when at his 3 year checkup, his percentiles for both height and weight were in the 50s! We/he has had such a struggle with weight issues for nearly all of his young life (for those of you who don't know he lost weight between his six month and four month checkup and has stayed at the less than 5th % until he turned 18 months when he jumped up to the 7th %ile and he has been slowly climbing the curves ever since). Well, he's back down and again.. I don't understand how he could have gone from 50th %ile to 10th %ile in one year! Believe it or not... this wasn't even the most disturbing piece of information. The doctor has referred Lucas to an audiologist based on Lucas' hearing acuity test. His left ear was within normal range for frequencies above 500 Hz, once the frequency was 500 Hz - 250 Hz, his hearing was in the "Mild hearing loss" range. This wouldn't have been so disconcerting, except for the fact that his right ear was in the "Mild hearing loss" range for frequencies 4000 Hz - 250 Hz and in the "Moderate hearing loss" range at 8000 Hz. According to this website (Hearing Testing), Normal hearing is less than 25 db HL, Mild hearing loss is 25-40 db HL, and Moderate hearing loss is 41-65 dB HL. D eep down this doesn't surprise me, as I've noticed on occasion that when I whisper in his ear, he'll respond with a loud "what?" (but I've usually just explained it away as his typical ignoring me behavior). I'll update as I know more... I still need to make the appointment with the audiologist.

Clara now has glasses. She is doing really great with them. She is funny... constantly comparing the "before" and "after" how she sees things. Her description is that things are now darker and bigger so that they are easier to see. The glasses themselves, she picked out all by herself. I offered suggestions on different frames, but she settled on these, which was great. I find that even though she's only had the glasses for two days, she looks more complete with them than without them. They really fit her perfectly.