This Month's Pedi Appointment

After Jack's last appointment and the new asthma diagnosis, we were told to come back in a month to check his pulmonary status. Which really, was fine with me so we could track his weight with the switch to soy milk. So, first up was that fight. At this pedi on February 18th, Jack weighed 20 pounds and 14 ounces. At his cardiology appointment on March 3rd, he weighed in at an even 21 pounds. Today he weighed 20 pounds and 4 ounces. He measured 29 1/4" but he'd lost 10 ounces. I informed the doctor that I had not switched him entirely to soy milk, that on my best judgement and the advice of Dr Elaine, his SLP, I was alternating soy milk with formula. He maintains that Jack needs to switch entirely to soy milk. I argued. He said there were more calories and grams of fat and protein in soy milk, to check the labels and I'd see for myself. Well, I already thought this was crap, otherwise, we'd be feeding our babies soy milk instead of formula when we can no longer provide breast milk. With the evidence in front of me in a 10 ounce weight loss, (which is really 12 ounces if you count the cardio weight!) when I got home I decided to take his advice and check the labels. It's easy to see why he might think that, even though he should know better. The nutrients listed on the soy milk are per eight ounce servings. The nutrients listed on the formula can are per 100 calorie servings. Duh. That's five ounces. And there are far more nutrients and grams of fat and protein in 8 ounces of formula. Why do I know this and his doctor doesn't? Crap! I wrote it all down on a piece of paper in neat little columns and compared formula to Traders Joe's organic soy milk, Wal-mart's Great Value organic soy milk, and even went into our local WIC to write down the nutrients in their brand of organic soy milk. I plan on rubbing his face in it when we go back in a month. We left that argument off with me refusing to change to full soy milk and stay on the alternating soy and formula and work like mad to get more solids into him. And I will quietly give soy milk in every third bottle instead of every other. Which brings us to his pulmonary status. I am so sick and tired of this doctor telling me that I am wrong and that I am not seeing what I am seeing. At last month's visit I asked for a refill on Jack's albuterol, because he was using it for a lot of wheezing at night. That got us the Q-Var inhaled steroid and a refill for the albuterol. At this visit when the doc asked if Jack wasn't doing better, I reported that no, in fact, he was having a greater number of wheezing episodes, particularly at night. Any of this sound familiar to any of you asthma Moms? Knowing that this doctor has a penchant for denying the obvious, I listened to Jack's lungs before he came into the exam room. He clearly had wheezing in the right lower and middle lobes, inspiratory and expiratory, as well as some rhonchorus sounds in the left mid and upper areas. The doc said he was clear. I said to listen again, and of course he refused. So I pulled my own stethoscope out and had another go at it. And I pointed and said Right there. Wheezes. And here and here. Rhonchi. His answer? "Those are not really there. They are referred sounds from somewhere else in the bronchial tree." Okay, yeah maybe, but doubtful, and even so, they are referred sounds from somewhere else inside my son's bronchial tree. So again with the arguing. I wanted nebulizer treatments for the wheezing at night. For the episodic wheezing I can hear from across the room at night. I finally wore him down and he ordered saline by nebulizer to help with his thick secretions while he's teething. And finally, while he was at it, he finally said I might as well give the albuterol by nebulizer too, and ordered it. So back we go in a month. The nebulizer arrived the next day with all the little saline bullets and albuterol liquid and another Q-Var. Jack's a happy camper. On the up-side, Dr Owen, Jack's cardiologist said that he still has the open holes, hopefully they will close by his next visit, he's doing great, come back in four months.

The pedi said he thought Jack might have a sinus infection and said that his right ear was slightly inflamed. I already knew that, because I have my own otoscope and found the ear inflammation last night, but if I'd brought it up myself instead of letting the doctor "find" it, sure as shootin' he would have denied the obvious. He prescribed Amoxicillan. I wanted Augmentin. He said no. I said Augmentin had done so well on his two previous infections. He said no. I said there's Amoxicillan and Clavulanate in Augmentin, why not go with what we know works? He said no. So we have Amoxicillan. And there you have it. Our doctor fun for March. NOT!