Christmas in July

Over the weekend we got to do lots of exciting stuff.  Sunday, Chuck and I took Cain, grandma and grandpa to Entertrainment Junction.  Cain loves trains right now.  If you live anywhere near West Chester, Ohio and have children, I highly recommend Entertrainment Junction.  They have by far the coolest train display set up and then they have this great big play room.  They also had 2 different train rides for the kids (and parents to ride with the kids if they wanted).  On the other side of the building, they have this Fun House that you can walk through.  Well, Cain was scared of every room inside the fun-house, so I had to carry him, but nonetheless, it was still fun.

While we were there, we found out that it was Christmas in July.  Santa and Mrs. Claus were there checking in  on the kids.  Cain has been going through a shy period, so I was a little surprised when he walked right up to 'ol St. Nick and let him pick him up.  Since he doesn't really talk yet, he just kind of looked at Santa and ate the cookie that Mrs. Claus gave him.   He kept staring at him - I'm sure trying to register what the heck was going on and why he was sitting on some strange man's lap while mom took pictures! He gave Santa a fist bump and waved goodbye.  Hopefully the Santa visit goes this smoothly in December!

The ENT Consult

Yesterday we headed to the ENT for an evaluation of Cain's ears to see if he does in fact need tubes.  Naturally, yesterday morning he woke up with a 102 fever.  So, you know, we started the day off right.  I guess if there's ever a time to have a fever and possible ear infection, it's the day you're going to see an ENT doctor!

Needless to say, the appointment did not go well.  When we got called back to the exam room we sat there for over 30 minutes with a very impatient, sick 2 year old.  When the doc finally graced us with his presence, he didn't even introduce himself.  He just made some snarky comment about why Cain was crying.

After repeated questions about past ear infections, he glanced over the hearing test results from the week prior.  He checked Cain's ears and said both were completely fine - no fluid, no pressure.  What?? How is that possible?  How can your ears be bad just one week prior but fine today?  Especially with a fever?

We asked him what he thought the next course of action should and he looked dumbfounded.  He looked at us like we were idiots for even asking that.  He said that we could push for tubes, but it would be an unnecessary surgery and he didn't recommend it.  Okay, that's fine, but what do YOU, the SPECIALIST recommend for our 2 year old child?  He said he wanted us to com back in 8 weeks for a follow-up and new hearing test.  When we questioned why we should wait 2 months for a new hearing test, he (again with the dumbfounded look) looked at me and said "Well, yo u can take a hearing test right now, but it's not going to accomplish anything - there's nothing wrong with his ears."  Yep, we were both infuriated at this point.  You may be the doctor, the specialist, but how dare you try to make me feel stupid for bringing my sick kid in to see you - especially when it was YOUR audiology department that gave the hearing test that he failed and YOUR audiology department that said we needed tubes.  Don't you dare turn around try to make us feel like crap because you're having a bad day.

He didn't say goodbye, have a nice evening, get the hell out of here - nothing.  He just walked away and immediately into another exam room.  Guess we were just a number.  God speed to his next patient!!

First thing this morning I called Children's and changed my follow-up appointment.  They asked why I wanted to switch doctors - um, because he's an asshole!  The lady laughed - maybe she thought I was kidding - I wasn't.  So, I got our doctor changed, so hopefully this will work out better for us.  I just want some compassion.  Maybe my standards of care are just too high.  When it comes to my kid though - I absolutely refuse to lower them.  I guess there's a chance I'll be switching a lot of  doctors in the future, but I refuse to accept anything but the best for my child.

A Little Backstory

It’s been a rocky little road the past 5-6 months.  At Cain’s 2 year checkup back in December, the doctor that we saw (who ended up not being a doctor, but a nurse practitioner), said that they don’t usually get concerned with speech until they are 2 ½. 

We decided to be proactive and explore all the options that were available to us.  We contacted the Hamilton County/State of Ohio Help Me Grow – Early Intervention program.  They came out and did an evaluation and decided that Cain was eligible for free speech therapy.  They started coming to our house in February. 

At his 2 ½ year checkup (the beginning of June), that same old nurse practitioner that we always seem to get stuck with said that his ears look fine.  However, she chastised us for him not talking.  Her words “he has a severe disability.”  Um, excuse me?  My kid doesn’t have a severe disability, he just doesn’t’ talk.  His cognitive skills are above average.  Chuck was so mad.  I knew that was his breaking point with this office.  She gave us a referral to Children’s so we could get an evaluation with their speech pathologist. 

We went for his speech evaluation and the SLP (speech language pathologist) told us that she doesn’t generally like to diagnose kids at the evaluation; however, it was pretty clear that he has a mild-severe case of Speech Apraxia (CAS). 

To rule everything out, she wanted us to get a hearing test.  The next week we were back at Children’s.  Cain failed his hearing test.  He has fluid buildup and they had to turn the volume up to out of the normal range before he would respond.

This is frustrating on so many levels for us.  On one hand, YES!!  We’re finally getting some answers for the little dude!  However, on the other hand, Cain has had several ear infections over the past year (his last one was about 3 months ago).  Whenever we brought up the idea of tubes to the doctor, we were told it wasn’t necessary.  What if … what if this turns out to be a hearing issue (either instead of or on top of the CAS)? 

At our current pediatrician’s office, we feel like we’re a number; like we’re bothering them if we have a question about the well-being of our one and only child.  Not to mention the fact that we almost always get stuck with this one specific nurse practitioner, even after we’ve requested not to deal with her. 

So, on top of the medical issues that we’re dealing with; now, we’re also dealing with the stress of changing pediatricians.  I hope it’s a smooth transition!