Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Prayers for A

Phew, what a week. Last Tuesday, A was at school and had an "episode" for lack of a better word. He was playing puzzles next to his teacher and scrunched his eyes together and whimpered. He then felt around like he was searching for something to hold onto and fell straight back. He didn't open his eyes when he fell, but he did 2 seconds later when the teacher scooped him up. He didn't cry, but seemed tired afterwards. The preschool director and teachers feel like it was probably a seizure. Of course, mommy's mind has jumped to the worst possible of all explanations. It doesn't help that A's classmate was airlifted to a teaching hospital to have a brain tumor removed last week.

A went to the pediatrician the next day, who said, it could have been a seizure, or it could be nothing. So, he referred A to the pediatric neurologist. The only pediatric neurologist in town. Before the appointment I had heard horrible things about this doctor, ranging from misdiagnosis, overdosing, and just plain indecent treatment. However, because of our insurance, we had to see him once and then ask for a second opinion. I was prepared for the worst, and that's just what we got.

We arrived at the doctor's office and waited for ages. They then put us in a room that looked like a closet and we wait again. Some time after the nurse left, Dr. N came in and said, please step into my office. We did, and he proceeded down the hall and was gone for 10 minutes. No introduction, no "I'll be right back," nothing. Dr. N then came back in and said, "Ok, I'm listening." I was already less than impressed, but proceeded to explain to him what had happened, and offered him a written up narrative of what the teacher had witnesses. Dr. N, however, did not want to see it, he said he was fine with my interpretation of what the narrative said. Grr...

After hearing the explanation, Dr. N felt like it was probably nothing, but ordered a sedated EEG and an EKG to make sure. He didn't actually TELL me this, but included it in his dictation while we were sitting there. Shortly before we were to leave, A, who was in my mom's lap and playing with her, began to shake his head because he was playing a game with grandma. Dr. N said, "OH! OH! He's showing me something, he may be having a seizure!"

Ok, No. Thanks for playing, doc, but that was NOT a seizure, that was a 2 year old being silly. It all boils down to the fact that I don't trust this man to put a band aid on A, much less treat him for any neurological problem he may or may not have. We'll go forward with the testing, but, in the event of any abnormal results, A is going directly to the university teaching hospital without passing go or collecting $200. Dr. N will, under no circumstances, be directing his care.

So, if you have any prayers or good thoughts to spare, A and I would appreciate them. I'm hoping that it was nothing, just a fluke or A being silly, but I'm terrified and I hate that A has to go through all this testing. It's no fun for an adult who understands but it must be awful for a toddler who doesn't.

2 comments:

  1. I can't believe that Dr. N!! What a jerk. I wouldn't trust him to take my child's temperature. I hope it ends up being nothing serious. This might sound silly, but maybe A just fainted...? Is that a possibility?

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  2. It's absolutely possible. In fact, that was my first instinct when the teachers told me what happened. I think the EKG is to see if irregular heartbeat could have caused a faint. I'm not sure which is worse?!?!

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