The Pediatrician Part 2

We started to look around for a new pediatrician after a couple of issues of concern arose with our first pediatrician.  We wanted to find someone who was relatively close to where we lived, but the most important thing was finding someone who had some special knowledge of pediatric developmental issues.  My wife stumbled upon a female pediatrician, who had an office about mile from our house.  One day Riley was sick and she took her to the new pediatrician office versus the old one that was about 20 minutes away.  Debby had to bring Zach with her due to the fact I could not get time off of work.  We typically only bring Zach with us to the doctor’s when it is an appointment for him, because he normally did not do well at the office. 

Debby was very impressed with the new pediatrician’s demeanor and care she gave Riley, but also pleased with the attention she gave Zachary as well.  Little did we know at the time that the majority of her clients had developmental issues, and a good number of the majority was diagnosed with autism.  Shortly thereafter we found out she was moving her office about 15 minutes away , but that did not deter us from wanting  here to continue to be our kids pediatrician, especially, Zach’s. 

During Zach’s first annual check-up we had with the new pediatrician Zach and I spent at least an hour and a half at her office going over everything from time of diagnosis to discussing the behaviors that Zach exhibited.  She then asked if we just wanted her to be our pediatrician for well and sick visits or if we wanted her to explore treatment options for Zach.  I asked about what kind of treatment options she was referring to as Debby and I had talked about some treatment options mentioned in news stories and on the internet that we were opposed.  The pediatrician suggested vitamin supplements might help, but she was not going to throw a bunch of pills at my son without first finding out what areas he might be deficient.  The pediatrician wanted Zach to have blood and cell test conducted, and once the report was back she wanted to sit down with Debby and I to discuss options. 

Remember when I said Zach did not do well at the doctor’s office, well, he dislikes doing blood test even more.  The test the pediatrician ordered required 12 vials of blood be taken and then it was shipped to some lab in Texas.  Unfortunately the blood test was not covered by my insurance company, but what we found out during the results made it totally worth the investment.