Doc Update

So Princess has had a few doc appointments lately. Let's go back to August:

She saw the ophthalmologist, Dr. R. The great thing about this was that Dr. R is LOCAL! Like here in town local! Granted, it's only twice a week, or something, but still! We'll take a LOCAL eye doc over a two hour drive any day! Oh, and this was like the QUICKEST we have EVER gotten in to see a specialist EVER! Princess's therapist, J, called on a Tuesday morning to get all the info so he could submit the referral (thankfully we didn't have to go through her PCP, as her 15m appointment got bumped). That SAME DAY we got a call from Dr. R's office to set up an appointment! And the appointment was only like a few weeks away too! We were concerned about astigmatism, as when the nurse came out to assess Princess back in January, the nifty eye machine detected such. But Dr. R didn't see it at this time. She had her eyes dilated and things looked good. She goes back in 6 months just for a quick check and then it will be yearly!

Dilated and waiting to see the doc.

 Then at the beginning of September, Princess FINALLY got in to see her new pediatrician. Because we go to the "clinic" which is technically a "rural clinic" with labs, and specialists and even dental services on site, we will only see the new pediatrician, Dr. M for well child visits. If Princess or Little Man get sick, they can be seen the same day by a PA there at the clinic. So we get in there and, as expected, it takes 2 hours! For one, Dr. M runs late. For two, we had the WHOLE HISTORY that is Princess to go through. So by the time we left, it was two hours after Princess's appointment. And I still have forms for record requests to turn in! Of course Princess fell asleep while we waiting. The only good thing is that we don't have to go back until Princess is 2 years old, outside of the kids need their flu shots, so we'll do that in October sometime. Being we probably won't see Dr. M except for well child visits, I'm okay with her.

Waiting to see the doc.

Fell asleep waiting.

Then last week, Princess had her nephrology follow up from June. (Backdated post coming soon on the nephrologist from June.) I took Princess by myself so Little Man didn't have to miss out on his classes. Dr. H was running "more than 30 minutes behind." So I KNEW we were going to be there for A WHILE. Well, when we got back into vitals, Princess was having very little to do with ANYTHING. She wasn't screaming until we attempted to get her blood pressure. Then we finally got back into the room and she wandered around and played for about ever. Dr. H's new med student came in to take Princess's history. We attempted another blood pressure with MORE screaming.

Leaving on the long drive there!

In the waiting room.

Waiting for the doc.

Dr. H came in FINALLY after being back there for like an hour! (Talk about B-E-H-I-N-D!) So, we talk, I have her fill out the dietary form for food stamps, I get what I'm supposed to put on her medic-alert bracelet. I tell her about my mom's nephrologist and how he said that if something were to happen to her and she was stuck locally and couldn't be transported, he'd be in contact with her. And when I told her that the only time he had seen PHA2 was while he was with her, she shot her med student this look that said "I told you you were going to see a rare one!" So then when Dr. H tried to listen to Princess and feel her tummy and all that, Princess was having NOTHING to do with it. Even when the nurse went to put a bag on her so we could get a urine sample, she screamed. We did labs with MORE screaming and then attempted another blood pressure, again with no luck. I had to go down to the car with her so we could get her kool-aid so she could have something to drink so we could MAYBE get something for the urine catch. FINALLY we got that! Then we were able to check out! We were supposed to do a renal ultrasound, but after all the trauma that Princess went through, I opted to wait until next time, unless we have to do it locally. All in all, it was a 3 hour visit!

Still waiting on the doc.

Crashed out in the car on the way home.

Then on the way home, there was an accident on the road we were taking back up to the house so we had to turn around and go a different way. So by the time we got home, it had been about 8 hours from the time we left!

The day after the nephrology clinic craziness was Princess's IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan). That wasn't too big a deal outside of they are trying to be more family friendly with the goals. Okay, great! Let's take two educators (me and J) who have worked with IEPs and say "no more edu-speak" and instead be all family friendly is really kind of hard! But things worked out and her goals for the next six months are as follows:

1. Walk up the stairs at the park. (This might actually be more difficult than expected as some of those steps on those play structures come up to the kid's waist!)
2. Use a regular cup independently. (I'm not expecting no messes ever, just to be able to use a cup!)
3. Use a spoon. (This also might be a little far reaching, as most kids don't "master" this until almost 2 and a half, but again, I'm not expecting every time, just often enough to actually get food in her tummy!)

And I have to call and get her medic-alert set up. Maybe I'll have enough money to do that soon.