Dr. K (Cardiology)
We started off by seeing Dr. K, the cardiologist. This was a short half-hour trip down the hill. Surprisingly, for this clinic, he wasn't full. In fact, we got there and were just about right away ushered into a room. We did vitals and Princess went right along with this. And then came the MOST SURPRISING PART: her blood pressure. For the first time EVER we only had to take it ONCE! It was EXACTLY WHERE IT SHOULD BE!
We also did an EKG, which was perfect. I'm glad I warned her so she didn't melt down over the stickers that had to be put on her chest. And then Dr. K scheduled her for an Echo at his OTHER office on the same day we went down to see Dr. D. Granted, it was in the afternoon and Dr. D was in the morning, but I was more than happy to only have this be on our way back from our appointment two hours away!
So the next week on our way back from seeing Dr. D, we had lunch, played at the park and then went over to Dr. K's main office. There we did an Echo and Princess was just so enthralled by the pictures of "her tummy." Dr. K came in after the technician finished and did a few more scans. He said the PFO she had was closed. (I wasn't even aware of her PFO until a few months ago at her MRI, at least not that I remember anyway.)
But sadly, on this visit, we didn't get to do a "one and done" blood pressure. Instead it was right back where it had been running! After attempting it a few more times, and even manually checking her heart rate (because the machine would give us a great blood pressure but the heart rate would be low), Dr. K said that we could do one of two things: switch her two medications around or go to twice a day on one of them. BUT, he wanted Dr. H to make that decision and since we were going to her after the weekend, he was comfortable with whatever she decided. Then came the GREAT news: "Come back in a year." Yay! Annual visits!!!
Dr. D (CP Specialist)
Princess turned three about a week after we saw Dr. K. That same week, we saw Dr. D, the CP specialist at Shriners. We did this in the morning and on the way back home, we saw Dr. K. Now, we had just seen him about two months ago at our therapy clinic, but this is the "official" visit with him to see how things are going.
As it stands right now, no orthotics. He's pleased with her progress. As we continue to move forward, he said that we would be encouraged to do "community based therapy" which is essentially things like dance or gymnastics, non-competitive type things to help with her coordination and movement. It was a relatively quick visit and we were on our way. Come back in 6 months.
Dr. H (Nephrology)
The Monday following Dr. D, we were back in town, this time to see Dr. H, the nephrologist. Another routine appointment, at least for Princess. Vitals including blood pressure, which was high, yet again. Princess did great. The kids colored while we waited. And when Dr. H did "check ups," Princess was cool with it. Talked about if she goes up in medication, Dr. H would want more frequent blood pressure checks, but we weren't going to go up at that point in time. Also was okayed to give Princess Claritin with allergy season upon us. We did blood pressure again at the end, which was better.
Then it was time for labs. sigh This was about what I expected, except poor girl had to get poked twice. The poor phlebotomist felt so bad that she gave her extra stickers and even came out to give her extra giraffe band aids (yes, they had giraffe band aids!). We do have orders to do a urine sample, but we are waiting to do it until we get this nasty diaper rash thing cleared up....so who knows when that will be. But it will be before we see Dr. H again which is in 6 months! Oh, and it's THE SAME DAY we see Dr. D! Hooray! Piggy-backed appointments!
Dr. R (Ophthalmology)
Finally, we saw Dr. R, the ophthalmologist. Surprisingly the waiting room was EMPTY! I guess Dr. R having to open another day due to caseload was a good thing. Princess did GREAT for the first half of it. She wore the special glasses to check her depth perception. And then played a matching game to check her vision. She didn't even cry that much when they put the drops in her eyes! Then we got to sit and watch "Finding Nemo" until it was time for Dr. R to see us.
Well, I take full responsibility for the melt down that ensued with that. Had I let her choose to sit in the chair by herself initially, things might have gone better. But we managed to get through it. And we don't have to come back for another year! I was told we could try artificial tears for the "sand in her eyes" that she complains about. I know it's not real sand, but it could be that her eyes are dry, they're itchy, or it's allergies. We just don't know.
So all in all, everything is going well with the specialists! Two are at annual appointments and two are at twice a year. This definitely makes things easier on us for travelling and such.
The brave warrior Diva
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