Thursday, July 10, 2008

Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrician


(Picture of Luke after Heart Surgery in Aug. 2006 at Legacy Emmanuel Children's Hospital)



Luke had yet another appointment with a specialist this last week. He is such a trooper. He is not afraid of anyone. That does make it nice. His appointment was at Legacy Emmanuel Children's Hospital. This is where he had his heart surgery. So after checking in at Diagnotic, we went up the elevator to pedatric development. He walks into the waiting room and asks us in a really loud voice, "am I getting my surgery today." Poor kid. He has gone through enough surgery. Some of the other parents chuckled, as did we and explained we were just going to see a doctor. We waited 16 months for this appointment. It was 2 hours long. Luke saw a PT and then the doctor. Mark and I rehashed his entire life history and then Luke had a thorough examination by the doctor. This appointment was to talk about Luke's attention difficulties and the possiblity of him having ADD or ADHD. We didn't get a diagnosis, but we do have a referral to the Children's Program where Luke will receive a diagnosis, if he gets one. He does present several "red flags" for the disorder as the doctor said. And his biological father and uncles all had ADD/ADHD so that was the factor that pushed him to being further evaluated. So, needless to say, I was exhausted after that appointment. His height was in the 75% percentile at 44.75 inches, and his weight was in the 50% percentile at 42.5 pounds. His poor baby head less than 2nd percentile. It has grown slightly in a year. He will eventually fall off the growth curve completely. He most definantely does have "microcephaley". Luke takes it all in stride. Another day, another doctor. The poor baby was just upset to miss OT Therapy.

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