A Good Visit

The provider one sees makes a difference. Sometimes you build rapport with one provider and it makes a difference. Thankfully, after some assertiveness on our part, we were able to see our preferred pulmonologist (lung doctor) today. We were not disappointed. He gets Mason better than the other pulmonologist we've been seeing, knows that Mason "marches to his own drum" (to use his words) and trusts us to know what we are talking about with medications and Mason. It makes all the difference in the world.

We were also wonderfully shocked by Mason while waiting for the doctor to come into the room. Bill has an application on his phone called "Peek-a-Boo Barn" in which animals make a sound inside a barn, Mason taps on the screen and the barn doors open revealing the animal and it's sound. A child's voice then identifies the animal. Mason loves playing with it. Today, after playing with it for a while, Mason dropped the phone down at his side. The game continued and a dog started barking waiting to be let out of the barn. Mason looked down at the phone, looked up at us with a big smile on his face, and said "Dog." We were so impressed; he's been able to say "dog" for a while, but kinda randomly. This time, he clearly was identifying what made the sound -- we couldn't believe he had made the connection. Communication has been challenging for Mason. At 18 months, can only say "Dog" "Mama" and "Ina" (not sure what the last one means). He can occasionally wave "Hi" and "Goodbye," but doesn't say the words and does not do it consistently. Every step he takes with his communication seems to be a giant leap. Today, once again, we are so proud!!

Back to the appointment, the pulmonologist was impressed at how much less distressed Mason looks while just breathing. He remembers seeing Mason before and watching how much he bobbed up and down just to breathe. He remembers his lungs sounding really bad, but was pleasantly surprised today and said Mason's lungs sound much better. He looked through xrays from August 2008 to May 2009 and said he can see improvement. He was impressed by the fact that Mason didn't require hospitalization with his cold and aspiration pneumonia this summer. He knows that Mason is getting better and was encouraged by the signs. He listened to the plans we have for weaning the steroids, was glad to hear that we'll be working with an expert in the field for that wean, and felt that we had a good plan for Mason's other medications.

At the end of the visit, he took the time to write down that he agreed with our plans for the medication changes and for flu and RSV (a really bad virus that affects preemies and kids with lung disease) shots. All of it was in our plans, but he took the time to write down that he agreed with it. Those little steps make all the difference!