In addition to her pediatrician, our daughter sees two specialists. One is the pediatric surgeon, who performed her operations, and the other is a gastroenterologist (GI doctor). Both are concerned with making sure Lily is feeding normally, maintaining appropriate weight, and not experiencing any symptoms of reflux.
The doctors are familiar with one another as they both work for the same children’s hospital, and I know that each has a high opinion of the other, because they have said as much. However, I suspect they have little communication with each other, and therefore, they have a difference of opinion on how quickly Lily should be progressing. For instance, the pediatric surgeon is much more aggressive in terms of weaning Lily off medications and restricting her caloric intake. The GI doc, on the other hand, takes more of a wait-and-see approach and assures us that every thing will work itself out over time.
I believe that it is our job as parents to find a happy medium between the two. Typically, we side with the surgeon, though, and I think it is because we want Lily to be like other kids her age and for everything to be normal.
Unfortunately, this difference of opinion among doctors is nothing new to us. When Lily was still in the NICU, one of the attending doctor was a young lady whom both my wife and I were very fond of. She was pleased with Lily’s progress and told us we would be able to bring Lily home before Christmas. In retrospect, I believe our affection for this doctor was based partially on the fact she was telling us what we wanted to hear.
The weekend before Christmas, though, the young doctor was off and another, more senior doctor, was on duty. Her assessment of Lily was not so positive. She wanted to switch Lily’s medications and experiment with her feedings before discharging her. She told us to expect Lily to be in the hospital for another two weeks.
My wife was crushed. I was angry. We thought we’d never get to take her home. I asked to speak to the doctor and demanded to know why her opinion differed so greatly from her colleague’s opinion. In so many words, she said her colleague was “young and dumb” and that she was “older and smarter.”
Our displeasure must have struck a nerve, though, because she somewhat reversed her decision and we ended up being discharged a few days later.
Not sure what the moral of the story is… because I truly believe every doctor we have seen has had Lily’s best interests in mind. However, sometimes parents are presented with a choice. And while it may be trying at times, you must be confidant with your decision.
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