Has Anyone Seen My Map?

Today I took Kate back in to the doctor. You're surprised, I know. After my visit with our pediatrician, Dr. H, at Kate's well check, I knew I wanted to have the other doctor, Dr. F, who heard the heart murmur initially, listen to it again. Kate has had a rash and red, rosy cheeks all week and while I knew it was Fifth's Disease and that there was nothing they would do for it, it presented a bit of a cover to get back in with the afternoon pediatrician. I didn't want to go in for a "murmur recheck" and upset our other doctor. Along with the rash, Fifth's has brought a bit of congestion and Kate's chest was starting to sound a bit tight again. I pulled out my stethoscope to make sure she wasn't wheezing. Although I am by no means a doctor, I could clearly hear what sounded like a murmur. Since our pulmonology appointment was rescheduled for 3 weeks out, I decided I would go ahead and tackle my list of questions with Dr. F. It was good to get a "map" in place of where to go next.

- The lesion on her arm: She reviewed all the history with this thoroughly. Apparently in the original chest x-ray they found a spot in her upper arm that looked like it could have been bad. They rechecked it with an arm x-ray and there is a small abnormality there. According to the radiologist's reports it appears that there is no higher likelihood that this will progress into something more than it is, more than any other spot in her body. It was just a coincidental finding. Dr. F felt that there was no reason to check it again. Case closed.

- The diaper rash: Since this has been an ongoing problem and one that can be tricky to time with her visits, I took pictures of her last flare up. I will by no means be posting them, as my husband was totally freaked out to even have them on a computer. This did allow the doctor to get a better look at it in stages. She wasn't really sure what to think, but agreed that it is not yeast nor normal. It is definitely some sort of burn, like an acid burn. She wants us to follow up with GI about it. She said there was a good chance we would need to see a dermatologist. Since they are very difficult to get appointments with, we will go ahead and book one now and if GI can resolve it first, we can just cancel.

-Her blood counts and x-rays: She is not really sure why her labs are always out of whack. They did draw again today and they were still out of whack. She also appears to be anemic so we are starting her on iron and will recheck that in a few weeks. She is also unsure why every single one of Kate's chest x-rays shows "viral" stuff. She is wanting to leave that to pulmonology.

- The heart murmur: She was quick to tell all about murmurs, how most children have one at some point and that the percentage of innocent murmurs is very high. She explained that fever, medicine, etc. can cause faster heart rate, causing a more pronounced murmur. She then took a thorough listen and said she wants us to see a cardiologist. She said it was still there, despite being medicine and fever free, and that it was pretty loud. She reassured that there is still a very high chance that it is innocent, but she felt it was significant enough to be checked.

So basically we will go to pulmonology, then GI, then dermatology, if needed, with a stop at the cardiologist along the way somewhere. I totally trust the specialist to deal with their specialty, but until today, felt like no one was taking a look at all of the little pieces. Once we get through all the specialists, we will go back in to Dr.F and try to put it all together. I do feel that she listened to me and my concerns and was very supportive. She strongly encouraged me to be Kate's advocate and to stand up when I need to.