Tragically hip

[judecorp]

I am so upset about the hip thing. So freaking upset. And I am pissed at my kid's pediatrician.

Yesterday Jen called the pedi's office to ask about her refusing to nap, to see if the nurses/pedi had any suggestions for getting a sleep-resistent baby to sleep. Today they called back and said that Jen had questions about reflux. I said no, sleep. They said I would have to come in to talk to the doctor about it. For real? To ask a question about sleep? But I kind of wanted to grill her about the hip thing (she wasn't the one we saw last week, we saw the head of the practice whom I love), so whatever.

Basically I spent a $25 co-pay for her to tell me to get blackout shades for the baby's room. WhatEVER.

So, I asked her if she saw in the chart about the hip thing that the other doctor found. She said she did. I asked her why it wasn't noticed before. She said a lot of blah blah blah that basically said 'sometimes you don't notice things like this right away.' But of course in this case 'not right away' means 'five months' and is the different between a soft splint they put on little infants who sleep all day anyway and a body cast from the chest down to totally immobilize an older infant who is learning to sit up and crawl. And she Does. Not. Get. It.

She had the most blase tone when she said, "Yes, they do casting," and "Yes, it would be for several months." When I told her that I was flabbergasted that this could go undiagnosed for so long when my child has been in that office at LEAST 20 times (8 in a row when she came home from the hospital for the nursing/weight/jaundice issues, 2 for the mystery rash, at least 6 for reflux, the usual well-baby check-ups, 1 today, etc.), she had nothing to say except to tell me that if I was not comfortable with my medical care, I "have to do what I have to do."

I'm not going to lie, if my 5-month-old daughter goes from trying to get up on her hands and knees to being in a body cast having to be flipped every two hours to prevent bed sores, I am going to seriously lose it.

Comments

[marshmelococoa.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

are you insurancely able to find another doctor for another opinion?

And yeah, I'd be so pissed too!

[wendywoowho.livejournal.com]

Oh, HONEY. Oh!

I would be losing it already! Oh!

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Sue.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Freaking law students. ;)

I don't think I have a case, though.

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Are you kidding?

Negligence, malpractice, negligent infliction of emotional distress!

[changinglight.livejournal.com]

seriously?!

I am so pissed about this that I want to call and scream and throw things.

Can I?

Please?

[changinglight.livejournal.com]

Is your pedi office affiliated with a hospital?

And do they have a patient relations department?

Also, this is a bit of a QI/RM issue, I think...

[amyura.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[amyura.livejournal.com]

Do something. Find a new doc, complain to higher-ups, something. You, Jen and the Punk do NOT deserve this.

[tea-soaked.livejournal.com]

Can you get a second opinion?

[ktmcda.livejournal.com]

I am in a hurry and havent seen the other posts, but I want to say what's surely been said by now: second opinion..

And if you are still in Boston, and need a great pediatrician, check out Janet Levatin in Brookline.

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Even if you don't sue, I'd say it's time to get a new doctor. It sounds like this one is not nearly meeting your needs/expectations.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, we kind of are. I mean, we are going to get a hip ultrasound for her and we are also going to see a specialist at the Shriner's hospital. But really? We should have been doing this MONTHS ago.

Did you know that the two top "risk factors" for hip dysplasia are a) being a girl and b) being the firstborn? Pay attention to Carys's hip exams.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We have an appointment with a specialist at the Shriner's hospital on Monday. I got the pedi (with my big bitch session in the office) to make the referral before the hip ultrasound.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, it's pretty much already lost.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

It just seems like it would a) take a lot of time and money (neither of which I really have) and b) probably not get me anywhere.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

See, that's what I'm talking about. Suing really is just a big pain in the ass, and what are they going to say? They're going to say, "We did the exams every time, and as soon as we suspected something, we made the referral." Which is true.

We are headed to the Shriner's hospital on Monday to see a specialist there. We'll see what he has to say about all of this business.

The sleep - ugh. She is now starting to fight sleep at nighttime too (which is really unusual for her) and it is driving me BONKERS!!!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I am going to switch to this other dude who is the head of the practice, because I have always had really good interactions with him and he is super compassionate. In fact, he's the one that noticed this whole hip business, and then tried to rush us into an ultrasound.

So yeah, I'm going to ditch the chick doctor.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Sure! :)

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Well, the idea is that it would get you money, but yeah, legal fees are probably absurd.

See, before law school I'd agree with you, but now I'm reading about things people recover for and it's changed that.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

They have rights at the local hospital but they are not affiliated. But we are going to write a letter, even if it doesn't get anywhere. The head of the practice is ridiculously nice (and is the doc who noticed the hip issue) and I have had good experiences with him before (like when I told him I couldn't afford all of the copays for the weight checks), so I am going to make him her pedi.

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

Good idea. Hopefully he'll do something about her.

Meanwhile, when will you know for sure?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We are switching to the head of the practice, who is really awesome and found the hip issue last week. We will likely be writing a big long letter about everything, not the least of which is the blase attitude about everything today.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We haven't lived in Boston for a year, but thanks for thinking of us! :)

We are switching pedis to the head of the practice (who is much nicer) and are headed to Shriner's on Monday to see a specialist.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

If it was something that I could say was grossly negligent, I would consider it, seriously. But the internet is full of info about how this is difficult to diagnose, etc. etc. and apparently they even changed the name (from congenital hip dysplasia to developmental dysplasia of the hip) because there were so many malpractice suits for not diagnosing at birth.

So yeah.