Dr. Visit

Ralph had his pediatrician visit today. I took Leroy with me just for kicks! When we pulled into the parking lot he said, "Oooh, I like this place! They have fish!" There is a nice fish tank in the waiting room. I noticed while waiting that his shoes were on the wrong feet, so I asked him who helped him get his shoes on. He said, "I put them on by myself. Are they on the wrong feet?" He's only 3 years old, but he realized what I had not said.

Dr. H was so pleased to see Ralph looking so big and healthy. He's up to the 5th percentile on the typical child's growth chart! She has seen him in very bad shape more than once so I know she is sincere. It's been over six months since he had any respiratory illness! Wow. Since he had the high fever on Saturday and Sunday, he has been doing OK. In fact, Monday he really bounced back and didn't even take a whisper of a nap. Doc said his throat looks fine today and whatever caused the fever has probably resolved.

Oh yeah! Before we left this morning I noticed that Rose was itching. I found some round red bumps on her shoulder. Chicken pox? There were no blisters yet, so how do I know?

I told Dr. H about this when we started discussing immunizations. Her recommendation was to give Ralph the Chicken Pox shot today in the hopes that IF he was exposed then he may not get sick at all or have a very mild case. He got one other shot today, too. He was MAD! Poor thing. I gave him some pain medicine when we got home.

Dr. H did some checking for us today and found out that another doc in the office was ordering some mercury-free flu vaccine. Now I don't have to call around trying to track it down. I know a lady nearby who drove an hour to get her children the mercury-free version. I'm glad I don't have to do that now.

ALSO, she wants Ralph to get the Synagis shots again this year. This protects against RSV, a common cold virus that can be devastating to premature babies and babies with lung disease. Great. But what about the $300-400 co-pay PER MONTH? Now is when I am kicking myself for not applying for a medicaid waiver. This can act like secondary insurance for disabled people who don't qualify for medicaid or SSI and would be nice to have right about now. I'm just unsure about getting the gov't involved in our lives in this way. I have a month to decide.