Give It a Name!

Here's some food for thought--these are a few of the things that doctors have been sincerely wrong about throughout this experience.  This is not to point fingers, and I won't use names just for this purpose, but I'd like to give some examples to help you understand that your doctor is 100% man, O% God, and may not always know what's best for you or your family.

Pediatrician: "Your other kids were ok with immunizations, James will be, too." (Dr. Kenneth Bock taught me otherwise, by the way.)

OB/Gyn: "It will be ok to nurse your newborn baby while you receive strong IV antibiotics."

When we understood that the problems James was having were associated with autism, we wasted no time and located a DAN! doctor who could help us. The pediatrician I switched to, so as to avoid conflict about shots, was insulted when she found out we had "diagnosed" him ourselves and had taken matters into our own hands. She argued and said:

2nd Pediatrician:"I thought we had decided this was just speech delay."

She looked up the doctor that Jim and I had chosen on the internet and voiced her concern about her--that our DAN! doctor was only an MD and that she would have referred us to someone else. (We still stand by our decision, by the way.) This put some discomfort in our relationship, but we hung with her a little longer. 

James had a bout of strep throat around this time, and was prescribed a first generation antibiotic that had no effect.  I took him back to the same doctor who ran a CBC (complete blood count).  She concluded from the results that the antibiotic was working, and that his 103-104 degree temperature was from a secondary viral infection that would have to run its course.  I asked for a copy of the CBC.  The white blood cell differential didn't point toward a viral shift, instead it reported an increased monocyte count which indicated high inflammation, and still contained a high neutrophil count, which showed that the bacterial strep infection was still present.  I called the doctor's office when I arrived at home and explained my concerns, but was met with a cold reply from the doctor through the nurse that it was a viral infection that would have to run its course. 

The next day I made an appointment with another pediatrician in another practice.  I took James to see her, and she immediately showed me his throat, which looked like the inside of a pomegranate. She prescribed a stronger antibiotic which finally gave us relief.  This pediatrician wanted records from the blood count the doctor had taken just a few months previous because she was concerned at the amount of inflammation shown in the CBC. (Now we were on the right track!)  But, when she spoke to the autism coordinator at  office who told her he had stomach trouble, she was upset.  She said, "She just told me he had stomach trouble...you have to give it a name!" Which translates, "If you don't give it a diagnosis, you can't give treat it with a prescription."

This doctor was better, but couldn't understand the testing that had been performed on James which included genetic testing (I'll address that in another post), and she didn't try to understand.  She was very upset about the size of James' belly, which protruded way past his shorts at the time.  (Any of you gut-kids' mamas relate?) She referred us immediately to a specialist at Texas Children's in Houston, who even made a special appointment to see us. 

By the time we went to the appointment at Houston, we were through with the antibiotics and in much better shape.  The doctor there was very thorough and listened to us.  Her recommendations were for us to perform some parasite tests on James (good idea, but testing methods were bad), and perhaps a sonogram of his belly if nothing was found.  She emphasized that they couldn't really know for sure why these little guys had trouble, and one of her main hypotheses was that a lot of kids swallowed air. (What?!?)

These were the very rocky beginnings of our journey, and boy, am I glad we are through it! I haven't had to touch antibiotics with a ten-foot pole since we removed inflammatory foods from James' diet and put essential oil use into practice, and I plan not to if at all possible.  Antibiotics/medications played a major role in getting our family in this position.

I have learned that the Great Physician, Jehovah-rapha, is the one and only perfect Doctor.  God is the one who can direct you where you should go for your health needs, or who can heal you Himself with no intermediate if He chooses. He has done an amazing job of guiding us where we need to be, not to mention of healing my boy.

My qualities to look for in a doctor:

Good doctors listen to parents and their concerns. It has become almost humorous to me to realize that I am with my kids most all of the time, yet I once thought that I could go into a examination room and the doctor who examined my child for 5 minutes would know more about the them than I did.  Don't forget: mamas know.

Good doctors treat underlying problems rather than symptoms. There are doctors who will prescribe medication based on symptoms, rather than providing what the body needs to heal at the root cause.  It seems as if doctors who know anything about the processes and factors of disease are becoming few and far between, but they are still out there.  These doctors will be busy because they provide patients with real results.  Just remember--no one has ever had a drug deficiency. 

Good doctors understand that all symptoms are related.  We have become a society of specialities, and there is a good reason for that.  There is much information regarding all of the different body systems and organs--to know every bit about each one would be overwhelming.  But, to be specialized in say, the heart, and not have a working knowledge of the body as a whole is a huge disservice to the patient.  Our bodies were, "fearfully and wonderfully made," (Psalm 139:14) and all the parts and pieces are intricately woven and work together.  When one part isn't working right, you can bet its malfunction is effecting the whole body.

Good doctors can say I DON'T KNOW  just like good people in all walks of life.  Pride is a serious thing.  To know there is a problem is wonderful.  To not know how to deal with it is fine, as long as there is a search for the solution.  To name an illness just for the sake of prescribing a medication is unacceptable.

And last but not least--and I had this happen just a few weeks ago...

Good doctors tell you you'll be much healthier staying away from doctors.