Peace of Mind
After various problems last month, including a relapse, we setup an appointment to go see a pediatric pulmonary specialist. We'd gone to see Dr. Koumbourlis back when Fiona was 18 months old and had her first flareups. When we got through with that appointment we wanted to hug him just for giving us permission to let Fiona cough at night without having to rush in and get her every time.
And that wasn't even the best part. I like our pediatricians fine, but they occasionally have a habit of assuming everybody in our neighborhood has an extended family living within a two house walk. If Fiona has a cold, they're apt to tell us we have to keep her home for a week (or longer!), which just isn't practical to do every time your child has even a passing cold, at least if you want to keep a job and earn money to keep your child healthy. When Dr. Koumbourlis looked at Fiona in June 2005, the first thing he told us was that we shouldn't be keeping her home from day care, and that in fact it was better to put her in day care so she could get exposed to all the kid germs she was going to have to get exposed to sooner or later anyway.
It was at that point he revealed himself as the greatest doctor in the history of the universe.
Anyway, we hadn't seen him in nearly three years, since Fiona had been basically fine since that visit; we'd followed his treatment plan for 18 months, and then after consultation with our pediatrician after Fiona turned three we moved to a less drug-dependent plan for responding to her nighttime coughs. That plan worked well for about a year, until she hit January 2008 and got a cold she couldn't shake, culminating in her February problems.
So it was back to Dr. Koumbourlis. Fiona got a breathing test, the doctor listened to her, and then explained to us in very forthright terms what was probably going on with her (nasal congestion drips down into the chest, which we'd figured), what the most practical way to respond was (i.e. according to textbook medicine she's supposed to stay on the management meds for 4 weeks after symptoms subside, but in the real world it's hard to remember to take medicine for more than a week or so when you're not showing any symptoms, and that's going to be fine most of the time), and why Flovent is fine for her at her age and symptoms despite what scare stories you might have heard (i.e. severely ill children who take a much higher dosage every day for years wind up 1/2 inch shorter than counterparts who don't take Flovent).
He wrote up our treatment plan and sent us on our way. I understand why our pediatricians usually try to come up with treatment that doesn't depend on medicine; nobody wants to wind up needing prescription drugs every time a sniffle starts, and they're generalists who can't be expected to have the same level of expertise in dealing with asthma-like symptoms in a four-year old (none of us think she has "real" asthma). But as I told Andrea as we left the pulmonary center: just for making me feel better about the way we're raising our daughter and recognizing that we all need a plan that's going to keep the household sane, I'm not too proud to say that I have a man crush on Dr. Koumbourlis.
OK, maybe that's a little much, just in case he's self-Googling and finds this post. But we're definitely grateful.
And that wasn't even the best part. I like our pediatricians fine, but they occasionally have a habit of assuming everybody in our neighborhood has an extended family living within a two house walk. If Fiona has a cold, they're apt to tell us we have to keep her home for a week (or longer!), which just isn't practical to do every time your child has even a passing cold, at least if you want to keep a job and earn money to keep your child healthy. When Dr. Koumbourlis looked at Fiona in June 2005, the first thing he told us was that we shouldn't be keeping her home from day care, and that in fact it was better to put her in day care so she could get exposed to all the kid germs she was going to have to get exposed to sooner or later anyway.
It was at that point he revealed himself as the greatest doctor in the history of the universe.
Anyway, we hadn't seen him in nearly three years, since Fiona had been basically fine since that visit; we'd followed his treatment plan for 18 months, and then after consultation with our pediatrician after Fiona turned three we moved to a less drug-dependent plan for responding to her nighttime coughs. That plan worked well for about a year, until she hit January 2008 and got a cold she couldn't shake, culminating in her February problems.
So it was back to Dr. Koumbourlis. Fiona got a breathing test, the doctor listened to her, and then explained to us in very forthright terms what was probably going on with her (nasal congestion drips down into the chest, which we'd figured), what the most practical way to respond was (i.e. according to textbook medicine she's supposed to stay on the management meds for 4 weeks after symptoms subside, but in the real world it's hard to remember to take medicine for more than a week or so when you're not showing any symptoms, and that's going to be fine most of the time), and why Flovent is fine for her at her age and symptoms despite what scare stories you might have heard (i.e. severely ill children who take a much higher dosage every day for years wind up 1/2 inch shorter than counterparts who don't take Flovent).
He wrote up our treatment plan and sent us on our way. I understand why our pediatricians usually try to come up with treatment that doesn't depend on medicine; nobody wants to wind up needing prescription drugs every time a sniffle starts, and they're generalists who can't be expected to have the same level of expertise in dealing with asthma-like symptoms in a four-year old (none of us think she has "real" asthma). But as I told Andrea as we left the pulmonary center: just for making me feel better about the way we're raising our daughter and recognizing that we all need a plan that's going to keep the household sane, I'm not too proud to say that I have a man crush on Dr. Koumbourlis.
OK, maybe that's a little much, just in case he's self-Googling and finds this post. But we're definitely grateful.
posted by BWC at
11:31 PM
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