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We just had Little Man’s 3 year check-up. It was a great Dr. Visit in many ways and a difficulty one in many others.
Okay, the good: He did not need any shots, so the visit did not end with a blubbering puddle of post-shot Little Man. It is not a pretty sight. But, thankfully, it was not a sight for today. He interacted with his doctor (we shall call him El Doctoré). really well. He said “AHHHHH!” when asked. He didn’t fight when he was getting his ears checked out. He thought it was hilarious when El Doctoré was checking his pupil response for his eyes. He was nice and still while El Doctoré checked his breathing and heart beat. All in all Little Man did really well interacting with El Doctoré, and he behaved himself like a real champ. He has just grown up so much in the mere 3 years he has been around.
El Doctoré was very pleased that we had not had to see him since December of 2005 (we are as well), and he was really pleased that Little Man has been Orapred free for over 8 months now (again, we are as well). This is the longest stretch of non-Orapred usage for Little Man since we had to use it the first time just after his 1st birthday. All in all it was a really good visit.
The not-so-good: That being said, everything was not sunshine and rainbows. El Doctoré showed a bit of concern about how many steroid medications Little Man is currently using. On top of the asthma and food allergies, El Doctoré has suggested that we see a cardiologist because of a murmur present with Little Man. Great, just what we needed another medical concern for the Little Man. Honestly, this is the most upsetting portion of the appointment. The doc did a good job of minimizing the idea as just precautionary and prudent, but when a 3 yr old has to see a cardiologist, I can’t imagine that we are just doing it for “precaution and prudence“reasons.
These things were coupled with my own observations about the appointment with El Doctoré. Firstly, I was disturbed to see my little boy in such a clinical setting looking so small. He is currently residing in the 40th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. That translates to 37 inches or 93.98cm in height and 30.5 lbs, 13.83 kg, or 2.179 stone in weight. I realize that he is dynamo of energy that could potentially power the city of Reykjavík for about day in the spring, but he really is small for his size, and that is something you do not realize when you see him without other kids around to compare.
Secondly, I felt that he still is dealing with a speech delay. He just did not seem, in my opinion, to be talking as much and as fluently as he should be. Sure some of this may be due to “playing shy” around El Doctoré, but I just felt there was something more palpable to it than that.
Thirdly, I realized that, as a parent, I am not pushing Little Man to do enough things on his own. I do too much for him, when he should be doing it himself. I imagine that this is a typical problem with most first time parents, but it is something that I need to work on.
To recap:
Little Man is growing up
I need to get Little Man to draw more on his own, instead of just making Papa draw
I need to get him knowledgeable more about his environment
I am scared about taking him to the cardiologist
I am not sure we can add much more on our medical concerns plate
We had an open house this weekend with 0 visitors
Yep, 0 visitors
No one, none, zip, zilch, the big goose egg, etc...
I am so glad we are coming off the market soon
20 Questions Tuesday coming up tomorrow
Okay, the good: He did not need any shots, so the visit did not end with a blubbering puddle of post-shot Little Man. It is not a pretty sight. But, thankfully, it was not a sight for today. He interacted with his doctor (we shall call him El Doctoré). really well. He said “AHHHHH!” when asked. He didn’t fight when he was getting his ears checked out. He thought it was hilarious when El Doctoré was checking his pupil response for his eyes. He was nice and still while El Doctoré checked his breathing and heart beat. All in all Little Man did really well interacting with El Doctoré, and he behaved himself like a real champ. He has just grown up so much in the mere 3 years he has been around.
El Doctoré was very pleased that we had not had to see him since December of 2005 (we are as well), and he was really pleased that Little Man has been Orapred free for over 8 months now (again, we are as well). This is the longest stretch of non-Orapred usage for Little Man since we had to use it the first time just after his 1st birthday. All in all it was a really good visit.
The not-so-good: That being said, everything was not sunshine and rainbows. El Doctoré showed a bit of concern about how many steroid medications Little Man is currently using. On top of the asthma and food allergies, El Doctoré has suggested that we see a cardiologist because of a murmur present with Little Man. Great, just what we needed another medical concern for the Little Man. Honestly, this is the most upsetting portion of the appointment. The doc did a good job of minimizing the idea as just precautionary and prudent, but when a 3 yr old has to see a cardiologist, I can’t imagine that we are just doing it for “precaution and prudence“reasons.
These things were coupled with my own observations about the appointment with El Doctoré. Firstly, I was disturbed to see my little boy in such a clinical setting looking so small. He is currently residing in the 40th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. That translates to 37 inches or 93.98cm in height and 30.5 lbs, 13.83 kg, or 2.179 stone in weight. I realize that he is dynamo of energy that could potentially power the city of Reykjavík for about day in the spring, but he really is small for his size, and that is something you do not realize when you see him without other kids around to compare.
Secondly, I felt that he still is dealing with a speech delay. He just did not seem, in my opinion, to be talking as much and as fluently as he should be. Sure some of this may be due to “playing shy” around El Doctoré, but I just felt there was something more palpable to it than that.
Thirdly, I realized that, as a parent, I am not pushing Little Man to do enough things on his own. I do too much for him, when he should be doing it himself. I imagine that this is a typical problem with most first time parents, but it is something that I need to work on.
To recap:
Little Man is growing up
I need to get Little Man to draw more on his own, instead of just making Papa draw
I need to get him knowledgeable more about his environment
I am scared about taking him to the cardiologist
I am not sure we can add much more on our medical concerns plate
We had an open house this weekend with 0 visitors
Yep, 0 visitors
No one, none, zip, zilch, the big goose egg, etc...
I am so glad we are coming off the market soon
20 Questions Tuesday coming up tomorrow
Labels: Asthma, Little Man
10 Comments:
Little man is not small for his size, he is small for his age.
You try to grow while on that much medication!
wifey-
Yep, it pretty much stinks. I wish I had something to add, but really, it just stinks.
mimma:
Yes, yes correct my mistakes and then miss the point of the post. Sheesh! Mother-in-Laws! Of course the amount of medication is interfering with his growth. That is why I am soooo vexed.
dustin:
He might be on the track to getting larger. He had his first "slice" of pizza tonight. Sure it was Pilsbury Pizza dough crust with Ragu PizzaQuick pizza sauce, ham, mushrooms and some soy based faux mozzeralla, but it was pizza damnit!
ZM/Wifey
It do stink.
Just a thought, but perhaps the healing environment of Zanesville would be in order for Little Man? Maybe you know a childless couple in that fine city who would be willing to adopt Little Man (and Wifey!) for a period of time?
Just a thought.
Anon:
So, let's see. That would be a household consisting of Anon, Anon's partner, Wifey, and Little Man... Hey, wait a second, I am the only one not in the picture. No deal!
It's not that you're not wanted, but . . .
No, wait. That is it. You're not wanted in the picture. Nothing personal (again I lie), but if you were there wifey might not hesitant to pursue a steamy platonic relationship with me.
anon:
Listen I know that I am the anchor dragging the family down to shades of Geekdom. There is no reason to continually point it out though.
Dustin:
Little Man willl need to grow out of his egg and dairy allergies before he can take on any non-homemade pizzas.
One further thing, don't encourage anon, please don't encourage anon, Sweet Mother of God, don't encourage anon. Anon feeds off of encouragement. It makes him bolder and, yes, more obnoxious. So, Dustin, I expect your retraction of "good one" to be posted within the hour.
For starters, you could stop calling him "Little Man"
Also, (now seriously), that sucks about the heart murmur. I was upset enough when I found out my CAT had a heart murmur. And that was just a CAT.
I hope, I really hope, you have nothing to be concerned about. I'm crossing my fingers and sending good wishes to Fifty Percentile Man.
Peefer:
You have a point, but Little Man is truly his Internet name now.
Peefer: again:
I am sure that it really is nothing, I just wish it was that level of nothing that the pediatrician could completely discount it without having the cardiologist referal.
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