Okay...so those of you who know me KNOW how I feel about most doctors. :)
However, we had a good experience with a doctor last night that I must write about...to offset all the negative things that I tend to say.
A little history:
Tarin has had major croup issues since he was an infant. Anytime he gets a cold he gets croup and many MANY times we have ended up in the ER.
In the past year or so, Tarin has gotten croup even when not sick...no symptoms at all till he awakens in the middle of the night completely unable to breathe and freaking out. (for the record, most kids outgrow croup by 2-4 years of age. Tarin is 6)
This past April we called 911 and he was taken via ambulance to the ER for treatment.
Yeah. Not fun. Very scary. And about $4000 later he was fine. We have no medical insurance so we are still paying that bill. I have gone from doctor to doctor begging them to give me SOMETHING for him to help him breathe when this happens. They have all just blown me off and told me that I need to just take him to the ER when it happens. I did get a nebulizer with some albuteral for him even though that medication is for asthma and not croup.
2:15 a.m. I awake to Tarin going into the bathroom in my room and struggling to breathe. (he knows to go into that bathroom because we turn on hot water and let him breathe the steam). We turn on the steam and I set up the nebulizer with the albuteral...it gets going...Tarin still not breathing...it is not working...he is still struggling...it is still going....it is not working....I begin my freak out. The medicine runs out so I put water in the nebulizer and that seems to help more than the meds to open his airway. Josiah and I briefly discuss what to do...call 911...drive him to the ER...???? I then remember an add I saw months ago in a local paper about a pediatrician that does house calls after hours (for real!). I run (ha...as fast as an 8 month pregnant mom can run) downstairs and tear apart my drawer trying to find the add. I find it. I call the guy. He answers right away (!!!) and I rush through an explanation of what is going on and a tad bit of history (all this a bit incoherently, I am sure, mixed with hysteria, exhaustion and hormones) and he is calm and asks a few questions...and says he is headed right over. He wants us to take Tarin outside in the meantime...something we have never done before.
Okay. I will try anything. He is still retracting/wheezing.
15 minutes later:
We are snuggled on our couch...Tarin is breathing better from being in the cold outside air...and he is calm.
The doctor arrives.
He is like 7 feet tall, younger (mid thirties) gregarious and ready to help.
He talks like a normal person. He listens to what we say. He jokes with Tarin and calms him down. He explains what he wants to do and we agree with him.
He does the SAME THING as what we get done at the ER....a steroid pill and an epinefrin (sp?) breathing treatment. It works great, of course, and Tarin is much better. The doctor monitors his pulse-oxygen and listens to his chest every few minutes...all while talking, laughing, keeping everyone at ease. (he is a pulmonary pediatrician by day...he moved from the southeast...his wife is preg with #6...his boys are wild and crazy like ours...etc). Nice guy.
3:15 a.m.
Doc leaves the house after giving me a prescription for Tarin an inhaler to use next time with the "good" meds in it that actually work...what I have been begging docs for for years.
Tarin is great...ready for bed.
We all go to sleep peacefully...with no other issues.
The next morning (or later that morning) the doctor CALLS US to check on Tarin and ask how he is doing!!!!!!
The total cost for all this care:
$240
The total cost for the same care in the ER last April:
$3800
So I am impressed.
Look up his site to read about him and see for yourself!!! He also has a plan where you pay $1000 for a year and get UNLIMITED home visits, meds, tests, treatments, stitches...whatever your kids need. That is far cheaper than paying for insurance.
For a mom who is used to in home care with her pregnancies...and loves it...I should not be so shocked at this type of care...but I am. Happily so.
www.chickensoupdenver.com
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4 comments:
I hope he told you that the worst thing you can do for a kid who can't breathe is place them in a hot steamy arena. I am a respiratory therapist and I see this often. It was the cool air that helps...
Can this be possible?? Oh Tiff, praise God for a good doc. This sounds like something from Little House on the Prairie. I guess this is the way it was before big government and greedy drug companies (and those sick law suits). I've got to find a guy like this in SA!!
Jo,
Ya know, this has been frustrating.
Since baby #1 was tiny we have battled croup...with all 4 kids...several times a year until they get a little older. (except Tarin...he has not grown out of it). All of the advise from peds, ER docs, nurses, literature, research, etc has said, "Put them in a hot, steamy bathroom..."
So that is what we had always done. It seemed to work for a while although we usually ended up in the ER a few hours later.
This doc (who came to the house) is the FIRST doctor to suggest that the steam is no good and to take them outside into the cold air. When we tried it with Tarin, it helped very quickly.
So how difficult is this?! Is this a new find? Why has no one else ever told us this?
Annoying. Quite.
Wow- that is wonderful! Are you going to sign up with him? He sounds well worth the plan.
Some doctors I know say they want to go back to dealing w/o insurance. One guy I know says he'd rather charge patients ZERO dollars than to have to work with medicare system! I know they are so frustrated with dealing with insurance/red tape, etc. that they'd rather reduce their costs and deal direct with the consumer.
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