Just a few hours after our sweet baby boy was born, a doctor walked in and told us (in not so choice words) that they couldn’t tell if he had one of his testicles. She said it could be undescended, but based on her evaluation it looked like he didn’t have one at all on one side. Now, I probably reacted a little more emotionally than necessary (hellooo new mom emotions!), but if Fitz only had one testicle this was something that we were going to have to deal with for a variety of health reasons.
We were quickly referred to a pediatric urologist for surgery, which would either bring down an undescended testicle, or rule out if he had one. I told a friend about this and she immediately told me the name of a different urologist, one she knew well. She said this doctor was attentive, personable, and dedicated to his patients. At first, I hesitated going to the trouble of switching doctors, but something nudged me so I decided to make some calls and I got Fitz in with him instead.
From our first appointment, I knew we made a great choice. The doctor was just as thorough and friendly as I hoped. He got to know us a little bit and then went through a series of questions, all protocols for surgery. When he asked about a history of blood disorders in the family, I recalled how a niece of mine was diagnosed with some kind of bleeding disorder a couple of years prior. He went on with his questions, saying that it was too distant to have any real effect on Fitz…but then he circled back and said while there was just a one in a million chance, he still wanted to test Fitz’s blood for any similar issues.
I was actually kind of irritated about it, because of the hassle it would take with our schedules (not to mention the cost) to get the blood testing done. My husband and I took turns taking off of work to drive him downtown to get this testing done. Since Fitz was so little and only a few months old, we had to take him three different times to draw blood. And on one blood drawing they didn’t get an accurate read, so we had to bring him in a fourth time! It was so hard seeing our little bitty baby getting stuck with needles and filling up vials of blood.
When the results came in, we were surprised to hear that Fitz had the same blood disorder as his cousin. They have a platelet dysfunction, which means their blood platelets are not effective at stopping bleeding. There is no way of really knowing his threshold. While this affects my niece on a daily basis as a woman, for Fitz we just have medicine on hand that would stop his bleeding should anything happen to him. We also will have to take extra safety measures for any medical procedures that come his way and he’s not allowed to play contact sports.
At first, I was horrified at the thought of what could have happened had he gone into surgery without the doctor knowing about his disorder. Those thoughts quickly turned to thankfulness. Thankful that our doctor thought to check for this agains all odds. Thankful that our doctor was thorough even though it was an inconvenience for us all. Thankful that I switched doctors from the very beginning. Our original doctor may have recommended the testing also…but he might not have. Thankful that, like always, God was looking out for us and taking care of our every need.
Follow your motherly instincts when choosing medical providers for your child. Ask friends for referrals. Seek out local guides like the KCMB Guide to Pediatric Health for direction to find the best fit for your family. Because finding the right doctor mattered for Fitz, and it matters for your sweet little ones, too.
This is so, so true!! Thanks for sharing your experience. I learned so much about doctors and differing medical opinions during our 9 week stay in the NICU with our preemie and while I hated almost every minute of it, I really gained good knowledge that will inform the rest of my life interacting with the medical community.
Cheers!