What is a Pediatrician?
A pediatrician is a physician who works with babies, children, and teenagers. Mostly they maintain the child’s health, give checkups, and occasionally prescribe medicine. For the first year of the baby’s life, pediatricians provide seven checkups to the baby. After that, they can stay with the doctor until they are twenty one years old. These doctors you should have around you even if your kid does not have a serious illness.
They are also there for children who have acute or chronic illnesses. For my family, our pediatrician was our saving grace, our advocate. She helped us through my sisters treatment, giving support and check ups to make sure she was alright.
In the beginning, Misha had a pediatrician that was very uncooperative. When she was 3-4 months old, he did not listen to my parents when they told him something was wrong (to read the full story, look under Symptoms). Only when my dad demanded of him to see Misha is when he finally took some action by sending her to a neurologist.
Your pediatrician has to listen to you.
After Misha's first surgery, my dad told the pediatrician that something was wrong. Her head was swollen. The pediatrician said that it was just the flu. At one point, he told my mother to just let Misha die and not let her suffer anymore.
There was a time when my dad did a fake phone call to the hospital, where he pretended he was a doctor. He said that Misha (who was well known at the hospital now) was his niece, and he suspected that she might have hydrocephalus and ordered an MRI for her. The MRI showed that is was hydrocephalus and the tumor had quintupled in size. They said that the hydrocephalus was so bad that they had a day to do a VP shunt.
Misha's old pediatrician dropped the ball with her. He refused to take any accountability. Afterwards, our family got two amazing pediatricians, one of which was Asha Misra. She blew the other pediatrician out of the park.
As you can see, you need a pediatrician that will work with you and listen to you, even if it's just for a common cold or flu. It's rare that you'll find a tumor, but sometimes you hit the lottery (in a bad way).
In the beginning, your pediatrician must be an advocate for you and with the insurance companies. They should submit authorization forms for the insurance company. They are at the center of chaos through treatment and insurance. They should be there for everything your child is going through.
You go to your pediatrician with basic questions. They will be there for doctor stuff you need that will not be done at a hospital.
Cited:
"What is a Pediatrician?." University of Maryland Children's Hospital. University of Maryland Medical Center, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2012. <http://www.umm.edu/pediatrics/pediatrician.htm>
"What is a Pediatrician?." wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-pediatrician.htm>
They are also there for children who have acute or chronic illnesses. For my family, our pediatrician was our saving grace, our advocate. She helped us through my sisters treatment, giving support and check ups to make sure she was alright.
In the beginning, Misha had a pediatrician that was very uncooperative. When she was 3-4 months old, he did not listen to my parents when they told him something was wrong (to read the full story, look under Symptoms). Only when my dad demanded of him to see Misha is when he finally took some action by sending her to a neurologist.
Your pediatrician has to listen to you.
After Misha's first surgery, my dad told the pediatrician that something was wrong. Her head was swollen. The pediatrician said that it was just the flu. At one point, he told my mother to just let Misha die and not let her suffer anymore.
There was a time when my dad did a fake phone call to the hospital, where he pretended he was a doctor. He said that Misha (who was well known at the hospital now) was his niece, and he suspected that she might have hydrocephalus and ordered an MRI for her. The MRI showed that is was hydrocephalus and the tumor had quintupled in size. They said that the hydrocephalus was so bad that they had a day to do a VP shunt.
Misha's old pediatrician dropped the ball with her. He refused to take any accountability. Afterwards, our family got two amazing pediatricians, one of which was Asha Misra. She blew the other pediatrician out of the park.
As you can see, you need a pediatrician that will work with you and listen to you, even if it's just for a common cold or flu. It's rare that you'll find a tumor, but sometimes you hit the lottery (in a bad way).
In the beginning, your pediatrician must be an advocate for you and with the insurance companies. They should submit authorization forms for the insurance company. They are at the center of chaos through treatment and insurance. They should be there for everything your child is going through.
You go to your pediatrician with basic questions. They will be there for doctor stuff you need that will not be done at a hospital.
Cited:
"What is a Pediatrician?." University of Maryland Children's Hospital. University of Maryland Medical Center, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2012. <http://www.umm.edu/pediatrics/pediatrician.htm>
"What is a Pediatrician?." wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-pediatrician.htm>