Doctors..An apple a day?

Katelyn had her 13-yr-old well-check today... she is 79 lbs and 4'9" tall. She would like to be taller because her brothers tease her about being short. She has perfect eyesight and almost perfect hearing. She had to have a tetanus shot and finger prick for blood test. She thought the finger prick hurt worse than the shot! While we were out, we went ahead and got the x-ray done that we will need for a doctor next week. Unfortunately, that took a long time. Next week we have three more doctor's appts for Katelyn in a row for a total of five this month! I guess Katelyn hasn't been eating her apple a day to keep the doctor away!

As most of you probably know already, Katelyn has struggled with urinary problems all her life. She has been on the prayer list more than she's been off of it. I told her if she had kept every hospital bracelet that she has ever gotten (from tests or visits), she could probably wallpaper her wall with them! Her charts are usually about 3 inches thick....our pediatrician had to start a new chart for her in order to fit all the paperwork from all her visits!

It all started when she was 2 months old and she had a 105 degree fever for her well-check up then. We were sent straight to the hospital where they poked and prodded her to try and get an IV in her tiny veins. It seemed as traumatic for me (a new mother to my only girl at that point) as it did to her when they couldn't seem to find a vein, and kept trying for 45 minutes!

Anyway, fast forward through years of being bounced around to different types of doctors, until finally our nephrologist suggested we try going to CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). I was relieved to find out that they have a clinic devoted to all kinds of urology problems, and the doctors worked as a team to determine how to treat their patients. The problem I had experienced up until then was that the pediatrician wouldn't really know what the urologist was doing and the nephrologist would not know what the urologist was doing. They weren't on the same clinic staff, so they couldn't really confer with each other about the best course of action.

For the past two years we have been getting advice from CHOP and traveling up there to have tests done or be seen by the team of doctors. It had to be ordained by God...our insurance at the time covered the visits to CHOP...and they were even considered part of our network! The visits were 100% covered except for a $20 copay. This year, however, Bill's employer changed health insurance providers, so we would have to pay out of network fees for them now.

This past year, we had quite a "turnover" in doctors...my OB/Gyn quit due to malpractice insurance costs and the EVIL (his description) health insurance companies not paying the doctors anything; three of Katelyn's doctors are gone...one passed away, and two of them moved to a new location. So now, I am establishing a relationship with new local specialists, and keeping them informed with what CHOP suggested.

We appreciate all the prayers that have been offered on her behalf, and would ask you to continue. The best course of action at this point is for Katelyn to continue doing the daily things she can do to help herself.