A Tale of Two Doctors

Today is a big for Reagan for she goes to the doctor for her 5 year old heart check up.  Hopefully this is the last time for this sort of thing.  Let me set this story up by saying what I am about to talk about, in our opinion, is the right and wrong way for a doctor to handle a situation.

The Wrong Way
Brooke and I took Reagan to her pediatrician's office for Reagan's 3 month checkup.  We were still basking in the glow of being first time parents.  Reagan was our pride and joy.  We had no idea what we were doing- not that we are experts now but we do have this 5 and under thing down- and we leaned on the doctors for everything.  We wanted, and still want, our girls health to be the #1 priority.  Reagan's doctor at the time was a group of about 6 and there was no telling who you would see.  I remember I had two as a kid, really liking one, and that always made me going to the doctor a little easier.  So we go in for this check up and everything was going real well.  We were excited and ready to walk Reagan back home since the office was right next to our house.  As the doctor is leaving she says "well I hear something wrong with Reagan's heart, you need to go see a pediatric heart doctor."  And she walks out of the room.  If I wasn't so shocked, stunned, I might have gone after the doctor for her method of delivering the news.  After we picked our mouths off the floor, we checked out stunned and walked home.  At this point we were thinking of all possibilities.  Could be a simple murmur she would grow out of, could be one that sticks with her, could be much, much worse.  We had no clue and were given very little direction from the doctor.  We made an appointment for as soon as we good and tried every night to reassure each other that it would be no big deal.  The thought of heart surgery (which happened to a good friend of ours in Louisville) was a constant elephant in the room and always on our mind. 

The Right Way
We soon go see the doctor, who was located behind WW Cousins.   Those two things are not related other than WW makes a great burger and this Doctor was great.  I'm ashamed I cant remember his name but I do recall from the moment we walked into the office they tired very hard to reassure us and put us at ease.  Reagan, at like 3 months, had to get an ultrasound on her heart.  No big deal but still scary to any parents, let a lone first time parents.  We go back to his office and he begins to tell us what is wrong.  He does, however, first apologize for the way it was handled by her pediatrician- even though there was no connection there.  He understood our fears and thought it was the right thing to do.  He did explain that there was a murmur in Reagan's heart, basically a hole.  He felt that with time, it would close and she would be fine.  Also, one of her valves was not closed like it should be.  This too he felt would correct itself with growth.  I asked the words that always carry a lot of weight.  "Doctor, what does this mean, what does this mean she cant do?"  I was afraid she wouldn't be able to swim, play sports, or whatever options you want your kids to have.  He looked at me and said "Well she cant scuba dive and she cant date until she is 25."  The look on his face was priceless.  He knew what I was going through having our baby with a heart issue, and he knew what I would be going through having a beautiful girl.  It could not have been a better answer.

Epilogue
I just received word via text that the murmur is gone and the valve has closed.  Reagan is good to go. I wont pretend that this will be the last scare but its nice to be able to file this one away.  As she gets bigger, she wants to do more and more things on her own.  She recently told her class I was her favorite person and I suppose someday that might change too.  Regardless, I will support whatever she wants to do.  With that valve closing, I suppose scuba diving is back on the table.  However,  dating before 25 years old is not.  :)