{"id":60,"date":"2014-08-02T10:13:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T10:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/from-the-rheumatologists-office.html"},"modified":"2014-08-22T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T20:46:59","slug":"from-the-rheumatologists-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/from-the-rheumatologists-office.html","title":{"rendered":"From the Rheumatologist’s Office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

We saw Ella\u2019s rheumatologist, Dr G, last Tuesday. I\u2019ve struggled since then with what to write about that visit. It\u2019s not that there was anything bad or negative about the visit itself, it\u2019s that Ella has become an expert googler. She can now research with the best of us, and it makes me have to choose my words more carefully. A test, word, or phrase that my readers wouldn\u2019t notice, sends her on a rabbit chase that ends when she understands every potential meaning of what was said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m glad that she does. When she is a grown woman, untangling this medical maze will fall to her, and she will need to be ready. On the other hand, she\u2019s 10 and not great at filtering out the things which don\u2019t apply to her situation.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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With that in mind, here\u2019s my purposely vague update:<\/span>\n
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We were relieved to see that her rheumatologist had returned from maternity leave. There is nothing quite as comforting as a familiar face or the gentle smile of an expert who already thinks we\u2019re good parents. We didn\u2019t have to prove our worthiness or intelligence before she would listen to us, she jumped right in with the proper medical terminology which has become so familiar that I find it reassuring.<\/div>\n
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I showed her the pictures of non-wrinkling toes, and mentioned the cold hairlessness of her legs. Dr G nodded in agreement that these things seemed to be significant.<\/div>\n
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After a moment of deep thought, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about the non-wrinkling toes. I\u2019m not a neurologist. It\u2019s weird, and my fast google search in the back says involuntary nervous system damage, but you already know that from your own research.\u201d<\/div>\n
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She turned to her medical student assistant and quipped that when you have smart, resourceful parents you save time by listening to what they\u2019ve found. \u201cI\u2019ve seen more parents correctly diagnose weird conditions than I\u2019ve seen doctors do it. Parents don\u2019t know enough to stop at normal.\u201d<\/div>\n
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She read carefully through the same timeline of disease that I\u2019ve posted on this blog before saying \u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. Children\u2019s in Dallas has a new neuromuscular specialist that we stole from Mayo. You need to see her by the middle of August. Don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll put you in her schedule myself. I\u2019m not going to play \u2018hunt and peck\u2019, we\u2019re simply going to run blood tests for every autoimmune disease we can check for that way. I\u2019ve never seen one that looks like this, but that means nothing. \u00a0I\u2019m going to order a genetic screening for the seven inherited conditions which come with fevers. After that, you\u2019ll be seeing the geneticist, who is also at Children\u2019s, within the month. I\u2019ll make that appointment for you too.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The mention of Children\u2019s Hospital in Dallas filled me with dread, and she saw it on my face. She smiled serenely and held up a hand. \u201cI know you have had issues with Children\u2019s in the past, but that\u2019s over. This time you have physical proof, and\u2026my name on the top of your papers. This is about to be a whole new experience for you.\u201d<\/div>\n
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And that, beloved readers, is how a real\u00a0doctor<\/i>\u00a0gets things done.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We saw Ella\u2019s rheumatologist, Dr G, last Tuesday. I\u2019ve struggled since then with what to write about that visit. It\u2019s not that there was anything bad or negative about the visit itself, it\u2019s that Ella has become an expert googler. She can now research with the best of us, and it makes me have to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the Rheumatologist's Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We saw Ella's rheumatologist, Dr G, last Tuesday. I've struggled since then with what to write about that visit. 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