New pediatricians!

So we finally snagged an appointment at the pediatrician office we wanted to switch to--only for S at the moment but B and Iz will get in as soon as a new patient appointment opens up.  S and Iz and I drove up there yesterday morning--it is across the street from the Children's Hospital so it is a bit of a drive but I am hopeful that this will be a positive move for us and if so, the drive is worth it :)

We got there early and I was not looking forward to the wait but they took us back early and the wait was not bad at all.  And yet the Doctor apologized for our wait LOL  I can't remember the last time a Doctor apologized for a wait, especially when it was not a bad wait at all :p

She spent a lot of time talking to S, getting to know him, going over the little sheets they have you fill out, looking over the papers I brought from his evaluations when he was diagnosed ADHD and his IEP.  She noticed that his anxiety was mentioned several times and the little checklists we filled out (he had one to fill out, too--I think it is fantastic that they get the kid's input!) scored high for anxiety for him so she talked to him about how he felt and fears and things.  He told both me and her that he wanted to see the "special doctor" who helps people when they are scared.  He and I talk a lot about his anxieties and how to feel better about them but he is so obsessive about the things that worry him that he just returns to them over and over again.  So she referred him to the psychologist so he can get evaluated--she is thinking he may have an obsessive anxiety disorder and that, in her experience, that can often disrupt school and its possible the previous focus on ADHD is going in the wrong direction.  But the psych is the expert in that so we shall see.  At the very least, S will get a little professional help with his worries and anxieties and hopefully that will make a big difference for him!

One of the things I liked the most is the fact that the doc did not bat an eye at the fact that we were unmedicated.  S received OT and behavioral therapy at the school but it is just once a week for a short session.  We have seen improvements but I think he would benefit from more--his old pediatrician stated she just prescribed the meds and every thing else was the school.  This pediatrician says it is no problem to set him up with their OT and behavioral therapy.  No lectures on medications, no pressure to get a script.  I like it :p  Because we are not on medications, she referred us to the psychologist who works with the unmedicated kids--once that evaluation is done, we move forward with the other referrals (the psych also evaluates for ADHD and the doc wants their own ADHD eval instead of just going off the school evaluation).  By the way, I have no problems with medications for ADHD, I just don't think they should be the first step.  Since S has responded positively to a small amount of OT/behavioral therapy, chances are he will respond even better to additional therapies.  If he doesn't, the next step is medications.  But I will be happy if we can avoid them!

I am very hopeful we are moving in the right direction!  Our appointment with the psychologist is late May.  And over the summer, he will turn eight and can start the evaluations for learning difficulties (eight is the minimum age they do evaluations at this office)--hopefully we can find out why he has such trouble seeing/writing letters and numbers the "correct" way so we can help him.  I know it frustrates him to struggle so much with reading and math (his favorite subject).