After a change of pediatrician, we have the factual result that Dylan has contracted pneumonia - of the bacterial and bronchial type; in both lungs no less. This was only after running down a list of pediatricians in the area and finally choosing one and making an appointment and having the doctor order a battery of tests: blood CBC, urine (for UTI), throat swab (for strep), nose swab (for influenza) and finally a chest x-ray for pneumonia. The poor boy had to endure it all in a single day and he really must have felt tortured. Some of these medical devices for children truly look medieval in origin - especially if it involves strapping and locking infants into place.
We first came across one such device for Dylan's circumcision. He was only 9 days old and while we waited in the examining room, the nurse brought in a contraption molded of clear and opaque white plastic. You could immediately see that it was meant for a child to lie down in it - the mold showed a body - parts of the shoulder and arms whithout the hands, then parts of the pelvis and the thigh. Then there were the straps for the arms and legs to hold the tiny child down as he lay in the mold while the doctor took about 6 pairs of surgical scissors which all seemed to be hooked up to the object of surgery! It was over in a matter of minutes but the look of it all! Then Dylan had to undergo a VCUG in his 3rd month, where he was tied down to a flat plank to keep his arms, legs and body straight as they x-rayed his bladder. Last Friday, the chest x-ray contraption was of the same type of medieval style - it is a table (rolling wheels on the bottom of it) with a cut out in the center. The hole is where you place the child's lower body as his crotch rests on something that looks similar to a bicycle seat and his legs dangle down under the table. Then the parent is asked to hold the child upright, with the child's arms up in the air, as the radiologist swings around two parts of a clear plastic molding that goes around the child's body that holds him and his arms upright (with a cut-out of where his face should be), and locks it with a leather strap in the back. Of course, please add the sound of a screaming child in the background while all this is happening, and you might as well add darkness and a dungeon mustiness to the whole picture. But of course, there really isn't much pain involved and the results are for the betterment of the child. It is quite a thing though when these technicians give you the "warning explanatory talk" before the actual proceedure. I suppose some parents may be shocked beyond belief when they see these contraptions. So, to ease the initial shock, the technician proceeds to explain and point out what the parts are, how the child will be placed in it, and what it does to the child. And, oh, by the way, we're off to another VCUG today...
8:48 AM | |
