Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Diagnosis


We really do make cute babies.
Even the one, who the docs say, has dysmorphia, is a cutie-pie!
When we moved into this house, we knew we would have more children.
And I needed a pediatrician that was close by.
And I asked a few people. And someone said to try Dr. Levin.


And I took the kids in to see him.
And I liked him.
And I asked what he thought of home birth.
And he liked it very much, he said.
And at the time that was the biggest thing for me.
And he said if I had a boy at home, he could do the circumcision
and the PKU if I brought the baby in, a few days after the birth.
And I decided to go ahead and have my third.
And Jacob had nut allergies and staples in his head.
And I liked how Dr. Levin was.
And my third baby came. And she didn't need to be circumcised, but at six days old,
she got a boil in her diaper area.
And Dr. Levin sent us to Sunrise to have her treated with antibiotics through an IV.
And we were release in six hours on an oral antibiotic and she thrived.
And I was grateful he was so cautious and didn't try to treat such a tiny baby who
 infact had a staff infection, with oral antibiotics only.


And then my fourth baby came.
And Dr. Levin said he was tiny but that he was sure I could grow him.
And he had me come in every other day for weight checks.
And Bradley had lost three ounces after birth, but regained it by his 7 day check.
And I convinced Levin that Brad was okay, and he was eating,
and Dr. Levin said he would not worry about us.
And that Saturday Bradley could not suck.
And I dripped milk into his mouth the whole day.
And Sunday morning I called Levin, and he said to come down  to the office.
And the moment he saw Bradley, I could tell he was worried.
And he said "YOU NEED TO TAKE HIM TO SUNRISE NOW!"


And he helped to preserve Bradley's life.
And he called me a few times while Bradley was in the hospital.
And when the docs in the NICU started talking about chromosomes,
Dr. Levin told me he had been a geneticist 15 years ago.





We went to see Dr. Levin for Bradley's 9 month, well check.
And he wanted to know how Dr. Morris was.
She had been his boss once.
And he said he was in the mood to talk about her, even though it was unprofessional.
And he told me he was making waves in the genetic community,
fifteen years ago and so she fired him.
And he couldn't get into any other job within genetics,
because it was an elitist group
and he had messed up his opportunity by being, what Dr. Morris called, "unprofessional".

And so he decided to just be a plain old pediatrician.
And he set up practice in Henderson, and soon the other docs in the valley forgot about him.

And I can tell by the way Levin talks about his old work that he is still
very hurt by what Dr. Morris had done to him professionally.
But I KNOW Dr. Levin is supposed to be Bradley's doc.
He has helped me so much through all of this and he is a perfect match for our family.


He said he was mad that Dr. Morris cannot hurry it along a little.
He said that my son has a serious condition.
He said the other day a child came in, who they suspect has a known fatal syndrome,
and that when he saw the child he was taken back, because he knew exactly what he had.
And the child's father asked if Dr. Levin thought he had the syndrome that was so fatal.
And Dr. Levin told the Dad he did think so.
And this family is on a waiting list to see Dr. Morris,
but they had heard about Levin and wanted to know what he thought.

Levin thinks Dr. Morris doesn't know what Bradley has because she would have said it if she did.
And Levin has no clue because genetics has passed him by.
And he said there is a chance Bradley will never be diagnosed.
That only 60-70% of children are diagnosed.
And he would refere us to Salt Lake for a second opinion.
I told him I didn't need a diagnosis and that I'd think about it.


And I came home and called Salt Lake and they put me on the schedule to be seen,
Tuesday, December 18, 2012.
Hopefully, Morris has answers before then :)