Changing Pediatricians - WWYD??

cate1119

DH and I have been thinking about changing pediatricians for a while, but have never felt compelled until this past week. Little Zachary is in the hosital with RSV and I just don't like the way she handled it. We went on Friday and she didn't seem concerned at all with the congestion he was having. Anyways - on Saturday morning I just felt compelled to take him to the ER and he was admitted. He tested positive for RSV on Sunday and they area also treating him with IV antibiotics b/c RSV can morph into other things (only 14 days old and his immune system isn't where it needs to be). He's definitely improving, but it's slow. I really hope we're outta here within the next day or so though. Anyways - here's my question - do we change pediatricans ASAP or wait until we do any necessart follow-ups with our current pediatrian. My only concern is would Zachary be able to get a new patient visit in a timely fashion with a new pediatrician? Also - seeing as our current one now has the history on him, would you take that into consideration.

bobsbride2006

Honestly, I'd be a bit concerned. A 14 day old typically doesn't get the common cold. And if they do, they don't have much of an immune system so it always progresses to something worse. I'm surprised they didn't test for RSV and flu. Truth is, some pediatricians are really good at the office stuff (common colds, well-child check ups) and not good at the serious stuff. What doctor is caring for you in the hospital? Is it your pediatrician or someone else? If it's someone else, you can talk to them about switching so they can send the info to the new pediatrician.

I hope he's better soon and out of the hospital! If you have any more questions, you have my email (and I think phone number), let me know! 

bobsbride2006

ps besides flu and rsv, they really should have done an XRay. 2 weeks old.  .  .could easily have been a pneumonia (hard to ear on a LO). Yikes. I guess I just think of the worst (what we're trained for in the ER), but that's pretty basic for a newborn!

jaime5121

I would change now.  I'm so glad your little man is getting better - RSV is so scary!  This is what I can tell you from my personal experience.  When I called my son's new pediatrician (switched for similar reasons), I wasn't expecting to get in right away.  They asked me if there were any medical concerns - I told them my concerns and what was going on.  They asked if there was any way they could see him that day since it was a Friday.  They didn't feel comfortable leaving it all weekend long.  Needless to say, we are in LOVE with this Pedi.  If you explain what is going on, I'm sure they can get you in.  GL

nark

Yuck - sorry you're going through this but glad he's getting the right treatment now & doing better!

I would def change now. We switched & didn't have trouble getting in at all.

nark

Meant to add that it's really easy to get medical records transferred. You just sign a release form and the old doc sends it over to the new one.