My son has had a persistent cough and wheezing for the last 2 months. He's been treated with prednisone twice and once we get off of it, his problem comes back. Last week, his doctor started us on breathing treatments. He's still coughing, and now has fever and eye drainage with it.
He has always squeaked when he slept and whenever I bring it up, our pediatrician kind of blows me off and says he'll grow out of it. The squeaking did get better, but the last week, it's been getting worse and his breathing seems labored when he does it. I'm so frustrated because my motherly intuition says we're not doing the right thing. So, I need to find a pediatrician who will take a little more time to make a diagnosis, as well as listen to my concerns without treating me like I'm overly-paranoid. I'm honestly disappointed in how things have gone, as we've been very pleased with our pediatrician for the last 4 years with my daughter.
So, have any of you found a good pediatrician for breathing issues, that will listen to your concerns and look for the underlying causes of the problem, rather than just throwing more medicine at it? I am in the Carrollton area, but currently go to Plano and will go anywhere in this region.
Thank you! You all always come through!
Thank you all for the support and tips. The morning I posted this, one of my son's caregivers called me and she had been down a similar path with her daughter. She referred me to her pediatrician, Dr. Deborah Bain in Frisco. We went there and she was wonderful, listened to me, got my son off of steroids, and suggested that we try removing dairy from my diet (I'm breastfeeding). I did some reading on food allergies and it seemed to line up with a lot of my son's symptoms. I cleared out my diet and we have detected his food allergies to nuts and soy and intolerance to dairy and wheat. He has been a new child and free of medications for weeks now!
Also, I brought a video of him sleeping to illustrate my concerns and she shared them with me. She ordered a sleep study and it showed his abnormal breathing. We're doing further testing and specialist visits, but it too, has improved with my diet changes.
We're on a good path now to getting everything worked out with him and I don't have my mom gut pulling at me anymore.
Thank you all for once again providing great advice and support!
I would recommend you look into seeing both a pediatric allergy/asthma specialist as well as a pediatric ENT, and maybe a pulmonologist as well. I have recommendations at Medical City Dallas for a pedi allergy and ent doctor if you are interested. Hope this helps! Good luck! -JM
B.,
I LOVE my pediatrician - Dr. Kari Dutton in Flower Mound. Her number is ###-###-####. I never feel rushed and she always makes sure to answer all of my questions. The office staff is super friendly and helpful.
I saw that someone else recommended her as well ~ she is wonderful!
As for your son, you are the mom and you know your son best. It's never paranoid to be a champion for your son & his health and safety!
Good luck!
D.
My pediatrician is wonderful with my son's breathing issues. I thought they were no big deal, but then he started wheezing badly enough that I took him to Acute Kids. My doc called ME the next day and asked that I bring him in for a checkup. He diagnosed him with Restricted Airway Disease and has been great about monitoring him. His name is Hector Hidalgo - ###-###-####. I would never take my children to anyone else. He really cares and listens to moms.
Personally I would go to a pulmonologist. My now 5 year old would wheeze all the time when he was an infant and our pediatrician wasn't taking us seriously. She humored me and told me that "that is just the way he sounds when he breathes." So needless to say we got a new pediatrician after that.
We see Dr. Peter Schochet ###-###-#### and he is wonderful with my son.
Please try Homeopathic doctor. Prednisone is so harsh for anyone. We have a homeopath doctor that my family has used for years and he has helped with asthma and many other things.
L.
You might try KIDLUNGS in Frisco. They were wonderful with my newborn preemie twins.
B. I do feel for you cause when my 14 yr was little we found out he had asthsma though he has out grown but every now and then get a minor attack. Our dr that we have is awesome. He deosn't treat us like were going crazy or just shrugs us off. He will actually sit down and listen and talk to you and give you options for your child. He was at first a pedi dr but switch to a family dr and last year was voted Richardson best family dr in the city. His name Dr. Chris Clark and his number is ###-###-#### he's located next to Richardson Regional. And he does follow up even on the weekend....Not many dr's do that. We absolutly love him. My insurance doesn't accept but we still go to him anyway. That's how much we love Dr. Clark. Good luck
My son has allergy/cold induced asthma and we have found medicine that works great for him when it occurs. My pedi doesn't overdo it on medication and I love that! I did go see an allergy and asthma specialist and he wanted to put him on 5 different meds when he was just 3! My pedi put him on a steroid for 3 months and then told me to stop taking that. She then only recommended him using the inhaler with albuterol or the nebulizer with Xopenex. Her name is Dr. Laurie Berger and she is at Presby Plano. Her # is ###-###-####. Good luck!!
Dear B.,
I had a similar challenge with my daughter after she was born. She was constantly sick on and off for her first year. Our Pedi gave us a breathing machine, lots of meds, etc. After much frustration and not feeling as confident with my choice of doctor I choose to take my baby girl to my Ear, Nose and Throat doctor that I used as a teenager. He diagnosed our problems correctly and ended up putting tubes in her ears. The tubes help correct a drainage issue that before kept her with upper respiratory infections and constant coughing. I would HIGHLY recommended Dr. Franklin Perry, in Lewisville. Good Luck!
Dr. Kari Dutton at Kids Care in Flower Mound is the best. We go to her, as well as several friends. One friend has 2 kids with very bad allergy/breathing problems. She's always been very happy with the attention she's gotten about it from Dr Dutton. Also, they schedule their appointments far enough apart so that the doctor is never rushed to see you and listen to your concerns. It's www.kidscaretx.com I think. Good luck!
I would definatly take your little one to a pulmonologist. I agree that Dr Gelfand is really good as well as Dr. Copenhaver in the same office. My little girl has seen Dr. Copenhaver for a year now (she was born 15 weeks early so she had some breathing issues) and they are awsome...they are also Sleep specialist, so you can ask about both lung and sleep/snoring problems. They are at Presby Dallas.
My son has similar problems but is older ...he is 2. It is probably allergy related. We have a great pediatrician named Dr. Jennifer Darrow. She is part of a larger group here in Plano at Pediatric Place...they are open on Saturdays too. The number there is ###-###-####. Good luck.
You may want to consider seeing a pulmonologist for breathing issues. We had the same problems with our son and ended up in the ER one night when he all the sudden started struggling for breath. He has since been diagnosed with asthma and we now have his breathing under control. Please tell your pedriation that you want to see a pediatric pulmonologist. We see Dr. Gelfand at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Before we had the episode where he had to go to the ER our pediatrician had just been prescribing the same medicine over and over. She is a very good doctor but not to knowledgeable about his particular problems. A pulmonologist can get a history, find the right medication, and even do a sleep study if necessary. Trust me, you are right to be concerned, it may solve itself over time, but if your baby is struggling to breathe, it is important that you be pro-active like you are being. You know your baby best and know when they are having a hard time. Let me know if you have any questions or need any info.
