Smart Patient, Dumb Doctor

Samantha has this white spot on her tongue. I noticed it when she was really little, like, a month old. Of course, the worst things ran through my mind: Cancer. I brought it up at her next doctor's appointment. The pediatrician told me not to worry about it. Watch it, but don't worry. And it's not cancer. So I did. Nothing changed.

Many months later, I was watching Oprah episode about medical mistakes and being a smart patient. She had a guest on who was a famous chef who had had oral cancer that started as a small white spot on his tongue! He almost had to have his tongue removed!! Needless to say, I freaked out and brought it up to the doctor again. She referred me to an ear, nose, and throat specialist (ENT).

This guy was supposed to be a pediatric and adult ENT, but I don't think he's ever seen a baby in his life. When he started to examine Samantha, who was sitting on my lap, he said, and I am not making this up, "Open up!" Then when she didn't "open up," he said, "Say ahhhh!" He was dead serious, too.

Uh, dude, she's 9 months old.

Although that was the point of this post, I should probably tell how the story ends. The ENT doesn't know what the spot is. He says he's 99% sure it's nothing and he's not willing to put a baby under in order to biopsy it (too much risk). Unfortunately, this makes me nervous since the famous chef's point was that his oral cancer could've been avoided had they just biopsied the small white spot in the first place!

Egg Head

Samantha got her first ear infection. It was pretty terrible: high fever, irritability, poor sleeping, etc. Even worse, though, was the medicine she was given to cure her of this infection: amoxicillan (sp). My god, she HATED it. And we had to give it to her for 10 freakin' days. And it was pepto-bismal pink and got on everything in her vicinity since she pretty much spit it out or gagged on it the first 6 times we tried to give it to her.

She seemed cured until she got another fever and started pulling on her ears again. When I brought her into the doctor for her 2-week check in, the infection was still there, and, even worse: in BOTH ears now. More (and stronger) anti-biotics...but at least she's learned how to take the medicine now (actually I've learned how to give it to her) and this time it's white.

Turns out that the propensity for ear infection is due to the shape of the baby's head and is hereditary, which absolutely SUUUUCKS, since my husband had about 3 million ear infections as a child (and even had to have tubes put in his ears) and he and Samantha have the exact same shape head.

So here is to the first of many, many ear infections. *sigh*

Happy Easter.