Round Two begins. The other day we took Sydney to meet with a hand surgeon at Duke. Prior to the appointment, I tried to prepare myself for a no-nonsense doctor, one that would not candy coat anything. I did not prepare myself enough. I would love to be able to say that meeting with this doctor made our decision clear, but I now feel more conflicted than before. I was hoping that both doctors would have similar philosophies, but they didn't.
We had a rather long wait in a fairly crowded waiting room. As I watched the other families bring their children in, I felt humbled and was slapped in the face again by how lucky we truly are. There are so many other people that have much tougher circumstances to deal with than us.
Before the doctor came in, we were visited by a resident, which was not unexpected as the same thing happened at UNC. The random part was that the resident was a guy that I went to school with; he was even in my 5th grade class. What a small world. Although I hadn't seen him since high school graduation, it did help to relax me a bit even though we were mainly only acquaintances.
The doctor at Duke came in the exam room, felt Sydney's fingers and basically said "Yup, I can separate them." No details, no explanation, no comforting words. Try as I might to keep in mind that things could be so incredibly much more serious, I can't seem to do it and this surely didn't help. The doctor's communication approach were difficult for me to stomach. I'm glad we had questions prepared as we had to ask them to get any information out of the doctor. Blake did a great job prodding the doctor to give us specifics about the surgery. To add to my frustration, X-rays were supposedly received by Duke from UNC but when we got there, no one could find them (of course!). So while the doctor was able to say he could separate her fingers, he was going on feeling alone.
While the doctor at UNC said she would do two separate surgeries, the Duke doctor said he would do both at the same time. The doctor at UNC wants to start the surgeries at nine months, Duke at six months. The UNC doctor would take skin grafts from the side of Sydney's hand, Duke from the groin area. How are we supposed to choose? How do we know who is right? Answers I know we will never receive.
During what was a frustrating appointment due to a long wait only to have a short chat with a doctor that left something to desire in the personality department, we were able to find joy in the day. Sydney gave us two HUGE laughs while waiting in the exam room. While we feel like she has giggled already, these were unmistakable laughs. It was the sweetest sound and helped us (especially me) relax. It was just what the doctor ordered!
Next stop on our journey: another appointment with the UNC surgeon, Sydney's four month appointment with her pediatrician (where hopefully we will get some guidance), and then decision time. We have a tentative date scheduled for surgery should we choose Duke: March 16. Boy does that sound close!
I continue to pray for wisdom, strength, and guidance. And I continue to thank God for the sweet, healthy, happy bouncing baby girl that continues to amaze me and that I fall in love with more every day.
 |
| Blake with Sydney outside Lenox Baker Hospital |
 |
| Sydney and me in the waiting room...look at her cute outfit! :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment