Thursday, November 20, 2008

Well-Older Child Visit

Today I took Nathan and Luke in for "well-child" check-ups. They haven't been in for one of those since, well, since we lived in Ohio for sure. I would say maybe 2003 or 2004. It seemed like we were always in for another younger child's well-baby appointments, and obviously both Nathan and Luke were well children, so it was certainly never a priority. But with Bob possibly retiring next year sometime, I figured I would take them in one more time and make sure they were current on shots, and that I wasn't missing anything.

As it turns out, they are both healthy. What a surprise! The doctor who saw them was so very nice. I have been nothing but impressed by the pediatrics doctors at Bethesda. She spent a long, non-rushed time with us, and she was very keen on waiting to give booster shots for stuff like chicken pox and also shots for menigitis until they go off to college, where they'll be in more danger, adn the booster will be newer. She recommended I not get any shots for either boy, but I did go ahead and get a tetanus booster for Nathan. She said he would need to come back in about 3 years for one, and I just decided to get it done now. Luke was quite happy to hear he didn't need any shots.

They did vision tests for the boys, and Nathan had some trouble. His eyes were 20/50, although it is possible that they aren't that bad. This clinic uses a chart with shapes on it, instead of letters, and some of the shapes were very non-intuitive (a coffee cup, a sailboat, etc.). It was very difficult to see what in the world it could possibly even be! Anyhow, the doctor recommended that Nathan have his eyes checked by an optometrist, which I think we will go ahead and do. I remember that I got glasses in 5th or 6th grade too, which I only ever used to see things like chalkboards or screens in class, and I pretty much never wear anymore at all. Possibly Nathan would have had more troubles already if he wasn't being homeschooled. Luke's eyes were fine. I guess he inherited Bob's good eyes!

One other thing the doctor did mention about Nathan is this weird white splotchy patch he has on his right side/back. It's been there ever since he was little, and we first noticed it because it never tans. It's just non-pigmented. The doctors at Wright-Pat looked at it and decided it was nothing to be concerned about, and we haven't given it anymore thought since then. I just make sure it gets sunscreen when he swims outside. The doctor today said mentioned vitiligo, although when I looked into that, it doesn't really seem like what Nathan has. His patch has never gotten bigger, and it doesn't look sort of pinkish, like the pictures I see on the internet--his patch is all white. Anyhow, she thought a dermatologist should maybe look at it, and she emailed a friend of hers who is a doctor at the dermatology clinic there to ask about what he thought. The doctor just called and said that dermatology would like to look at it, so the consult is in, and I'll call Monday to make that appointment. It is always good to make sure nothing is wrong, but it has never changed all htese years, so I'm not too concerned. Hopefully we can get the appointment out of the way before the baby comes!

Nathan is in the 20th percentile for both height and weight, and Luke is hanging out in the 10th percentile for both. That is actually up from the 5th percentile, where he used to be, so he is really porking up, LOL. I told the doctor we were the poster family for "anti-childhood obesity". We don't grow them large!

So although not too much happened (and it took a 3 hour chunk out of our day with the drive), I do think it is good to establish a record every so many years that they are healthy, growing, and meeting developmental standards. One can never be too cautious, especially with a new, possibly hostile administration coming into office.

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