Pediatricians?

Call me crazy, but I drove 23 miles, about 30 minutes, to attend an information session at a Pediatrician's office to consider switching docs! Her name is Deborah Bain, MD at Healthy Kids Pediatrics in Frisco, TX. Why on earth would I drive so far when my pediatrician is about 10 minutes away? Well, this office proclaims the following:

Healthy Kids Pediatrics is an integrative, holistic pediatric practice, utilizing alternative and traditional approaches to medical care.

Oh, and I guess I should add a little disclaimer here before I go into my blog post:

My post are my opinions only and I hope I don't offend anyone at alll! I think that everyone has a reason for what they do and what they choose as a parent- we all have come to conclusions about things from our own experiences and some parent would never think twice about this kind of stuff, but others do.

Okay, now back to my original reasoning behind the post. I had wanted my daughter to go to this doctor when she was born but the drive out there was too much for me to handle with a newborn who goes frequently. But now that she is older, I am considering the change. I know, I am nuts!!

Here is a little video clip of Dr. Bain speaking:

For those that do not know me well, here is the reason I am going all granola here. First off, I had my daughter at a Birthing Center called the Birth and Women's Center of Dallas because I was not wanting any medications and if possible, a drug free birth. I was lucky enough to have one and would do it all over again. It was quick, painful but quick- they said it was quicker because I didn't have an epidural. Now again, not that epidurals are bad- so why did I want something pain free for something that is super painful? Well, here are a few pieces of information about me and why I am into 'alternative' approaches to medical care:

1. My parents raised me on homemade baby food, whole wheat breads, no sugar cereals, etc. I had never even tried white bread until I went to college- as a kid I just assumed everyone ate like me and didn't know better. I was raised in the 70's and early 80's so maybe that had something to do with it :)

2. Never having any fears of anything 'medical' related, I was due for some vaccinations when I turned 18, and made the last trip to my pediatrician's office. I had a good pain tolerance and was not afraid at the least to get my 4 shots. Except when they had me sign this waiver for the Hep B shot that said 1 in 1,000,000 would die from this vaccine, 1 in 1000 would develop seizures, etc. What? I had never signed a waiver before in my life and was kind of nervous but my mom persuaded me anyway, what harm would come of that?

Well, the nurse came in, gave me shot #1 in my left arm, shot # 2 in my left leg, shot #3 in my right leg and shot # 4 in my right arm. I felt great! She left the room and then came back in to do my vitals or something and all of a sudden, I felt sooo sick to my stomach- the biggest onset of nausea I had ever had in my life and told the nurse almost screaming that I felt so sick, and I leaned back and next thing you knew, I had 5 people standing over me! I thought I had died and come back to life :)

Apparently I had fainted and had a seizure and was out for over 10 minutes! I still felt horribly sick and my hearing was gone, so the doctor elevated my feet and my hearing came back. They rushed me to the neurological unit and I had an EEG done to make sure my brain was okay and I had not developed some serious Epileptic disorder. I was still so nauseated I had the shakes. They luckily did not find anything, but I went home scared to death and vowed to never have another shot again.

So, from that point on, I was afraid of any Hep vaccine but since I worked with children, was okay with the TB shot and the flu mist. But as I got older, I became afraid of all needles, including blood work. I wanted to run the other direction!

As you can imagine then, me having a baby in the hospital strapped up to machines, IV's and epidurals was just not for me. Plus I figured that having a baby was a natural experience, was not a medical emergency and wanted something more like a home birth but in a medical setting- so the birth center was best for me.

3. I have always thought that there are natural cures out there- that our wonderful Earth has to have some plants, trees, nuts, etc growing on it to cure the diseases that plague it.  Homeopathic medicine believes in treating the whole person and not just the disease or symptom.

4. The scare out there that food colorings, preservations, nitrates and artificial ingredients in our food, cosmetics, etc could be harmful healthwise to us, and cause behavior problems in children has me nervous.  I mean, why would I want to eat artificial cheese? I just bought some shredded cheddar at the store and it said artificial flavor and food coloring added. What ever happened to real cheese?

5. Lastly, I always think when things get tough and you can't figure out an answer, to go the natural route. What would our ancestors do? Breastfeeding, no growth hormone milk, no antibiotics chicken, all seem natural to me. Why would I want to eat something that has growth hormones and additives? Same goes for medical treatment.

So, that is why I made the drive out to Frisco, TX. I loved hearing this doctor say that the most common reason sick babies and kids see her are for ear infections and colds and recommends first trying to drain the ears to see what is causing the fluid in the first place instead of quickly putting in tubes. And has natural remedies such as grapeseed oil, etc to try out first and she doesn't always rush to giving antibiotics.

I think with the rise of Autism and Aspergers and sensory integration disorders, it has parents scared and wondering how to prevent this. Is it the vaccines with the high aluminum rates in them? They say aluminum causes Alzheimers so why not. Is it all the medications that could be a threat to our children's developing brains? Or the food additives and preservatives? Why are there so many peanut allergies all of a sudden? Why are there so many ADHD cases now? ADHD is caused by low activity in the frontal lobe portion of the brain, which could be hereditary or it could be from something in our environment.

Here is another video clip from Dr Deborah Bain, MD discussing fast food dangers.

It makes you wonder and I feel like I would at least like to try something natural first, before I go the other direction.  So the debate is still out there as to switching doctors or not. My current pediatrician is okay. She is very smart, knows everything there is to know about children and babies, but at times I feels gives me very quick generic advice that every doctor could give- for sleep? "Cry it out"; for vaccines, "there is no concern"; for solid foods, "start at 4 months but you should really start at 6 if you can wait", etc.

There are no 2 children alike, so there should not be the same answer for every child either. I like how Dr. Bain stated that she never gives 4 shots to a child at once, that she may give 1, 2 or none, depending on the child. That is what I like to hear, "it all depends on the child." Your child's doctor is there for you every step of the way from babyhood, toddler hood, puberty, dealing with behavior problems, social problems, etc. You need someone who will treat your child individually and on a child by child basis.

Have any parents out there had experiences with homeopathic M.D.'s?  Any concerns with your pediatrician? What has worked best for you?