Kezia had her annual well-child check up with her doctor. These are usually hard moments for me, but I have learned to REFUSE to fill out anything about Kezia's development. You can ask me where she is at, but do no ask me to compare her to "typical" children. Amazingly, Kezia's doctor is terrific! She is the only person that Kezia allows to look in her ears, listen to her heart and lungs, and look down her throat. This is no small task. And we don't blame her because she has been poked by so many different doctors, nurses, and hospital staff. In five short years, she has been hospitalized twice, had a feeding tube put in and taken out which meant: three surgeries, two ABR's to check her hearing, two set of tubes in her ears, tonsils and adenoids, and sedation for dental work. She has had three echo cardiograms, x-rays, GI studies, a sleep study and blood draws too many to count. And with all of this she still allows one doctor to look at her and make sure she is ok.
Kezia gets so excited when I tell her we are going to see "Dr. Z" (Dr. K. Zarzycki). She gets out of the car and runs to the door making sure to push the handicap operator, so she can independently run into the waiting room for the elevators. She pushes the buttons now all by herself then we wait to be taken from the parking garage to the floor where the clinic is located. As soon as the elevator door opens, out she runs as fast as her little legs will carry her. She can now open the door to the office all by herself, a feat that has taken two years to do. In she walks and the receptionists get a smile on their face because they know Kezia is there and she is just so adorable. Today, I get her book out and she sits at the kid table and reads or what to her is reading. They call her name and she runs to the nurse and follows telling me to follow behind. We put our stuff in the room and she tells me to stay while her and the nurse measure how very tall she has gotten and how much weight she has gained or how little weight she has gained. By this point we usually have an extra one or two nurses following behind not for any reason, but just because they want to have their day made brighter. (You would too if you gave shots to kids all day and they screamed at you) Kezia proudly walks back into the room and pushes herself up on the bench to sit next to me. Then it starts. She realizes the nurse has the blood pressure cuff, something Kezia has never gotten used to and, frankly, hates it. We convince her it will give her a hug and then all is good once again. While we wait for the doctor to come in Kezia gets antsy, but who wouldn't while waiting. We hardly ever wait longer than five minutes and in comes Kezia's favorite person. We talk about where she is at developmentally and asks if there is any concerns. Kezia hops up on the exam bench and lifts her shirt so Dr. Z can listen and look. Dr. Z. proudly exclaims that her nose is looking great! Phew, a relief since we have had influenza bacteria in her nose for months many even a year. We look at her weight and height on the Down syndrome chart and see she is steadily progressing which is all we ask Kezia to do. So today Kezia gets an A+ for being so great. Dr. Z. tells us she will see us for her next well-check in a year and then we both kind of laugh because we know Kezia will most likely get sick before then and need to be seen. We aren't being pessimistic just being true to what is.
Kezia weighs in at 27 pounds and is 35 inches long. These are great numbers as it means she is progressing instead of digressing which we have experienced. Her brother and sister often ask when she will get bigger or when she will talk better or when this or that will happen or if it will even happen at all. They are curious and now realize there is a delay that other kids don't have. My answer is she will do it when she is ready. Nothing is out of reach for Kezia!
I'm not sure which country Dr. Zarzycki is from, but it is one of the European countries that probably made up Russia. Her accent is strong, but her English is great. She always is so kind and compassionate with each child. She truly cares which is rare for doctors today. If there is a problem with any tests we have done she calls me herself and lets me know what we need to do. I am very blessed for Kezia's pediatrician to be so wonderful! So, today thank you Dr. Zarzycki for making our doctor visits so much better than they were before we moved here!
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