Meeting Dr. Waddington

My blog title sounds like a book. :)

We had such a positive experience at the doctor today that I HAD to blog about it and share with others. There are still doctors out there who believe in the power of alternative treatments and don't push pills. What a relief!!

A week ago I saw an ad in the paper for the new Dr. Waddington at Memphis Medical. After reading the ad I was so very compelled to make an appointment for Natalee that I did--right then and there. Strange for the planner in me but I felt prompted to just do it. The phrases in the ad that most piqued my interest for our little gal were "specializes in neurological and developmental disabilities" and "pain management." I just really felt like he might understand Natalee and be able to help her.

Here's the thing about Natalee--to the "naked eye" she appears fairly typically functioning. For the most part she is. However, in areas we thought she was caught up in, we are now again seeing delay (physical ability, processing speed, communication skills). She's developed a stutter ("I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna...play cars"), her baby brother passes her on the stairs, much of what she does say are direct quotes of information we've taught her previously (which sounds great unless she says them at the wrong time), and her "think time" to follow a command is getting longer and longer. At night she fights constantly moving legs and tight spasms in her ankles. She fatigues easily and seems "delicate." It sounds like I'm picking on her, huh? I'm really not. There's so much she does wonderfully--she loves her baby brother, she's a good helper, she's a good eater, loves to color and read, is quick to learn with direct instruction, she's mostly cooperative... That said, I'm a firm believer in the power of early intervention. I'm not a "wait and see". Let's not wait and see if her hours of sleepless nights because her muscles are tight and spasming go away or she "outgrows" them...let's try to help her NOW. Let's not wait and see if her stutter gets better on it's own (when we could actually be allowing her to ingrain it further)--let's talk her through it now and help her move past it.

Anyways...

I made an appointment. And 2nd guessed myself the whole time we were in the waiting room. My inner conversation, "this was really silly...he's going to tell me she's "fine" & that I'm overreacting...I shouldn't have come...he's going to want to write her a script for the rest of her life and I'm going to have to tell him no...."

And when he came in the first thing he did was ignore me and talk to his patient. Score 1, Dr. W. Then he said hello to me and asked me to tell him, MYSELF, about Natalee's history--her birth, her ears, her allergies, her delayed development, where she is now. Score 2, Dr. W. And he LISTENED to every word. He didn't make me feel silly because she's mostly typically developing with these few hard quirks we can't get past. He didn't dismiss me. He cared. 3 point shot, Dr. W.

Then he had Natalee lay down while I sat right with her (gave me his seat so I could be part of the process) and started manipulating her. Immediately found a huge knot at the top of her spine, tightness in both sides near her ears, some chest and shoulder issues he worked on. While he worked (for 30 minutes) on her alignment and tight areas he visited. And the more we visited the more things he pulled from me and started pinning together. Then he asked if I'd ever heard of Restless Leg Syndrome. And I thought, "oh great, here comes the prescription for lifelong meds and another diagnosis." Wrong. Here came an explanation of how muscle spasticity and RLS often are connected--some problems that come from the brain development (she did have a tightness in her skull he felt was preventing her brain from growing...now that he's stretched that area it's just like us filling the empty file drawers--mommy has work to do!) and some problems that usually come from a magnesium deprivation. Ummmm, magnesium? Okay. Apparently magnesium is very important for complete muscle relaxation--without it people often experience RLS and, when coupled with a brain malformity or damage, a more serious condition (for example, muscle spasticity).

Not having anything to lose I bite the bait (he's got me VERY interested by this point, and is still manipulating Natalee)--how do you get magnesium? Leafy green vegetables and nuts....and I'm thinking, "oh crud...how am I going to get her to eat those? nuts maybe, green leaves.....nada." And then he says...(drumroll), magnesium can also be easily obtained through Epsom salt. Put a pound in her bathwater tonight--we'll see immediate results...may not completely "fix" her spasms but she'll feel better. Do it again tomorrow and she'll feel that much better. 4 times a week until her levels are up, then 2-3...maybe forever. She could have magnesium shots but he didn't recommend it unless the less invasive suggestion (salts) doesn't completely alleviate her symptoms. Couple the magnesium with plenty of sunlight because she needs Vitamin D to absorb the it into her blood and then bones...add in manipulations to keep her aligned (which we may someday be able to dwindle or phase out)...and we may very well have a whole new child. He said in his limited years of practice he's helped 25-30 people who are in complete remission from RLS. Seriously? That's it? Magnesium & sun...maybe an adjustment once in awhile? Slam dunk, Dr. W.

I'll admit--it sounds too good to be true. But he was so confident...not haughty or know-it-allish...just confident that he thought he could help her, that I feel very trusting of his knowledge. So we left without a prescription (YAY!), grabbed some Epsom salt and dumped a pound in her bath water, let her soak 20+ min, lotioned her up well when she was done, and sent her to bed. Now, we'll pray it's true, try not to be frustrated at the doctors (including the neurologist that we loved) that dismissed us and didn't tell us about the power of a simple thing like MAGNESIUM, and thank God for Dr. Waddington.

I'll try to update in a week or so and let you know how it's going. Be excited...we're feeling VERY encouraged!