Dr. Mackey

We had to get the kids up early this morning and be at an award ceremony at a country club for our Pediatrician, Dr. Paula Mackey. We left the house by 7:00 to be there by 7:30. That's early for us. Kids usually leave at 8 for the bus.

We nominated Dr. Mackey to receive the Family Centered Care award for Children's Hospitals and Clinics. We started with Dr. Mackey when Zeke was hospitalized as an infant at Children's with respiratory problems. She is amazing, and has given all four of my children exceptional care.

The ceremony was one hour long, and we arrived before Dr. Mackey. The Dr. in charge of the General Pediatric Clinic at Childrens, Dr. Sheldon Berkowitz, attended also. He was there before us, but we beat Dr. Mackey. So, I took this opportunity to strategically place Akila between the two Dr.'s. Ha....Ha.....Ha.

There were a bunch of other awards given out to staff, and they saved the Family Centered Care award for the end- not the best planning if you ask me. The kids did really well though, even Akila. Although she was not behaving like the other 3. She had a little bit of extra energy, nothing over the top, but funny. She of course thought it was very funny to be shaking the table, which was full of water glasses, juice glasses, coffee cups, etc. It was a quiet kind of noise, if you know what I mean.

I just mostly ignored it as the more you tell her to stop the more she does it. Then, she put her mouth on the edge of the table (which had a table cloth on it), and started biting it. When she stopped, she was looking for a reaction and Dr. B gave her one. So she did it again. Three different times she got under the table and crawled around. I of course, being the excellent strict mom that I am, ignored it all.

It is so funny. A few years ago, it is behavior I would have never thought I would put up with. I would have looked at our table as an outsider and judged me, the mom allowing her child to act like that. Now I know better. God has showed me differently. God gave me a taste of some really sour humble pie.

Thankfully, both Dr.'s were not phased or annoyed with Akila. Dr. Mackey was great at distracting her from time to time and it went well. When it was time for the award, to my surprise, they had our whole family go up with the two Dr.'s as they read a paragraph about how great Dr. Mackey is. Thankfully, Akila ended up standing next to her which again, worked out great. In the paragraph, Akila's medical needs were mentioned (it was taken from the words I wrote), and you would think that Akila was getting the award. I mean, Akila seemed to think she was getting the award. She beamed with delight when her name was mentioned, it was cute.

I don't mention names often in my blog (other than my own families), but I mention Dr. Mackey's as she is an exceptional pediatrician. If you are in need of a new one, or thinking of a change, I highly recommend her. She is thorough, caring, compassionate, resourceful and great with kids. And in the clinic, they have a Special Needs program in which they go above and beyond what they do for typical kids. The appointments are longer, we go through a Special Needs Coordinator to set up our appt's instead of the front desk, and we get a thorough care plan that can be used for school and recreational programs.