Capstone Log 6

Today: 3 hours
Running Total: 9.5 hours

When I got to the office, Dr. Kelly was already in with a patient, so Gina asked me to hang out for a while. When he was done, he told me about how an 18 month-old boy had a case of speech delay and he barely spoke, which by his age, could mean Autism. But he believes it's not Autism, and simply just a speech delay. Everybody grows at their own pace.
We then met with a little boy named Mason who had a high fever of 104.5 as well as wheezing. The parents said to have gone to the clinic the night before where Mason was diagnosed with an ear infection in both ears and was given amoxicillin. However, Dr. Kelly checked and found nothing. And with his better and more experienced judgment, told them to stop the antibiotics because Mason was okay.
Dr. Kelly allowed me to use the stethoscope several times today to listen to the lungs of a child who was wheezing before and a child who was healthy with normal lungs at that moment. There was a big difference between the two, as for the child who was wheezing had longer exhales. But it was very cool to listen through the stethoscope. I want to buy my own.
It was great to be able to connect everything from today with what I learned about asthma from last week. The parents of Mason were concerned with asthma, which wheezing could be a symptom of. In my study, I learned that antibiotics (eg. amoxicillin) in early life can result in a higher chance of getting asthma when you're a bit older. There's no specific reason why, but it could do with the fact that you don't properly build up your immune system. Dr. Kelly explained to me how asthma happens, with the bronchioles and how air needs to be pushed out because of the inflammation, which is why people wheeze.
Dr. Kelly then talked with a patient who had shingles and explained to me how it's like chicken pox. They only come back in certain spots and in the same spot every time, which has to do with dermatomes, which I plan to read up on my own just for my own personal advantage.
He then talked a bit about Occupational Therapy, which he thinks is absolutely pointless. If a child doesn't like to, for example, get dirty, someone will suggest OT. It doesn't mean there's a problem if a child doesn't like something, it could just be part of their personality. However, an occupational therapist will always find something to diagnose, which Dr. Kelly doesn't agree on or enforce.
Richard III has an interesting story about scoliosis and I plan to read up on that as well.
For next week, I have to study on childhood leukemia. Like the book My Sister's Keeper. Can't wait to broaden my knowledge on the matter, considering that my family has a history of cancer.