Tate – Grateful Patient of Dr. Julie Wei

Pansinusitis
As told by his mother, Stacy

Summer began in the usual fashion. The pool was open and another season of swim team beckoned my son Tate into the waters again. Tate was nine, very tall for his age, and was often told he had the perfect physique for swimming. He was thrilled to begin his swim season.

Just two weeks into the season he got what we reasoned was a cold. Since Tate has seasonal allergies he often did saline nasal rinses. Several days of continual rinses led us to believe it was more than a common cold. We visited his pediatrician who put him on an antibiotic, and since he had no fever he continued to practice with the team. The doctor indicated after eight to ten days we should see improvement. There was none. Tate's eyes had dark circles, and he would come home from practice and lay on the couch. He was not the customary kid on summer break.

Another visit to the doctor was in order and a second round of a different antibiotic was recommended. Once more, there was no improvement. By this point, Tate was not sleeping through the night. He would wake us up to help put him back to sleep or adjust his pillows so he could breathe more easily. All the while, Tate was a trooper. He missed very few practices, only one meet, and continued to swim as strong as he could despite obviously feeling terrible. Following the failure of the second antibiotic, our pediatrician ordered a round of a different antibiotic and an immediate x-ray.

It was almost 6:00 PM, but the doctor knew Tate was not in good condition. Most thankfully, our pediatrician quickly read the x-ray that revealed his sinuses were almost completely blocked. I recall him saying he couldn't believe Tate could breathe. He promptly sent us to Dr. Wei. From there Tate's story turns into nothing short of a miracle.

Dr. Wei ordered a CAT scan including films. We have several friends that are radiologists and we understood that films were not normally requested in this age. I now understand why they were so vital to Dr. Wei. At our appointment, she sat with Tate, my husband, and me and looked at the films on a big screen so she could explain each detail of the blockage; she clarified to Tate how his sinuses worked and why things were not as they should be. The care she took to explain Tate's problem and her solution was intelligent, thoughtful, and immeasurably helpful.

Tate was to perform a nasal rinse of saline and gentamicin twice daily for six weeks, have a CAT scan, and return to see Dr Wei upon completion. It all sounded entirely too simple; and I definitely had my doubts. Nevertheless, we took our rinse bottles, our prescription, and set off for six weeks of rinsing.

Six weeks and one follow up CAT scan later, we returned to Dr. Wei. With films again in hand, we met her and put them on the screen. Tyler and I were stunned-Tate's formerly entirely blocked sinuses were clear. But Dr. Wei didn't rely on pictures to tell the story. She turned to Tate and asked, "These look good Tate, but how do you feel?"  Once more, she demonstrated the combination of studied medicine and empathetic pediatric patient care that my husband and I felt set her far apart from almost any other physician we had experienced. As such, it is a pleasure to support her as a grateful patient.