Down Syndrome Clinic

Some people wonder why I drive Ollie Faith all the way to St. Louis for the Down Syndrome clinic.

The answer is simple if you have ever been there. They are amazing.

First, they specialist in Down Syndrome on top of their area of medicine. For example, her cardiologist, Dr. Johnson, specializes in Down Syndrome & cardiology. Does it get better than that?

Second, it's like an all inclusive resort! Well not that great, but pretty close when it comes to Dr. appointments!

They have a list of what they want to check on Ollie yearly (they see you at 1 month, 6 months, then annually). So nothing gets missed. They schedule all the appointments for you in one day and send you an appointment packet in the mail. All the paperwork you need is in there so you can fill it out early at home. It's fantastic.

So in just this year, Ollie has had hearing exams, an eye exam, she has seen the DS doctor to make sure everything is developing as it should, endocrinologyy for her thyroid, geneticists for her blood tests & caryotype, advocates with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, a social worker to make sure all was good in our world, cardiology of course, and she's had routine blood work to make sure her white blood cell counts look good (because children with DS are at a higher risk for developing Leukemia too).

We go back in February and we'll see the Down Syndrome clinic doctor, cardiology & get an echo cardiogram, and see an ENT doctor for a new hearing exam. For the most part we never leave our room unless we need a specific test. The doctors come to us.

It saves me hours of time - I don't have to find my own doctors & drive all over central Illinois to see them...which if you live in central IL you know what I mean. I could be in Springfield one week and Champaign the next - so one day in St. Louis is very much worth the 2 hour drive.

When we delivered Ollie Faith in St. Louis, by the time we left - she had some of her vaccinations, she had an ear exam in which she failed, she had physical therapy and developmental therapy assessments, and they had all her future appointments setup for me in a packet ready to go. They had scheduled appointments for me with her regular at home pediatrician & the best part - they had already contacted Early Intervention to get the ball rolling for Ollie to start in home physical and developmental therapy - which for those of you needing those services - this is a huge help!

So thank you St. Louis for doing SO much for families. I can't imagine how many appointments we'd really have if we didn't have a Down Syndrome clinic to utilize. If you have a child with Down Syndrome & live anywhere near a hospital with a clinic - I highly suggest you utilize their services - well worth your time :) And if you live near St. Louis - you can fill out online information & I promise you they will call you back within 2 days - they are on top of their websites!