When Abi McMahon was 2 years old, Mom and Dad spotted some pretty unusual bruising.
“It was weird because she was 2 and fell all the time and she was clumsy just as all 2-year-olds usually are,” Abi’s mom Holly McMahon said.
The bruising seemed rather atypical for the typical 2-year-old.
“At first, I thought, ‘I’m sure she fell at day care or something and I just didn’t realize it’ but they kind of then just kept showing up and it was like, again, maybe this is not normal,” she added. “You hear stories of bruises on kiddos and wonder what that might mean so that was a little scary.”
That’s when they called Abi’s Sanford Health pediatrician,Jennifer Haggar,M.D., at theSanford Children’s 26th & Sycamore Clinicin Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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“I saw some pictures and when I looked at it, I thought the same: I’m worried that this isn’t normal and that something more serious could be going on. So I suggested a visit and we were able to get her here in clinic that day,” Dr. Haggar told Sanford Health News.
麦克马洪说:“这么快就把她弄进去，真是让人安心。”
哈格尔医生确认了她在照片中看到的情况，并诊断阿比患有特发性血小板减少性紫癜(ITP)，这是血小板数量显著下降时发生的疾病。我们的身体需要血小板来防止出血。
Dr. Haggar said, with ITP, there are not enough platelets. As a result, a child can have more bleeding or bruising than normal.
Abi underwent some lab work right in the clinic and showed a low platelet count which, Dr. Haggar said, can be really dangerous putting Abi at risk for serious internal bleeding.
Connecting for care
With a quick phone call to theSanford Children’s Castle of Care, Dr. Haggar got things moving.
“I was able to call over to our pediatric hematologists, who are really the specialists in blood disorders and anything having to do with platelets. They agreed, this was concerning and we needed to make sure we got Abi treatment to keep her safe,” Dr. Haggar said. “We were able to arrange for her to be directly admitted.”
Through Sanford Children’s and its physician subspecialties, that is the standard of care.
2022世界杯巴西阵容hospitalists and intensivists use a team approach to deliver the best care to our pediatric patients. Experts from all 35 of Sanford’s pediatric specialties are readily available to care for children in the hospital.
“We are really fortunate to have the relationships we have with expert physicians in very specialized areas of pediatric care and that I have the ability to access them when I need it. Someone is on call so I always have a doctor in a certain specialty that I can call and make sure that I get the support that I need whether it’s a general pediatrician to an expert level physician. Having the ability to access that does nothing other than make sure the patient gets exactly what they need,” Dr. Haggar said.
Moving forward with same-day treatment
Abi and her family were quickly on their way to the castle for an IV infusion therapy treatment, one of three options presented.
“Drove her over there. We were there for the night, just kind of chilled and let that infusion therapy happen,” McMahon said. “The next day her counts were already coming back up.”
在接下来的六个月里，艾比每个月都要做一些常规的血液检查，以确保她的血液水平是安全的。
Today, five years later, Abi is fully recovered.
“She’s still very active and a still kind-of-clumsy 7-year-old,” McMahon said.
与此同时，父母会更加安心，因为他们知道有任何意外的健康问题，他们都在优秀的手中。
“这就是我们来到这里的原因，”哈格尔博士说。“我可以和家人一起度过真正快乐的时光，也可以和家人一起度过更艰难的时光。Most of the time, I get to see them and their medical concerns have been addressed and they’re living a happy, healthy life as Abi is.
“I get to see that part of it too.”
The McMahon family was grateful their pediatrician could connect with her colleagues quickly and put a care plan into motion right away.
“It was just amazing that type of care exists here,” McMahon said.
Learn moreabout Sanford Children’s pediatric intensivists and other 35 subspecialists, and find a pediatrician near you.
More information
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- Sanford Children’s Hospital: A Castle of Care
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Posted InChildren's,Family Medicine,Sioux Falls,Specialty Care
