The MDC

So back when we got the news, we were promised a meeting called a multi disciplinary council (MDC) with various doctors and people from our hospital.  Initially, we thought it was going to take place by the end of that first week.  Well, it took until Friday to get the meeting scheduled.  The meeting was not taking place until the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving.

We were not very happy about how long this was going to take.  If we waited until our meeting to take action, it would nearly be December by the time we could even try to schedule our next appointment due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  We knew that we wanted to see Dr. Bove at U of M, so why was it necessary to have this meeting with so many people when he was the one with all the answers?  Well, we took matters into our own hands and called over to U of M.  Shortly thereafter, we had our appointment scheduled at U of M with Dr. Bove – December 8^th. 

There were times that we wanted to cancel the MDC.  It seemed like it would be a waste of time.  After meeting with one of the awesome OBs from my office, whom I hadn’t seen since she delivered my older daughter, we decided to go to the MDC.  My OB was generally very optimistic, which was a change from everything we had been experiencing lately.  She let us know she would also be at the MDC.

The MDC started with a genetic counseling, which we didn’t even really want to have in the first place.  We know there is an increased risk of genetic defects but according to our integrated screen and the level two ultrasound, everything looks normal.  We understand that there are errors associated with both of these and there are no guarantees but we didn’t want to have to listen to the genetic counselor try to convince us to have an amino or mention other alternatives that we have never been willing to consider.  Much to our surprise, the meeting went well all things considered.

There was a break after we met with the genetic counselor and before meeting with the room full doctors.  When we were called back into the meeting room, it was filled.  There were four doctors, two residents, the genetic counselor, my bff who is also a doctor, my husband and of course me.  The social worker, whom I gathered was supposed to be there merely to take notes, could not attend.  The genetic counselor took notes for us, which were very detailed and highly appreciated.

The meeting was a bit intimidating but we were prepared with our research and our list of questions.  We learned a lot and the pediatric cardiologist said she highly recommends Dr. Bove and U of M, so we were already on the right path. 

It felt good to get more information and be moving forward although we could have had a few less people in the meeting to get the message across in a much more effective manner.  But I guess everyone wants to have a say.