Austin pediatrician - non vacc friendly [Archive]

heidismom

04-25-2003, 05:31 PM

Can anyone recommend a pediatrician that will respect our decision to not vaccinate our 16 month old daughter? I had one that was tolerant, but she moved practice out of town and her partner was really rude about it when we had the 15 mo check up.

On a similar note, I'm also looking for like-minded families to get together for play dates, picnics, etc. We really don't have many friends with kids and would love to meet some playmates for dd (and myself). Vegetarian or vegan would be really great!

Thanks y'all!

Laura & Heidi

thistle

04-30-2003, 10:44 PM

Can't help you right away on the ped thing, but there are TONS of liek minded mamas in Austin. There is a vegan parents/kids potluck every 2nd Sunday of the month at Monkeywrench Books on North Loop.

PM me with what part of town you are in and I will give you more info regarding playgroups, etc. (I don't want to post where a bunch of ppl will be at a specific time on a public board)

if nothing else, I'd be glad to meet ya!!

thistle

teachermom

05-11-2003, 12:10 AM

if you can get in with her...ramona lopez with south austin pedi is open to non-vax (though her gen practice is very tradional)

I've heard bee caves pediactrics is also supportive of non-vax.

shawna

05-15-2003, 02:43 AM

If this is the place with Drs. Ruiz, Hudson, and Hutchins, then yes, I've also heard they are open to non-vax.

Also, you could call the Austin Area Birthing Center. They can give you recs.

heidismom

05-15-2003, 09:17 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions! We've got an appointment with Dr. Hudson in June. It's funny because that's who my mom recommended - he was ped for my younger brother (now 25). We'll see how it goes.
Austin Area Birthing Center was where dd was born! Midwife Jean Stokes was awesome. We'd definitely recommend her!

Laura & Heidi (12-12-01)

shawna

05-16-2003, 02:15 AM

Jean is great. She wasn't working the weekend I went into labor, though. But she staffs great midwives and has wonderful apprentices. It's where I'm going for the next one, it's just a matter of when.:)

allietx

05-28-2003, 08:26 PM

ramonagrowsup

06-17-2003, 10:41 PM

bee caves ped is where i have taken my non vax daugher who is almost three, and hudson can handle non vax stuff, but will try to talk you into vaccinating in the (maybe) 5 min of his time he'll allow you. he seems like a nice enough guy, but he's in and out before you can say "hold the antibiotics!!!"
Depending on your situation, i'd call (and have called) Philup Zybolot on Arpdale in the 78704 zip. He's not a pediatrician, but is an amazing Dr. He's sorta eccentric, though, and is a little hard to get an appt with. but you really get your moneys worth with him.

innerspace

07-07-2003, 01:29 PM

hey heidi- i also live in austin. i have 2 non vax kidwho are vegetarians movin towards vegan. 2 boys 6 months and 20 months. we have alot of personal experience with doctors around town as well as alternative therapy and medicine. our first boy got very ill when he was 6 months and it changed our life. so we totally support and would like to meet other families who are similar. we need all the support we can get. i also don't have many friends with children yet. lemme know if you wanna talk sometime. we might be able to share resources. we live in the apache shores area if you are familiar with that. on the doctor note- we visited all of those doctors reccomended bee cave we had issues with- very traditional. alot of pharmaceuticals, dr zbylot is very good hard to get a hold of sometimes but if you want help he is very knowledgable and nice. very supportive of no vax. he served on state board of vax for several years so has alot of knowledge. dr. day is good too at central family practice, but he doesn't really do much which can be a good thing sometimes but he is also respectful of a parents right to choose. he never asks us if we immunize anyway. which is a relief. for checkups hes a good one. personally i believe i can do all the general checkuping that a dr. can do. and i am trying to educate myself and fa,ily on preventative medicine as a holistic lifestyle. well lemme know if you wanna talk some more or have questions. would love to chat.
whitney

heidismom

07-25-2003, 11:44 AM

Thanks again for all the info! We met with Dr Hudson last month and went ok. I didn't feel like he was rushed with us like ramonagrowsup's experience. He seemed respectful of our choice to but did recommend considering a tetanus vaccination (which he said only available as DPT). I think this must be his tactic for getting the vaccine schedule going. Oh well. He's not converting us!

Zyblot sounds great and I may try him later. We do need to line up a family physician for peace of mind in case someone gets really sick. Like Whitney, I think I can handle most things on my own.

Whitney - Sorry you had to become such an expert on doctors in Austin! Hope your son is completely recovered! And yes! Prevention is the best tactic. I would love to chat more - I left my contact info under hill country thread. Tried to PM you a week or so ago, but you hadn't read it so thought I'd post here.

Laura

:dust

nattys mom

03-19-2004, 09:13 AM

We would also love to get together for playdates, we are in south central Austin, off Lamar.

Treasuremapper

07-11-2004, 12:45 AM

Our daughters go to Dr. Hudson. He is often rushed, and there are problems with the practice itself (like lots of formula in several locations). But we like him, in spite of some misgivings about the practice.

Dr. Hudson does not push vax, but he does recommend that even non-vax parents get HiB and Dtap.

His staff and the other docs do push vax to varying degrees.

***this is an old post, we left Dr. Hudson due to issues unrelated to vax***

TheOldMan

08-14-2004, 05:03 AM

Hi all, I'm happy to have found this group. By way of
introduction, I guess you'd have to call me a "selective
non vaxer". We've done a few when we felt the benefits
outweighed the risks, and we've skipped others. (Had
they not taken the mercury out the vaccines, I probably
wouldn't have done any of them.)

My son is 19 mos. So far we've put off doing the MMR
due to its possible implication with autism. My reading
of the research left me with the impression that injecting
live measles and mumps at the same time could be the culprit.
So now I'm looking to do them one at a time, months apart,
using monovalent vaccines. This is how it was done for
me when I was a kid.

Some enlightened docs around the US have started doing it
this way again. Does anyone know of any here in Austin?

Thanks!

mina'smommy

09-25-2005, 12:25 PM

Don't know if any of you are still on this thread or keeping up, but I'm also looking for a doctor here in Austin who is non-vax friendly. I was going to Ramona Lopez (Pediatrics of South Austin) and was pretty happy until yesterday. Her practitioner, Kathy White, pretty much blew me off and didn't even come back to the exam room to ask if I had any questions when I told her I wanted to do some more research on the MMR before it was given to my daughter. I also asked if the chicken pox vax was merc. additive-free. She told me she was pretty sure it was. I asked her to make sure, which really set her off. She sent the nurse back in with a photocopied sheet that listed the ingredients of the vax.

I'm sorry, but I don't need to be brushed off like that. I want my doctor to, at least, be open to my questions. It's not like I was telling her I definitely didn't want to vaccinate. The bottom line is that I just want to do more research.

Thanks!
Kim, mommy to Mina Rose, 12-months :fsling:

shadan

01-26-2006, 11:04 PM

Hi all,

Is anyone still around? I'm new to Austin and looking for a pediatrician for my 1 year old girl. I haven't given her any vaccination either. Does any of you have any new advice? Anymore feedback on Dr Hudson (I can't find his phone number...)?

Thanks!

WendyC

01-28-2006, 09:13 AM

Hudson is at Bee Caves Pediatrics and they are in the phone book - His partner kinda pushed me into 2 vaxes when we went for her 6 month check - not sure what to expect with her upcomming 12 month check with Dr. Hudson. Apparently the end all be all peditrician in town now is Dr. Sufferdini. She is open to non-vaxing and won't co-erse you.

shadan

01-29-2006, 07:29 PM

Thank you, Wendy. I have made an appointment with Dr Hudson on the 23d of February for my baby girl's 1 year check up but I'm ready to change... Is your appointment before mine? What was the name of the other doc who pushed you into vacc? And do you know anything else about Dr Sufferdini? My baby was born in L.A. and her doc there was Robert Sears (from The Baby Book)... he is excellent and it's so difficult to switch now. Good luck to you and let me know if you have any more information. :o

mum2tori

02-08-2006, 12:00 PM

Many of the moms on the AAM group (which has changed to theAustinAttachedFamilies yahoo group definitely check it out if you haven't yet) really like Dr. Paige Suffredini (Austin Diagnostic Clinic Far West). She is apparently very non-conf about Vacc, will work with the parents on how to approach treatments and actually talks with the child. Definitely not a "in for a few moments then out the door" kind of Dr.

Seems that lately Bee Caves Ped has taken a much more push to vacc attitude with some people. Seems a little bit hit or miss at times.

teachermom

02-10-2006, 11:25 PM

mina'smommy , sorry you had that experience with lopez's office. it is defantily just lopez who is ok with non-vax. her nurses leave me alone about it but i will not deal with the partner or kathy on the issue. the non-vax issue in asutin is tough. it is hard to find a doctor who will not bug you about it but I guess it could be worse. I have rarely heard of pedi who will not keep you on if you choose to not vax.

I have heard great things about dr. day (who is a general practioner). he works with a natuaralpath (sorry for the spelling). the biggest issue with his office is that they do not take ins.

Treasuremapper

11-29-2006, 06:38 PM

TanyaLopez

11-30-2006, 09:26 AM

For anyone in north Austin, I have a family practice doc who is respectful of parents' choices regarding vaccination. Her name is Christine Eady, and her office is on 620 about 2 miles north of Parmer (yeah, pretty far northwest). We're currently not vaccinating and haven't gotten any pushback at all. There's another recent thread that has more discussion about her and mentions another doc in northwest Austin (183 and Balcones Woods, roughly, I think).

jenmarie

10-26-2007, 12:53 PM

I just found out when trying to make an appointment for my newborn with Dr. Suffredini that she is no longer accepting patients who want to delay or forgo vaccinations. :(

I had registered DD1 with her when we first moved back to Austin, but hadn't been in for a visit yet, as she wasn't going to be due for a checkup until January. This was going to be the meet-n-greet as well as DD2's initial checkup. Oh, well.

So, I'm on the hunt again for a new pedi here in town. :|

TanyaLopez

10-26-2007, 02:51 PM

Wow, that sucks. I know it's not uncommon, but why? Why treat parents as if they're too ignorant to make medical decisions for their kids? We're responsible day-in and day-out for their well-being, but somehow we're incompetent in this one area? Okay, rant over for the day. Hope you quickly and easily find someone worthy of your business.

puddle

10-26-2007, 03:49 PM

i just had my dd's first appt with dr. hutchens at http://schoolhousepediatrics.com (recommended by someone else at mdc) this week. it was a really great experience after our last pedi. she is pro-vax but is cool with you making your own decisions. she'll just make you sign a little form declining the shots. i really liked her.

two bricks shy

10-26-2007, 08:18 PM

wow...all this talk of Dr. Hudson/BCP is starting to worry me. We were unable to get an appt with him this time and are seeing the new doctor in the practice on the 30th. Although I will say that he does seem rushed many times and he's insanely hard to get an appt with for well checks (at least 2 months in advance). :dizzy:

Just out of curiousity, for those others that have seen Dr. Hudson... Is he pushing the vegitarianism idea on you? He's been pushing it hard on us... I have no issue with vegitarianism but DD loves BBQ so good luck there. :lol

We're selectively delaying or not vaxing the MMR and Varicella with his support. We started dd's other vaxes after being pushed into it by other doctors in the practice (who we no longer see). Never again will I be so weak minded. Of course, I should have wised up when those same two doctors were relatively unsupportive of our parenting style (AP/cosleeping).:irked:

We'll be keeping Schoolhouse Pediatrics in mind and I'll update how it went with the new doctor.

lranderson50

10-29-2007, 08:35 PM

While I can't reccomend my ped (dr. terwelp)as some one who is supportive of non-vax- i have been selective/delayed in ours and as long as I am matter of fact and don't make a big deal out of it he does not give me to hard of a time- his part time partner (dr. Jones) is a little easier to deal with. They have agreed to write prescriptions for my MMR split and I found an online pharmacy (thanks to these boards)that they will work with. That pharmacy is www.hopewellrx.com . I do think they are going to make me sign a liability waiver now that I am so far behind- but oh well! ( I wonder if they would be willing to sign my waiver if I agreed to their aggressive vax schedule?) I considered switching to bee caves ped, but I found that they just gave slightly less condecending answers than my ped- not worth the insurance hassel to switch for that. Good luck to you all- BTW are there any AP parent groups in RR? I grew up in 78704- but I'm priced out for now, plus dh is from the midwest and has an unnatural love for the suburbs......

jenmarie

10-31-2007, 01:59 PM

Argh!

So, another ped in the same office as Dr. Suffredini (ADC Far West) was willing to delay vax for my newborn.

But, I had to cancel the appointment because my 3-year-old was sick with the snots and I didn't want to bring her into the office during their newborn time.

However, when I called to cancel, they pressured me into making another appointment for the next day.

Now, I'm sure y'all know how long the snot-ness in a 3-year old can last, right??

I tried to tell them that I wouldn't know if I could make it with them, and could I please just call back and reschedule when my 3yo was better. Nope---- I HAD to reschedule RIGHT THEN for the NEXT DAY.

Rinse and repeat 5 times.

So today they tell me that the Dr. is no longer willing to accept my kids as patients because I had cancelled so many times.

WTF??? :irked:
I wouldn't have had to cancel if they hadn't made me reschedule IMMEDIATELY every time.

So NOW I have to try AGAIN to find an AP/non-vax/etc friendly ped.

You'd think it wouldn't be that hard here in Austin, but apparently it is.

:gloomy:

TanyaLopez

10-31-2007, 02:10 PM

Jenmarie--that's worth a letter to the doctor. Lay out the situation--the doctor may well not realize that's how his office staff is behaving. The doctors are mostly dealing with patients, a lot of stuff can happen that they don't know about. Maybe nothing will change, but I'd lay even odds (presuming this isn't an excuse to get rid of non-vaccinating patients) that you'll get a call from the doctor asking you back. Maybe not, but you could mail it and see if anything happens at the same time as trying to find someone else. Either way, good luck!

two bricks shy

11-04-2007, 08:07 PM

We saw Dr. Norton at our last BCP visit and this is the update I have for you...

As a Dr., she's great very easy going if not a little too happy to show me where my child was on that darn CDC height/weight chart. She didn't seem nearly as rushed as Dr. Hudson can seem.

As far as the vax issue... she asked "if we were getting any vaccinations today." I said we probably were...so she outlined what was called for according to the schedule, mentioned that we hadn't got the MMR and Varicella, and mentioned that the schools were asking for Hep A which had to be scheduled 6 months apart. I need to research that Hep A requirement, the reasoning given was "because we live in a border state."

I said we were delaying until DD was at least 2 for the MMR and Varicella. She seemed ok with that and dropped it. I declined to get the Hep A at this time and it was ok because "we only had to get it before DD entered school" (she's 15 months). I consented to the Hib, Prevnar, and Tdap (this was the series we were pushed into at 2 1/2 months).

I came away with not really knowing how supportive they were anymore...they were ok with me saying we were delaying vaxes but immediately suggested even more. So take that as you will, I guess.

daceysmomma

11-09-2007, 02:34 PM

If anyone is in south Austin/south suburbs, I heard Dr. Pruitt of Wimberley Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine is very natural family friendly. We don't go to him ourselves as we have a pedi practice in San Marcos we are happy with, but I just wanted to share that info.

sngil

11-18-2007, 01:14 AM

Hi, which Dr. do you use in San Marcos? I take my son to Corridor Ped and have had mix results with the two doctors I have seen.

Pastrydemon

11-19-2007, 08:34 PM

Dr. Lisa Hutchens used to be w/ Bee Caves....she now has a practice with 2 other Dr.s Google schoolhouse pediatrics. Dr. Hutchens has been very respectful of our selected/delayed schedule. She always listens to me. I mean really listens. She never condescends. She may try to talk you into some vax but will not insult your intelligence at all. She told her that while their individual feelings on vax vary within the practice, they made a group decision to be open to all levels of vaxing for their patients. They're not going to turn anyone away.

CariS

12-07-2007, 06:44 AM

The Austin Attached Moms Yahoo Group has about 165 Austin AP Mamas on it and we have playgroups and meetings all over town on a daily basis as well as have email support. It's a wonderful way to meet like-minded moms.

-Allie (mom to 18 mo old Ben)

HI -

I just looked for this group and can't find it... can you post the yahoo name it goes by?

Thank you.