SAN ANTONIO — KENS 5 is beginning a four-part series highlighting local medical workers doing extraordinary things. They're on the front lines fighting to keep our families as safe as possible during the coronavirus crisis. We kick off the series with a pediatrician who goes the extra mile to make sure her patients are healthy, happy, and even entertained.
Dr. Sky Izaddoost from The Children's Hospital of San Antonio within Christus Health was seeing one of her younger patients Ellis. Dr. Sky Izaddoost told us, "Her parents had a few concerns because she was born a little bit early and we were able to address those issues curbside."
Curbside medicine? Dr. Izaddoost said, "We are trying to see as many patients as we can curbside because we know that everybody is really nervous about coming in and seeing the doctor right now." Allison Sumners, the mother of little Ellis added, "I think it's a great opportunity for families who feel a little more nervous about entering spaces to get medical care for their little ones."
For this wellness visit they did all the things they'd normally do inside, just from the comfort and safety of the Sumner family car.
"It's really exciting that we are able to kind of be flexible during this time and take care of all of our patients adequately while keeping them safe," Dr. Izaddoost said.
We asked Dr. Izaddoost if she ever considered herself to be a hero. She told us:
"I know everybody says the doctors are the heroes, the nurses are the heroes. I have so many people helping me it's not even funny."
Her kids sure think she's a hero. She came home to find drawings on her driveway last week. Chalk spelled out "Heroes Wear Scrubs," "You're vital," and "Hero lives here."
"Dr. Sky is definitely a healthcare hero," Sumners said. "Our daughters love her. Emily definitely loves her. She plays Dr. Sky at home all the time."
Our first healthcare hero had one more message for anybody watching this story.
"Give yourself some grace. Give your children some grace. Understand that this is difficult for everybody," Dr. Izaddoost said. "Do the best you can keep your kids safe. Follow the CDC recommendations. Wash your hands and be kind to one another."
She also had two pieces of potentially life-saving advice for parents.
"We found out a lot of parents are waiting to come in. They have a kid that has an ear infection for three or four days or they have a kid that has a urinary tract infection and is complaining of burning when they pee for days," she said. "We don’t want you to wait for those things it’s really scary because you can end up getting a urine infection that can lead to a kidney infection that can lead to a hospitalization. If you get an ear infection that can lead to and infection to the bone behind the ear and that can lead to a brain abscess. Please don’t wait on those issues call us so we can help you along the way."
Dr. Izaddoost also told us parents should not put off getting their children vaccinated.
"We’ve seen quite a bit of patients who are waiting on their vaccines. In the middle of a pandemic you don’t want to create another pandemic," she said. "I can only imagine how horrible it would be to have measles on top of having COVID-19."