Search

close   X

7/1/13 blog post

get ready for the "Dr. Mom Squad!"

Today the Dayton Children’s blog is excited to introduce its newest team of bloggers…. The Dr. Mom Squad!

Since December 2011, Dr. Melissa King has been blogging for Dayton Children’s as “Dr. Mom,” but this summer she is going to be joined by three other Dayton Children’s physicians who are also moms!

These four women are joining together as the “Dr. Mom Squad,” with three big goals in mind… to connect with other mom’s, share their medical expertise and share what it’s like to be a doctor AND a mom!

Each week you will hear from a different Dr. Mom. They each come from varying specialties and have different ages of kids at home making them able to share different experiences and each provide good advice on a variety of topics!

We hope the “Dr. Mom Squad,” becomes your go to source for information on your child’s health from other mom’s just like you!

We took some time to ask each of our Dr. Mom’s some questions so that you could get to know them!

Patricia Abboud, MD

What is your specialty? Can you tell us what you do? I am a pediatric intensivist at Dayton Children’s. I take care of the kids that need to come to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Working in the PICU is fulfilling. Although the kids are really sick, for the most part, they do well.

Tell us about you and your family: My husband and I are the parents of three children (13 yr, 10 yr, and 7 yr). I am a Cleveland native, but Dayton has been the place I call home for the past 17 years. I attended the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and finished my training in pediatrics here at Dayton Children’s Hospital. I completed my training in Pediatric Critical Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 2006 and have been working at Dayton Children’s since that time.

What is it like being a doctor AND a mom? Being a pediatrician is helpful but I definitely don’t have all the answers! I find myself doing a lot of reading, praying and putting ‘myself in time out’. Early on I told myself ‘I am their mother, not their pediatrician!’ I take them to see their doctor when they are ill or need physicals. This is how I maintain some degree of sanity. Somehow my kids, husband and I survive. I deal with the same trials and tribulations you do such as sibling rivalry, getting along with friends and peer pressure!

Why are you excited to be a part of the Dr. Mom Squad? I am hoping, through the Dr. Mom blog, to share some of my experiences as a mother and my insight as a pediatrician. I thank you in advance for joining me in this voyage.

Stacy Meyer, MD

What is your specialty? Can you tell us what you do? I am a pediatric endocrinologist. Pediatric endocrinology is the subspecialty involving the hormones of the body, and involves a variety of diseases including diabetes, growth disorders, pubertal disorders, thyroid and pituitary disorders. It is a very rewarding subspecialty with all the therapies now available to treat these disorders, and is an exciting, ever changing field as we learn more about how these hormones affect our body.

Tell us about you and your family: I recently joined the endocrinology team here at Dayton Children’s but am not new to the Dayton community. I completed my undergraduate education at The University of Dayton (where I met my husband) and attended medical school at Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University. I completed my residency and fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus before “coming home” last year to Dayton Children’s.

“Daddy,” a high school math teacher and I, are the proud parents of a now 11 month old boy, “Busy Bee”, and 3 year old big brother, “Sprout”. My men certainly keep my life interesting and a smile on my face (although often hidden from their view so as not to encourage their crazy antics!)

What is it like being a doctor AND a mom? My boys have challenged all that I have learned as a pediatrician over the years and often leave me “running to the books” for the “right” answer on how to manage daily situations. As a type “A” personality who likes to check things off a list, I am constantly reminding myself of the quote “Life is a journey, not a destination” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) and its important message to be more present. I don’t think I fully understood this until I became a parent and witnessed first-hand the year’s “flying by.”

Why are you excited to be a part of the Dr. Mom Squad? I am so excited to join the blogging team here at Dayton Children’s Hospital. Through this blog, I hope we can share with each other our challenges and the lessons we’ve learned, whether through experience, research or training. As we embark on this part of our journey together, I hope we can all gain a sense of community and support, a little guidance and information, a few laughs along the way (even if they are at our own expense) and above all, I hope it makes us all slow down and enjoy the parenting process.

Shalini Forbis, MD

What is your specialty? Can you tell us what you do? I am a general academic pediatrician. This means that as a doctor, I am a pediatrician who can see kids between 0 – 21 years of age. I see patients for their regular check-ups, when they are sick and for basic ongoing health problems at our Children’s Health Clinic at Dayton Children’s Hospital. I also spend some time taking care of patients who are hospitalized for medical issues at Dayton Children’s. Being “academic “means that I spent an extra two years training to do research. I also teach medical students and doctors training to be pediatricians (called pediatric residents) as an Associate Professor at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Tell us about you and your family: see myself as a mom, wife, and pediatrician. I have been a mom for 12 years and have two girls. One is eight and one is a preteen. We (my husband and myself) are now moving into the preteen years (that is what it was called when I was growing up) or as my daughter reminds me the “tweens”. I enjoy reading, traveling, some crafts and spending time with my family and close friends. As a family, we love to go on walks, to travel together. As our girls get older, we try to expand our horizons with new foods, etc.

What is it like being a doctor AND a mom? It isn’t always easy to be a doctor and mom for many reasons. It takes time and thinking about my priorities to balance being a doctor and how demanding that can be with my girls being my top priority. Sometimes, as a doctor, I feel like I need to handle things at home perfectly and I don’t always get it right. I am learning that it is a learning process for me, my husband and my kids. Figuring out how to handle things for my older girl does not help me with the younger because they are so different.

Why are you excited to be a part of the Dr. Mom Squad? I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and even my expertise with you. I look forward to sharing a blend of my approach with expert information to help all of us as we navigate the waters of childhood. Hopefully I will become a virtual part of the “village” that helps you to raise your child.

Melissa King, DO

What is your specialty? Can you tell us what you do? I am a general pediatrician at the Children’s Health Clinic at Dayton Children’s. I work part-time in the clinic seeing my own patients, at times teaching family practice residents and medical students, and I also supervise some of the pediatric residents in their clinics.

Tell us about you and your family: My husband Jeff, a police detective, firefighter and EMT, and I are the parents of a very energetic 4 year old girl Audrey Grace, and her amazingly sweet 2 year old brother Ethan Jeffrey aka “Little Bruder.”

What is it like being a doctor AND a mom? ” Being a mother is one of the best and most challenging tasks I have ever undertaken. Some have asked me if I find it easier being a mother who also happens to be a pediatrician. In some respects yes. However, at other times I really have to tell myself to stop thinking the worst, because I have in my mind an arsenal of the very worst “what if’s.” And since I do not really know what it is like to be a mom and not a pediatrician I can only say that we all have our strengths and weaknesses that we bring into parenting and that is why we partner with others to raise our children. I believe in the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Why are you excited to be a part of the Dr. Mom Squad? I have greatly enjoyed blogging for Dayton Children’s for the past year and a half. However I am excited to have three of my wonderful coworkers join me to form the Dr. Mom Squad. I think that with our different backgrounds and the different ages of our kids we will be able to appeal to so many more people! One common goal that we all share is to raise our children into happy, healthy, independent, productive adults. One thing I have learned so far is that often there is no one “right way” to achieve this. I look forward to joining each of them and you on this journey of parenting.