When Drs Don't Agree On The Diagnosis

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What do you do when Drs don't agree on one diagnosis? DS had problems walking and is now recovering, but the general pediatric Dr at the local hospital doesn't seem to fully agree with the diagnosis given by the Senior Ped Neuro Consultant at the Uni hospital we used to see. Do you just go with the one from the most senior? General local Ped doesn't have specific diagnosis himself but is not convinced with other Dr's. Senior Neuro has diagnosed something that isn't progressive/recurring so naturally want to run with this.

A diagnosis is only a personal opinion.

In a case like this a 2nd opinion would be useful. I'm more inclined to believe the Senior Paed Neuro as General Paeds are just that general and should really act as a gatekeeper to channel the child onto very specialist practitioners - just as GPs act as gatekeepers to further specialist treatment.

You are legally entitled to a 2nd opinion and the Paed will need to refer you on.

I agree with WetAugust. Noone is infallible, but presuming the diagnosis was for a neurologial problem, a neurologist is likely to know more than a generalist paed.

We had this exact same situation. My dd had a brain injury shown on MRI scan at birth after having HIE. At 13 months old the local paed said that dd had CP and would have great difficulty ever learning to walk. A month later, the consultant neurologist (specialist in his field) said dd had mild difficulties but definitely not CP - he expected her to walk and talk and she is now doing both.

I only wish we hadn't had the month of hell after seeing the local paed. We have refused to see her again as it caused so much grief and dd currently has no dx other than 'physical difficulties'.

After our experience I would assume your neurologist had the better understanding and go with that dx.

After all, dx is just a label. Most of the time they are also happy to give you worst possible scenario and they don't all know everything. Many conditions could be dynamic both ways, for worse as well as for the better as time goes on.
We were also given a dire prognosis and had a decade of hell and progressive worsening signs. For 10 years I was looking for something that could help whilst everyone around me thought I was nuts.
Well, 10 years on, I tracked down research by awesome neuro and also went to see him and my ds progressive neurological deterioration has very significantly reversed thanks to a diet (gluten-free). The pessimistic bunch are now calling it anecdotal case, but I couldn't be happier.
So, it's even possible to disagree with drs. The best advice I was given is to follow your gut feeling and from each dx/recommendation move on with what you can handle, pick and choose the advice that suits you and your family.
I in the past I discharged my ds from hospital against drs advice and binned drugs given because I had a gut feeling that they were wrong. We were denied referral then, so we went privately. It turned out, we were right on this and the specialist we saw privately immediately brought us back into a London hospital as it was potentially life-threatening situation.
So, keep a clear head, things can change for better not just for worse & good luck.

Thanks guys, it really does help to hear other people's experiences.