Monroe Pediatrics Inc

More reasons to read a book with your toddler instead of handing them electronics. https://consumer.healthday.com/5-24-for-toddlers-more-time-

We are please to announce that we have enough Pfizer Covid vaccines to cover well checks this summer. The ACIP has verified that we can give the Covid vaccine at well check appointments, along with other routine vaccines scheduled for that day. If you want to get a Covid vaccine, for your 12yo and up child, at their well check this summer - please let us know this when you schedule their appointment so that we will have it prepared for you that day. Unlike other vaccines, t...his one has to be thawed in advance. This is a new step in the pandemic, and in life.... Covid vaccine ... for your teenager... as needed.... at their well check.

Thank you to our patients who made Dr Hill one of Atlanta Parent Magazine’s mom approved pediatricians again for 2021. You all rock!!!!

https://www.waltontribune.com//article_bb38452a-b7e8-11eb-

The approval from the FDA is in. The ACIP will meet this Wednesday to make final administration recommendations and then we are good to go. We have already started scheduling vaccines this Thursday and Friday in anticipation of this occurring. Call the office and schedule your vaccine. Please select the option that says for Covid testing and vaccines. ... This is a huge step, particularly for those with medical risk factors or parents with risk factors. #onestepcloser

https://www.healthychildren.org//Pa/Poison-Prevention.aspx

Happy Mother’s Day to all you great moms out there. https://cafemom.com/parenting/144301-20_qualities_of_a_good

As we head into Mother’s Day weekend, I want to tell you a little bit about this mom. Amy Lawrence is one of our Nurse Practitioners and Lactation Consultant. She is incredible. Not only did she create the lactation consultant program at Athens Regional Hospital, she breastfed 5 children, two of whom were adopted If you need help with your breastfeeding, you won’t find anyone more knowledgeable than Amy. We are fortunate to have her working at Monroe Pediatrics. ... Happy Mother’s Day Amy.

Have you gone stir crazy staying home the past year? More countries are opening up. The latest is the Bahamas.... but... Europe is set to open to those who are fully vaccinated from the US in June. France is supposed to be the first one to do it. Watch the news for more information. Getting back to normal one step at a time. https://www.google.com//travelers-with-covid-vaccines-/amp

https://allevents.in/athens-ga/mothers-day Need some last minute the ideas for mom?

It’s here. https://www.ajc.com//uk-varia/6AVJ5Y6SDZED7DYMY2U7QZB4XE/

To those who have asked: Our kids fitness program is set to begin March 1. Monday - Nutrition class with healthy snack prep... 4:30-5:15 is 5-10 year olds 5:30-6:15. Is 11-18 year olds Tuesday & Thursday - fitness with Olympic gold medalist and celebrity fitness trainer, David Verburg, and other visiting guests to be announced on Healthy Kidz Facebook page 4:30-5:15 is 5-10 year olds 5:30-6:15 is 11-18 year olds This will be located at our office, fitness will be in the back parking lot with the area blocked off. Free of charge (initial and final visit with physician will include overall well assessment including BMI and cholesterol screening - which will be billed to insurance - unless patient has no insurance, in which case there will be no fee). Get your applications in now. Available on Healthy Kidz Facebook page as well as in our Well Child Center. Spots are limited. *all dates subject to change should Covid surges reoccur. https://www.facebook.com/HealthyKidzClub/

For all parents - Antigen versus PCR tests: Covid antigen tests look for a protein on Covid... a pcr tests looks for the genetic material that is Covid and can be amplified... meaning make it easier to find. Because rapid antigen covid tests have a 5-15% false negative rate (depending on the tests) we send a back up pcr on all antigen tests.... We have, from time to time, rapid pcr tests that we use only on patients... however these are subject to availability and not always available. A rapid pcr test does not need a back up pcr sent away. All of you are familiar with how we have done strep tests for decades.. we have a rapid test we do in our office and we send a back up culture, because the rapid test is an antigen test and subject to a small number of false negatives. The Covid antigen tests are similar. So, when you have a back up pcr pending, and we tell you to stay out of school until we get the pcr results, the reason is that we do periodically have pcrs sent off and come back positive when the antigen is negative. We give very clear instructions to stay home but we have discovered parents are occasionally sending their kids to school when we have told them to stay home.... we have been giving doctors notes with an explanation written and I’m not sure if those are either not making their way to the school or if they are being altered... because of privacy laws we cannot communicate directly with a school about a specific patient without parental consent. So, going forward, when we send a pcr test off to the lab, and we tell you to keep your child out of school, we will not be giving any doctors notes until the pcr returns.... which is still running 2 days with the labs we use. I know this is a little inconvenient for some parents to return to pick up a school note two days later, but we have had parents not following our instructions and sending their kids to school with covid. In some cases we can fax that school note to the school. So please let us know, when we call you with your back up pcr results, which you prefer. I know many are stressed financially and employers are spread thin with so many employees coming and going on quarantines, but we really ALL have a responsibility to help end this pandemic. Parents - most of you are trying so hard and doing your part, but to the ones who are not following our instructions and sending their kids to school with covid ....I’m begging you.... we all want to see this pandemic end. We are all sick of it. Please do your part and keep your kids home when they are sick and when we instruct you to keep them home. And, in this week’s game of chess we have started jokingly (because we are tired of being upset about it) calling Hide Your Covid around our office.... that’s a check. Dr Hill

Thank you Athens Academy.

VACCINE LOCATOR Vaccine locator now on the Departmet. Of Public Health website. It allows you to go to your area and find where all the vaccines are and how to contact that provider. ... Please share if you know someone struggling to get their own Covid shot. Click on vaccine locator box and go from there. https://dph.georgia.gov/

Ok don’t stampede at once... but here you go. Let’s get going over 65 year olds and first responders. I and my first wave of staff, who got our first shot already, all get our second shots tomorrow. No one has had anything more than a sore arm for a day after the vaccine. And, when we all checked our immunity level, just for fun.... we all already have some immunity, some not as much as others, but all have some. ... I have just never ... never ...seen a vaccine work so effectively and quickly and I am totally in awe of this scientific miracle. Please note: We still do not know if those vaccinated can have asymptomatic shed and infect others.... hopefully we will know more about this in the next 6-8 weeks... so everyone vaccinated still needs to exercise caution with masking and social distancing for the near future. But what we do know is that 100% of those who received 2 doses of Pfizer or moderna’s vaccine lived.. lived....even the 5% or so who got it. Soon... so soon... we can start getting our lives back... and peace of mind is priceless. I’m so happy many of you will start to have the peace of mind soon that I have now. Call your local health department or go online to the Georgia department of public health to fill out a form ... and please be a little patient. Time is of the essence as this pandemic is only getting worse.... but ...our health department nurses are working as fast and furiously as they possibly can. They are heroes. Dr Hill #vaccinessavelives #byebyecovid19

We are closed today for New Years and will reopen on Monday at our normal time. Happy New Year!

For covid vaccines at Publix, please check Their website. They are currently booked solid for their vaccine shipment but will get more in, at an unknown time. Please check this website frequently for availability going forward. https://www.publix.com/covid-vaccine

Some of you saw this in news already Right? A couple things about the new strain: 1. It is up to 70% more contagious than the previous strain.... 2. It is NOT more deadly... but equally deadly, meaning if more get it our hospitals will be more strained. 3. So far one of the saving graces of this pandemic is that young children - under age 10 - have not been proven to spread covid.... which is part of why we have fared so well with school reopenings. Well... that isn’t true with this strain. Young children have been shown to spread this one. In fact, one of the ways to know if it is widespread in a community is if cases in young kids nearly double over a short period of time. We haven’t seen this in our testing yet... but are watching closely. 4. Children who get it do not get more sick than other strains... but they do infect others, including adults. 5. The current mRNA vaccines should work on the new strain. Ongoing research needs a couple more weeks to give more definitive answers, but there is no reason to think the vaccine won’t work. Please exercise caution going forward until We understand how widespread it is and see if it can be contained. We will keep you posted. https://www.ajc.com//georgia-r/ODSBUUQCJRAERI4IN5WWPH3B7Q/

The stress created by the COVID-19 can wear any one down, but teens may have an especially hard time. Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez offers advice for parents on when their teen may need more help.

Whoever sent us this shirt 1. Thank you we love it! 2. Please message us with your information so we can order some more....

You might be tired of these posts.. but.... too bad... we are just too excited ... here we are.... the morning after Christmas and health care workers are getting up early, on a day we would all usually stay in pajamas a little longer... to get up and get their COVID vaccines...... Strong work Joy Bishop you look amazing... we are happy for you and for your family!! #merrychristmas #vaccinessavelives #byebyecovid

As we head back to school post winter break: Just a reminder on the current quarantine guidelines. No retest is required if you test positive, you quarantine for 10 days with at least one day of improving symptoms. The more recent guidelines of returning at 7 days with a negative test or 10 days without apply to exposure WITHOUT symptoms or a positive test.... If you test positive in our office and want a retest at 5-7 days to return to school ..... just FYI... we know you have hidden your positive test results from your school and are trying to return after the quarantine for exposure they probably told you that you had to take. We won’t help you with this. 1. There is a seriously limited supply of testing due to the current surge. 2. Stop hiding your infections from school and/or lying about them. Your teachers are not appreciative of this behavior nor are all the people sick with covid currently. Thank you for your cooperation.

Tonight, I am posting something truly personal. This morning I awoke to the news that one of my best friends, Dr Shawn Long died. Shawn was the Dean of the Department of Humanities at Kennesaw State University. He was my high school classmate and a truly wonderful man. He had so many inspirational stories and he had overcome so many battles, many no one ever knew. He was always ready with a smile and a hug. He managed to stay so so positive, even when things around him ....... like the world .. fell apart. He understood people profoundly and he forgave a lot. He was the kind of friend everyone needs. He was positive, loving, understanding, and just plain fun. The world was a better place with Shawn in it. We have lost so many, for a variety of reasons over the last year. Please hug your loved ones close tonight and always. Rest In Peace my friend. Much Andrea

My Christmas card this year. While it has been a rough year, I see this smile on my daughter’s face and know that everything is going to be ok. She will grow old with memories of this crazy year ... and tell her kids and grandkids... but she will grow old and she will be well... as will yours. Take a breath, let it go, and try to take the next couple days to remember those you love and pat yourselves on the back for surviving this crazy year. You have done well. You are survi...vors. Your children are ok, they have learned resilience this year. Our office will close tomorrow for the holiday weekend and will reopen Monday, so that our staff may take the same breath and enjoy their families. Thank you all for following us, helping us help you this year, and for handling all of our office changes with grace. We appreciate all of you. Merry Christmas! Dr Hill PS: this looks like a winter wonderland until you see the white on the ground is gravel and my daughter, Pepper, is eating ice cream #Georgiachristmas

Our local hospitals are full... the positivity rate in Walton county has been around 25 percent since before Christmas (heads up .... one of the worst counties in the state and way way worse than the big cities)..Georgia is, more days than not, one of the top 10 -12 worst states in both new cases and deaths, Walton county has seen over 10% of all the Deaths it has seen from covid the entire year in just the past couple weeks. The hospital workers are exhausted, they are exha...usted physically from too many hours worked, and emotionally from too much death. I have tried to stay as positive as possible this year ... but this is the worst it has ever been. Most areas in Walton county are lucky if 50% are in masks. It is long past time to wake up. It is long past time to do the right thing. It is long past time to care about the health of our neighbors. The mayor has asked you to wear a mask. The pastor is carrying an oxygen tank thanks to COVID. This is not a hoax. And we ... are .... not..... well. If you can’t be part of the solution, it’s time to stop being part of the problem. Thank you Mr Mayor. Dr Hill

Sleep is so important for our immune systems. Check this out. https://www.healthychildren.org//healthy-sleep-habits-how-

As the state of Georgia prepares to open vaccination up to those over 65yo and first responders within the next couple weeks, the state has created a hotline. 1-888-357-0169 This is a hotline to answer any questions you have regarding your own vaccine eligibility and information on how and where to receive it. ... Hopefully this helps those of you messaging and asking questions about this, as it is evolving quickly.