Thursday, September 30, 2010

I Am Starting to Understand Those Christian Scientists. Go Figure.

Okay, some of you know about this. Most of you don't. Here it is: the details of my baby girl's harrowing medical traumas and my ensuing HATRED for the medical community 


(Sorry readers who are members of the medical community. You probably don't suck, but 
some of your peers do. Seriously. Like, they suck A LOT.)


Reminder: We had a beautiful baby girl on 8/9/10 (And my dad was super-pissed that she was born at 2:33 and asked me to LIE on her birth certificate and say she was born at 2:34. I could not make this stuff up.). I was on the fence about the whole hospital/doctor vs. midwifery stuff, but in the end realized I could not give up on the idea of that magical-sounding super-drug: The epidural. I cannot complain much about the labor and delivery itself except having a blood pressure cuff on my arm during the entire labor that went off EVERY FIVE MINUTES and I still had bruises from two weeks later. But other than that, the docs were not up in my biz and they didn't cause me to threaten them with bodily harm. In fact, the labor and delivery was actually ENJOYABLE.


Then, a few hours after my little Josephine was born, they whisked her away and a pediatrician sat us down and said she could just have some amniotic fluid in her lungs or she could be DYING IMMEDIATELY and they would go ahead with 58,000 aggressive interventions in order to save the life of our little miracle.  


I SWORE I would not be that mother who was like, "OH!  A doctor said it? It is law! All else be damned!" and I would ask questions, do research, and not ignore my gut instincts. However, when presented with this situation, my husband and are were like, "DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!!" and didn't ask any questions. One hour later, the results of the test came back, and oh, what do you know? She just had a little amniotic fluid in her lungs after all! She will be fine in an hour or so. Too bad we already hooked her up to all those machines and started her on those antibiotics, because now she has to stay there for two days!


And so began the needless suffering of my daughter. She came home two days later with bruises, multiple pin pricks, and a red face from where they ripped tape off when she was finally off oxygen.  


Two weeks later, the diarrhea began. I went to the doctor and informed them that my daughter had about 20 diarrhea diapers a day and was not feeding well. For the next TWO WEEKS, I was in the doctor's office about three days a week because the all the doctors' best advice was to "keep an eye on her and bring her in a few times a week for weight checks to make sure she is still gaining weight." And I did.  And day after day I repeated her symptoms and told them she cried about 20 hours a day, didn't sleep, struggled to eat, and our house was slowly being overtaken by diarrhea.  


I finally saw a new doctor at the same practice, and she finally decided to check and see if there was blood in her stool. When there was, she sent us straight to the hospital and said we would be there for a minimum of two days.


There, we saw horrible things, like the baby cage ...
(I held her in my arms all night instead of locking her up in THAT)

... an "IV specialist" who spent and HOUR AND A HALF torturing our baby because she couldn't find a vein (even though the nurses at the hospital where she was born could do it while making small talk with us), and nurses who would have given my baby incorrect medication and food down her feeding tube had I not inquired as to their intentions.


When we finally left the hospital, the gastroenterologist had decided she probably had milk protein allergy induced colitis, and the only foods I could eat for the next 6 months were fruit and vegetables (minus tomatoes and citrus), meat (except red meat) and potatoes.


Two weeks later, this miracle diet had done NOTHING to help my child. When we went to see said gastroenterologist again, I said it seemed like it was not the milk protein allergy. He said, "You're right. It looks like it isn't" while he wrote down on her paperwork: "diagnosis: milk protein allergy."


So he gave up and said we should just get used to our daughter being in agony.


Then, my mother-in-law suggested I read about milk oversupply. Hmmm. Look at that. Josephine has EVERY SINGLE SYMPTOM listed. I called a lactation consultant, and she about lost her shit when I told her how many ounces I could pump in five minutes.  My breasts were what the La Leche League called "overly enthusiastic about their job." It turns out my little lady was only getting foremilk, which is all carbs and making her gassy, and without the fat from the hindmilk, she couldn't break down all the lactose, which built up in her intestines and led to a crummy tummy.


Two days later, with a little boob training, we were seeing results. After I gave the medical community a MONTH of our lives and I lost thousands of joyous moments with my new baby, blamed myself, and probably scared the crap out of my husband with all the times I sat and cried while I held our crying baby.


So now, what do I do? I have no trust, and a lot of anger. I need options here besides doctors.  Plus, my daughter developed her first cold and starting cutting her first tooth in the past few days.


Let's take the edge off of this rant-y post. Here are my three favorite options for replacing Western medicine:


1.  Magics. Come on, I've read the Harry Potter books enough to know that all I need are some Latin phrases and concentration. Plus, my dad has an authentic Harry Potter wand. He would totally lend it to me if he knew it were for the benefit of his granddaughter.


2.  The Interwebs. Everyone knows all problems can be solved with a short Google session. And you can totally tell who is credible based on the prettiness level of their web page. That's why I would take medical advice from The Bloggess before WebMD any day.


3.  Positive Vibrations. I'm not a pray-er. But I DO send out positive vibes for people. And I like to think that my super-powerful brain sends out extra-powerful vibes. I am likely responsible for many friends getting jobs, securing a second date, and getting good grades. I'm just THAT GOOD. So why not focus that energy on my baby? I'm pretty sure my genius brain could combat pertussis or pneumonia. What CAN'T it do, really?


Let the voting commence! Write-in candidates are also acceptable.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, Veronica. How awful! I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. Getting over-doctored is no fun ever, but to have it happen (twice!) when your daughter actually had *nothing wrong with her* is horrifying!

    For what it's worth - my son was hospitalized for ten nights during his first month of life. When he was 21 days old, he'd spent 11 of those days wearing an oxygen cannula. After it was over, I was full of grief and anger about the time we'd lost. And I felt kind of bad about that, since after what I'd seen in the children's hospital, I knew I was lucky that my baby was healthy. But ultimately what helped - on the advice of one of the hospital social workers - was owning the grief, and talking about it, and working through it. What happened to you with Josephine was bad, and was traumatic, and you deserve to be upset about it. Keep letting it out! That's the way to recover, eventually.

    Also, I'm not sure whether to tell you this or not. If it doesn't help, please pretend I never told you. But... my daughter was born with fluid in her lungs, and they just sucked it out - no extreme interventions. A friend of mine has had TWO newborns show up with blood in their stool, and neither time has the pediatrician sent her anywhere near a hospital. So you're not wrong in thinking the docs in your cases overreacted. You're right to be mad.

    Here's hoping that the next two months with Josephine are much, much better and easier than these first two have been.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That? Is awful.

    I remember when Olivia was 15 months old she was admitted for stomach flu. We were in the ER for 8 HOURS before they could get an IV in since 3 of them got started and then exploded out of her arms. Yeah- scary. She was gray by the time they got it going and we were there for four full days before she could be released.

    But you learn how to deal with doctors. Really, you do. Find a pediatrician that listens to you and your ideas. We found one after talking with seven different onces an this one? Is fabulous. Like I love her a million times with sparkle hearts. She totally gets me, trusts my gut and never hesitates to refer us but wants to be in on discussions. :) It's awesome. So once you find the right doctor that you feel good with- it'll all come together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having worked most of my life in the medical field, I can honestly say that it is all basically just an educated guessing game.

    Sooo glad your babe is okay now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh gosh, i am so sorry!!! my mom is a nurse and has taught me to be EXTREMELY skeptical of the majority of the industrial medical industry. she has caught so many mistakes that would have cost me just one or two little things... like my life, or my ability to walk. i am so glad that you found resources to help you and your family, and that your little one is on the upswing.

    i live in madison, wi and all the hippy parents on my block swear by amber necklaces- apparently they help teething go better. i have not inquired to the how, but hey, at worst your daughter will be sporting some lovely bling. ;)

    sending you LOTS of positive vibrations from madison!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm sorry to hear of the experience you had and am glad you found a resolution to the problem, but honestly, Christian Science is far more than just chosing prayer healing.
    ~R

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an insane ordeal.

    I wouldn't even put my cats in that baby cage. And your baby girl is *probably* as precious as Teva and Isabel.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm anonymous.

    Well, I'm not anonymous.

    But your blog thinks I'm am. Should I be insulted?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alone ... with cats -- you should definitely be insulted. I would be.

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh gosh, i am so sorry!!! my mom is a nurse and has taught me to be EXTREMELY skeptical of the majority of the industrial medical industry. she has caught so many mistakes that would have cost me just one or two little things... like my life, or my ability to walk. i am so glad that you found resources to help you and your family, and that your little one is on the upswing.

    i live in madison, wi and all the hippy parents on my block swear by amber necklaces- apparently they help teething go better. i have not inquired to the how, but hey, at worst your daughter will be sporting some lovely bling. ;)

    sending you LOTS of positive vibrations from madison!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, Veronica. How awful! I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. Getting over-doctored is no fun ever, but to have it happen (twice!) when your daughter actually had *nothing wrong with her* is horrifying!

    For what it's worth - my son was hospitalized for ten nights during his first month of life. When he was 21 days old, he'd spent 11 of those days wearing an oxygen cannula. After it was over, I was full of grief and anger about the time we'd lost. And I felt kind of bad about that, since after what I'd seen in the children's hospital, I knew I was lucky that my baby was healthy. But ultimately what helped - on the advice of one of the hospital social workers - was owning the grief, and talking about it, and working through it. What happened to you with Josephine was bad, and was traumatic, and you deserve to be upset about it. Keep letting it out! That's the way to recover, eventually.

    Also, I'm not sure whether to tell you this or not. If it doesn't help, please pretend I never told you. But... my daughter was born with fluid in her lungs, and they just sucked it out - no extreme interventions. A friend of mine has had TWO newborns show up with blood in their stool, and neither time has the pediatrician sent her anywhere near a hospital. So you're not wrong in thinking the docs in your cases overreacted. You're right to be mad.

    Here's hoping that the next two months with Josephine are much, much better and easier than these first two have been.

    ReplyDelete

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