Saved my daughters life when she was a baby

@moialiceme I'm so glad your daughter is safe and healthy. It sounds like this happened way way back, but I agree with the comment about taking this directly to hospital admin, maybe even the medical board if this ever happened in the future to any one of us
 
@moialiceme It’s pretty dumb because a week long fever event is specifically indicative of a problem like a viral or bacterial infection that requires attention. A chest x ray is basically the bare minimum they should have done the second time you brought her in.

In my childhood my mom had to fight tooth and nail with doctors several times when I had asthma problems. And even now as an adult, seeing a new specialist is a pain in the ass because they say the same shit at first. It’s like, no, I’m sorry, this feeling isn’t normal, and it’s put me near death before. I’m not just going to take a n extra puff of an inhaler, fucking give me an xray. Sometimes they can’t be bothered to even listen to my chest. The one thing doctors have the ability on hand at all times to be able to do.
 
@moialiceme Urgent care is full of idiot physicians…actual idiot physicians. I went to urgent care twice before I went to the ER and they diagnosed me with Pneumonia (which I’m pretty sure was legionnaires) and based on what you’re saying this may be too. The first two times I went to urgent care asking for antibiotics and I told them I got sick after swimming. They said it was COVID or the flu, I told them the COVID test was negative and they prescribed me codeine. Symptoms got significantly worse over 24 hours and I went in to the ER. I told this to the ER doctor and he was not surprised. He told me Urgent Care is the D-team.

Sorry you went through this but glad you shared. There are some great doctors out there but just like most professions 50% have no business practicing.

We have (unfortunately) always opted for the ER when urgent care has failed after the first visit because the ER procedure requires that they do x-rays, blood tests, etc. We have done this twice in 4 years. This has been a relatively fail safe backup but man do I hate going to the ER.

Pneumonia is awful. Took me 8 weeks to recover. I’m glad your daughter is better. Keep her on a probiotic regimen during and after the antibiotics.
 
@moialiceme Good on you, but it feels a bit insensitive to drag this 15 year old story out 8 hours after that other poor guy posted about losing his kid to sudden meningitis and feeling like it's his fault...
 
@moialiceme Thanks for sharing. Reminds me of that Monty Python quote that goes something like: 'patient in labour - What can i do; obstetrician - nothing dear, you are not qualified'.

Health workers often need to be reminded that the experience of the patient is primary.
 
@vayek333 Yea we had to buy a nebulizer for her antibiotics. I forgot all about that. We took a prenatal course but I swear, once the baby is delivered you’re really at the mercy of everyone else. It would be good to find similar courses for “all the crap that could go wrong” for new parents.
 
@moialiceme Something similar happened to me but not as extreme. Had all the same symptoms you described. Took her to walk in clinic. Doctor pushed us out the door. Took her to a sick kids the next day as she kept getting worse. Pneumonia diagnosed and an IV drip of antibiotics.
 
@moialiceme Is this in the US? What they’re saying is a complete lie, unless they mean you saw a nurse practitioner which could be possible, but a doctor has to have signed off on the visit regardless. There is absolutely no way that this visit is not under a physician unless you left against medical advice before they’ve seen you

Please contact patient advocate office, call the hospital number, press “0” and ask them to connect you to a patient advocate line. If this does not work, it should, email the hospital administration, you will find info online or through the patient advocate
 
@moialiceme My son got pneumonia when he was 2 and we had a very different experience. He was sick and we took him to his regular pediatrician who told us to monitor him and give him ibuprofen/Tylenol and let her know if things didn't get better in a few days. His breathing became labored and it was difficult to keep his fever in check alternating medications so we took him to a minute clinic so he would be seen quickly. They were wary of pneumonia so they immediately called for a transfer to the local hospital. As soon as he got in there they had him on the breathing machine and whatever medications. Stayed overnight and he was mostly recovered by the middle of the next day and we were able to take him home. It was terrifying, but we were super grateful for all the healthcare workers that correctly diagnosed him and started the proper care immediately.
 
@moialiceme Good for you for pushing through! I literally had the exact same experience, 3mo son was suddenly super fussy overnight, was turned down from the hospital in 3 separate visits on 3 continuous days. Eventually discovered that it was very serious case of bacterial pneumonia, hospitalized and treated immediately.

I definitely felt the same anger that you did at the hospital staff. So much so that I went on the hospital directory to find out their name, picture and contact info. Especially one particular doctor who not only insisted that nothing was wrong, but was so rude she would not get up from her chair to take a look at our son. I also go the face and info of an radiologist who read our x-ray only to conclude it wasn't pneumonia, when it clearly was, resulting in an additional day of delay for treatment. (And an additional x-ray)

But I let that go though, because I believe it happened for a reason. Because our case was so serious by the time it was diagnosed, we were hospitalized and transferred to a different children's hospital. Where a pediatric surgeon saw the xray that was dismissed by the radiologist, and saw a shadow. Which 6 weeks down the line led us to discover something different that ultimately changed our lives.

So if it helps I want you to know that although your daughter suffered because of these doctors, it may have been for the better. Hopefully not in the same as my situation, but just know that maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
 
@xiaox Absolutely. It taught me not to take everything at face value and that sometimes you have to advocate a lot stronger despite what you’re being told.
 
@moialiceme You should file a complaint with your state department of health or CMS. The first hospital could be facing an EMTALA violation. The second hospital could possibly too, since they almost refused to give your daughter an evaluation from a doctor. States and CMS take EMTALA violations very seriously and would likely go visit the hospital to investigate. This would at a minimum force the hospital to reevaluate their processes and reeducate their staff, hopefully preventing the same thing from happening in the future.
 
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