Your Baby is Abnormal

[Gaki]

Oooh, new section and I think this one should fit here. I was deciding for a long time whether I should post it but I think, since this is here, I will.

My roommate is well into her first pregnancy right now and of course is going through all the woes of pregnancy (and all the awesomeness too, the little fetus kicked me in the face!) So she wobbles her way to the doctor's to get numerous tests done and all that wonderfulness. She sits down in the little room and the doctor comes in and for the whole monologue that the doctor is telling her, she's not listening.

Why?

Because the first thing the doctor said was, "You're baby is abnormal." Then she windingly talks about other things and is all over the place in her little monologue, leaving my roommate wondering if her baby is going to LIVE properly or not and then at the END of this giant story time the doctor is giving her it is said, "He's a little fat."

...A little fat? THAT warranted the word "abnormal?!" She came home in tears over this and just yesterday she went in and asked a different doc whether or not her baby was fat and the doc looked at her and said,

"No...he's the perfect size." :confused:

[surreal20]

Yea, that dr is a jerk.

Let me tell ya a story about me when i was a fetus. *relayed to me by my mother*

Mom has endometriosis. When she was 24 the dr told her if she and dad wanted to have children, they needed to do it now, or they may never have any. So the tried, and BOOM i'm conceived.

Later on, in a regular check up, the Dr. sits down with my mother and father and explains to them that I'm not developing the way i should. I'm small for the gestation period, and that he believes that there is something seriously wrong with me. He also says, that it may be a good idea to think about abortion.

(Now, this will not and SHALL NOT get into the discussion of abortion. I will not see it here. It is just relevant to the story.)

So once my parents heard this, they thought for just a moment and said "This is my child. I may never have a second chance. I will keep her just as she is, and i will deal with whatever comes when it comes." (yay mom :) ) (she also later on had 2 more sons, yay brothers )

Skip 24 years later (present day) I'm a healthy 5 foot 3 inch tall women. Nothing developmentally, physically, or mentally wrong with me. I am as average a person as average can get! Though, to be far, i WAS a little under developed when i was born. And only in the length department.

Stayed very small until i was 2, i wasn't even 20 lbs until i reached year 2. I'm also the shortest one in my family. My mother is 5 foot 6 and dad is 6 foot 2.


All in all..your roommate's child is going to be just fine. And even if they ARE going to have issues, your roommate will be able to deal with is. She'll be a wonderful mother. I just know it.

[ArcticChicken]

She's finding a new doctor, yes? 'Cause I can tell you right now that a doctor that did that to me would be out on her ass, even if it meant I had to find a new doctor while I was in labor.

[iradney]

new doctor, new doctor NOW! and if that doctor works for a practice, I would let them know why I'm looking for health care elsewhere. My Dad is a doctor, and he works very hard on his bedside manner to make sure his patients are comfy and understand everything. People like this make his head explode.

[CaroPhoenix]

Yeah, I'd say new doctor too. Do not pass "Go" do not collect $200. That speedy to a new doctor.

I shall tell you a story of when I was pregnant.

I went from barely looking pregnant at all, to OMG! I swallowed 37 beachballs. :roll: Anyway, doc wanted to make sure everything was kosher inside and had me do another sonogram at 8 months.

Sonogram tech is moving the little sonogram thing over my belly, pointing out butt, legs, arms, torso, and then she say "Uh oh. I can't find the head."

WTF????

I'm 8 months pregnant and you can't find the head!? Turns out Child Rum was locked and loaded in the birth canal.

Whew.

But really ... Telling an 8 month pregnant woman you can't find your baby's head??? Yeah ... not good.

But I can laugh about it now.

But yeah ... friend needs new doc. STAT.

[Gaki]

Haha don't worry guys, it's like a women's center where there's a staff of doctors who are all in on it and up to speed so she doesn't ever have to see that one again. Like she has a single OB but any doctor in the place can take an appointment with her. So she never ever ever has to see that woman again and lately she's been having really great stories to tell from the other ones (apparently the woman today was a real sweetie.) :)

Oh, btw, the baby is a boy and his name is Chase. :D I just bought all her baby shower gifts, I'm so excited.

[blas]

Some people have no business being doctors.

Like the doctor that told my mother for sure that I was going to be a boy (at about 6 months gestation, didn't tell her he wasn't sure or that he guessed, said that I WAS INDEED MALE, LOOK AT THE PENIS!) and he also gave me a 7 out of 10when I was born because I was too small. Yet my brother, who was born with jaundice, was given a 9.

[MoonCat]

"You're baby is abnormal."

"He's a little fat."

Jesus Christ they're starting when they're still in the womb now! Is that doctor taking kickbacks from Jenny Craig?

[Mishi]

Congratulations to your friend on her healthy bub! I hope that the labour is quick and easy with no complications.

Some people have no business being doctors

QFT! I had two such doctors. One put me on a high dose of prednisone 'to burn out the juvenile rheumatoid arthritis' that I DIDN'T have. The second told me that I'll be infertile by 25 and (paraphased): "When you're legal, go to a party and find a drunk bloke to knock you up. If you don't have kids young, you won't be having any."

[Sapphire Silk]

It's a sad statement of fact that medical schools now have to offer classes in bedside manner :doh:

Nursing school, it's integrated from day one.

[Squeaksmyalias]

It's a sad statement of fact that medical schools now have to offer classes in bedside manner :doh:


I hope that a former close friend who I had known since a teen gets that class.
Before I thread jack I'm thinking I should start a thread of it's own.

[blas]

I don't think those classes do any good.

There are nurses at the clinic I go to who have no qualms of putting their *unwanted* two cents into whatever response I give to their questions (for instance, asking what I eat...."Fast food is HORRIBLE!" or when I admit I tan occasionally "You WILL get cancer!" or when I say I smoke "You WILL die from smoking!").......and don't even get me started on the things that my doctor has said to me, or the doctors at urgent care, for stuff that had nothing to do with what I was there for!

[wagegoth]

I don't think those classes do any good.

There are nurses at the clinic I go to who have no qualms of putting their *unwanted* two cents into whatever response I give to their questions (for instance, asking what I eat...."Fast food is HORRIBLE!" or when I admit I tan occasionally "You WILL get cancer!" or when I say I smoke "You WILL die from smoking!").......and don't even get me started on the things that my doctor has said to me, or the doctors at urgent care, for stuff that had nothing to do with what I was there for!

I add my hate to yours. They probably aren't even RNs. And the next time they make a comment, just say, "Are you a doctor?" When they answer, say, "Then giving me a medical opinion would be illegal, wouldn't it?" If they keep it up, tell the doctor and also ask for the supervisor to file a complaint. And don't back down.

[Captain Trips]

It's a sad statement of fact that medical schools now have to offer classes in bedside manner :doh:.

What they NEED to teach is called "The Hippocratic Oath." ("First, do no harm.") Telling someone their fetus is abnormal when it's just a bit chubby? Doesn't the doctor accept that as "emotional harm?"

[Seshat]

Don't get me started about the number of medical and medical-related people who have blamed my problems on me being 'fat'.

For someone with fibromyalgia (which greatly restricts my ability to exercise) and PCOS (which greatly increases a tendency to put on weight), it's amazing how little adipose tissue I have!

But nooooo. I'm 'fat'. And that is the cause, not symptom, of my problems. According to them. (I call bullshit.)


(PS: with the assistance of a good medical team, I am losing fat. Not necessarily weight - I'm gaining muscle. But I'm losing fat.)

[AnaKhouri]

We had a couple (very minor, but it seemed terrifying at the time) scares with Khan, and the midwives were wonderful. I can't imagine dealing with a doctor with that, but I guess also maybe she is so far along she doesn't want to change doctors at this point.

[NateTheChops]

God. My sister was born with a cleft pallette, so she needed surgery for that. But she was also gaining weight very slowly due to breathing problems (she couldn't suck on the bottle for very long) so she also needed a trach tube.

When she did start speaking, (at eighteen months, I should add) she was speaking in the usual baby pre-verbals. But you could understand some words like, "Matt-Matt," her cousin, "ment-ment,", which meant she wanted to go into the basement, and "Nat-Nat,", which was me, of course.

The therapist that was working with her insisted that she would have speech problems because of this. It's like...hello...she's eighteen months and you're expecting what? Shakespere? She's all ready pretty damn verbal for someone her age and can you tell me how many eighteen month olds know where the basement of their house is? (Seriously, if anyone said the word basement we had to take her down there or she'd get upset)

My mother was not at all impressed with any of the "proffessional" staff who worked with her in Mollie's first few years. By now, of course, if you just spoke to her you would wonder where said therapist ever got her degree from.

[Sparky]

Doctors use terms that have specific meanings. These may not be the same meaning that non-medical people apply to the word. Doctors tend to forget this.

Some examples of medical terms:

Abnormal = not typical
Surgery = removing a mole
Discomfort = severe pain

[blas]

My former coworker Mary got pregnant with her first child at 39 (it was a surprise and quite scary for her), and since she had never given any thought to children or anything that goes with pregnancy (not her fault at all), she was in for more surprises.

She came to work terrified one night before her amniocesis (sp? whatever that test that is they usually do on older moms or women with high risk pregnancies) because her doctor told her that older women tend to have abnormal babies. Worded as though it were a guarantee. As if she were the only woman to ever get pregnant at nearly 40.

She switched doctors, and of course, her baby was fine!

[wagegoth]

My former coworker Mary got pregnant with her first child at 39 (it was a surprise and quite scary for her), and since she had never given any thought to children or anything that goes with pregnancy (not her fault at all), she was in for more surprises.

She came to work terrified one night before her amniocesis (sp? whatever that test that is they usually do on older moms or women with high risk pregnancies) because her doctor told her that older women tend to have abnormal babies. Worded as though it were a guarantee. As if she were the only woman to ever get pregnant at nearly 40.

She switched doctors, and of course, her baby was fine!

It increases the chances, but the percentage of abnormalities is still under 3%.

[Sapphire Silk]

I add my hate to yours. They probably aren't even RNs. And the next time they make a comment, just say, "Are you a doctor?" When they answer, say, "Then giving me a medical opinion would be illegal, wouldn't it?" If they keep it up, tell the doctor and also ask for the supervisor to file a complaint. And don't back down.

As a nurse, I would not back down on that. Because education on health risks is a primary nursing responsibility, and the risk factors of diet, alcohol, drug use, and smoking are well known. Here's a dirty little secret of health care: nurses practice medicine all the time. What we really can't do is diagnose . . . which is fine with us as that is not our role. Our role is to provide education and care.

What they NEED to teach is called "The Hippocratic Oath." ("First, do no harm.") Telling someone their fetus is abnormal when it's just a bit chubby? Doesn't the doctor accept that as "emotional harm?"

It is true that many physicians (but not all) have forgotten Do No Harm. Such are more concerned with their financial goals than with what the patient really needs.

Nurses don't take the Hippocratic Oath. They take the Nightingale Pledge :)

Doctors use terms that have specific meanings. These may not be the same meaning that non-medical people apply to the word. Doctors tend to forget this.

Some examples of medical terms:

Abnormal = not typical
Surgery = removing a mole
Discomfort = severe pain

Here's another:

Abortion=end of a pregnancy without a viable fetus. An intention ending (whether for medical reasons or not) of a pregnancy is a therapeutic abortion.

A miscarriage is a spontaneous abortion. There are other types with equally confusing terms.

My former coworker Mary got pregnant with her first child at 39 (it was a surprise and quite scary for her), and since she had never given any thought to children or anything that goes with pregnancy (not her fault at all), she was in for more surprises.

She came to work terrified one night before her amniocesis (sp? whatever that test that is they usually do on older moms or women with high risk pregnancies) because her doctor told her that older women tend to have abnormal babies. Worded as though it were a guarantee. As if she were the only woman to ever get pregnant at nearly 40.

She switched doctors, and of course, her baby was fine!

Amniocentesis. Any woman 35 and older, 1st pregnancy or not, is automatically high risk. They are at increased risk of genetic disorders like Downs, for miscarriage, and to have to deliver by C-section.

However, high risk does not mean "always" or even "often".

[Mishi]

Here's another: Abortion=end of a pregnancy without a viable fetus. An intention ending (whether for medical reasons or not) of a pregnancy is a therapeutic abortion. A miscarriage is a spontaneous abortion. There are other types with equally confusing terms.

:mad: That is definitely something that the doctors should be reminded of!

[wagegoth]

As a nurse, I would not back down on that. Because education on health risks is a primary nursing responsibility, and the risk factors of diet, alcohol, drug use, and smoking are well known. Here's a dirty little secret of health care: nurses practice medicine all the time. What we really can't do is diagnose . . . which is fine with us as that is not our role. Our role is to provide education and care.

Yes, those risks are well known, so repeating the same thing time and time again only pisses people off, it isn't educating them. Also, you don't necessarily know what all my health issues are, so lecturing me about something like that isn't going to help anyone and it's going to make a mile-wide rift in the patient relationship.

[blas]

A lot of nurses smoke. So do a lot of doctors. I'd rather not be preached at when they probably stop at Starbucks every morning, smoke half a pack of cigarettes, and then eat Arbys on the way home, same as I do.

[Sapphire Silk]

Yes, those risks are well known, so repeating the same thing time and time again only pisses people off, it isn't educating them. Also, you don't necessarily know what all my health issues are, so lecturing me about something like that isn't going to help anyone and it's going to make a mile-wide rift in the patient relationship.

So you think I should just ignore the obvious and say nothing at all?

All too often I have patients who complain about chronic pain. If they lost the weight, a lot of their pain would go away.

Or patients who continuously have problems with asthma . . . that would go away if they quit smoking.

It is true some patients don't want to hear it. How far I'll go will depend on the willingness of the patient to listen.

But to ignore clear teaching needs is negligence . . . we have a legal duty to do that teaching, as well as an ethical one.

Most patients welcome teaching. You seem rather defensive about it. My suggestion would be to have it documented in your chart, "Do not educate me on risk factors related to weight, smoking, alcohol or drugs." Otherwise, the staff have no other choice than to do the education.

A lot of nurses smoke. So do a lot of doctors. I'd rather not be preached at when they probably stop at Starbucks every morning, smoke half a pack of cigarettes, and then eat Arbys on the way home, same as I do.

Actually, very few doctors smoke. Most doctors are of a healthy weight as well.

Nurses do have a problem with the smoking and weight issues. Personally, I do understand the objections of folks who see through the hypocrisy of someone who weighs more than they do trying to educate them on diet. I agree that nurses should practice what they preach. It's a controversial issue within the profession . . . and I've had colleagues get just as defensive about their weight as the patients they are trying to teach.

[Thrifty]

Okay so I had what I thought was a bad doctor experience during a pregnancy, and this new pregnancy all but confirmed it.

So the first time I got pregnant I had an ectopic pregnancy (baby starts to grow in the fallopian tube, not the uterus, very dangerous). If you have one ectopic pregnancy you are at a higher risk for others, very scary.

So I find out I'm pregnant make an appointment explain my fears. They have me come in for a blood test. They call and say you are pregnant, I ask for numbers they refuse to give them to me and have me come in a month later for my first check up. They run various tests and never tell me what any of the results are including the big ultrasound that looks very deeply at the baby. So I switch docs and all is well.

Well I'm newly pregnant again and go back to doc's office I was satisfied with. I called them on a Friday letting them know i had a positive pregnancy test, they got me in monday for blood work, and I have an ultrasound this Thursday.

It is amazing to me that one doctor's office can refuse any results and make me feel like I'm nuts for wanted to get some early tests, and another doctor's office is all over it, making sure me and baby are safe.

[Sapphire Silk]

I don't understand it, either. Patient care is enhanced when the patient is a partner with the physician.

I think it has something to do with the realities of our health care industry. Patient's aren't people. They are commodties. Get them in, get them out because you have to keep the volume up in order to make a living because the reimbursement is so low.

[Teskeria]

As a nurse, I would not back down on that. Because education on health risks is a primary nursing responsibility, and the risk factors of diet, alcohol, drug use, and smoking are well known. Here's a dirty little secret of health care: nurses practice medicine all the time. What we really can't do is diagnose . . . which is fine with us as that is not our role. Our role is to provide education and care.


Don't smoke, rarely drink, don't use non-prescribed drugs (and usually don't use all prescribed doses of painkillers. they make me queasy). However if:
1. Physically handicapped and unable to exercise (was only about 20 lbs overweight before the accident)
2. over 40 lbs of the excess weight was gained while exactly following they doctor/nutritionists diet (had both working together), after having explained to both that their diet was almost twice what I normally eat.
3. been at same weight over 25 years
4 (less important perhaps) every single female in the last 4 generations (except 1 with thyroid issues) has weirdly enough hit the same weight range around the same age (and that includes those like me who didn't see any of the family for a good 15 or more years at one time)

Lecturing me on how I need to lose weight goes in one ear and out the other. It's really fun when they ask for what I've eaten and I can tell them exactly and it's exactly what they intended to recommend as a diet. Get the facts before you lecture is my opinion.
Although I refuse to ever see again the doctor who's first words to me, while I was in severe pain were 'Oh you very fat'

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Some of these posts are skirting the fratching line. Let's keep the thread open by not going there.

[Seshat]

So you think I should just ignore the obvious and say nothing at all?

All too often I have patients who complain about chronic pain. If they lost the weight, a lot of their pain would go away.

<snip>

But to ignore clear teaching needs is negligence . . . we have a legal duty to do that teaching, as well as an ethical one.

Most patients welcome teaching. You seem rather defensive about it. My suggestion would be to have it documented in your chart, "Do not educate me on risk factors related to weight, smoking, alcohol or drugs." Otherwise, the staff have no other choice than to do the education.

My family doctor keeps track of my weight and stores it in my chart. I don't smoke, drink or do non-pharmacy drugs: this minimises the amount of repeat-education I get from that practice.

When giving my medical history, I almost always mention that I've done a chronic pain course at the major rehabilitation hospital in the state. That seems to reassure medical staff about what I know and don't know about managing my pain. That sort of thing might work for people.

[ShadowBall]

Oh blah. I was born about six weeks premature, and weighed about four pounds. Cue now - probably 230 pounds. Obviously pre-natal size will not reflect upon post-natal size. Even if the fetus/baby was fat, that's not abnormal. If it's got a dead twin attached to its chest or its organs on the outside of it's body or is a bird with teeth, then it would be abnormal.

I don't know, I think some doctors just have their heads up their asses in general. Like my old GP who gave me a month's worth of strong antibiotics for the presence of harmless bacteria.

[wagegoth]

My chronic pain was a major contributing factor to my weight gain. The assumption is backwards. I think the biggest problem is that assumptions are being made without the knowledge. My medical chart with my current doctor is going on three inches thick.

And, frankly, if it's obvious, it's obvious, and not worth repeating.

[blas]

My mom told me today that I was called "abnormal" because I was at a premie size and weight when I was born, even though I was born after 9 months.

[fireheart]

Apparaently my sister was BIG for her size when she was born compared to me. Nowadays I'm taller than her by about an inch or so. :p

[georgie]

i do actually have a disabled child and can still remember the feelings i had when my family doctor told me the results of the amnio i had. child with brain damage might not survive birth and if it did then it wouldnt live long (16 in 4 months !!! ner ner)

i wouldnt wish those feelings on the most horrible person in the world. theyre devistating. it actually does feel like the world is ending.


the special school bub goes to has visiting 3rd year (studying) doctors. theyre learning to look at disabled children as children first not just as a disability.

the school headmistress was telling me that everytime one of my daughters classmates goes to hospital her parents are asked if they want to put a DNR in action. Even if the classmate is in for something minor.

I think its a fabulous idea to give doctors classes in bedside manners. Over the years we've had some wonderful doctors and some doctors who i'd like to poke the eyes out of.

[Cat]

One of my younger cousins was premature (I forget my how much) but I truly believe he had to be...he is now a gentle giant (he hands his clothes down to his father....his father is 6') Nature knew what she was doing there!

Doctors, like most professions, have the good ones and the asshats. Sorry to those here who have gotten the latter.

[HappyFun Ball]

You gotta hate doctors that are insensitive. Me, I prefer a female, female doctor because she at least knows what being pregnant is like (And I do know that not all women have had babies).

With my first son, I got big really really fast, I thought I was going to have twins, but the ultrasound showed only one baby. It got to where I could not walk, could not get comfortable, could not sleep and this was at 8 months along. I begged the doctors to induce at 8-1/2 months.. I was miserable! I already had two kids and I had never experienced this amount of pain or immobility. I knew that the last month of pregnancy is mainly for the baby to gain weight. I kept getting the asshat doctor on call, he would just tell me to "get some rest" and he was the doctor I saw for the every 2 weeks and half of the weekly visit.. I pleaded with him to induce, but he insisted that they did not induce until I was 2 weeks late. I hit 40 weeks and I get everyone giving me "How to go into labor" advice, jumping jacks, sex.. Everything I could not do because it was excruciating to just sit still, let along have sex or do jumping jacks. I get to 9-1/2 months and lo and behold! I see a different doctor in the same office and he tells me that magical word "Induce". Anyways, when my son was born I found out why I was so miserable... He weighed 13 pounds and 6 ounces. Now he's a bit small for his age.

[georgie]

13 and a half pounds !!!!

i think my womb just snapped in fright

[Sapphire Silk]

i do actually have a disabled child and can still remember the feelings i had when my family doctor told me the results of the amnio i had. child with brain damage might not survive birth and if it did then it wouldnt live long (16 in 4 months !!! ner ner)

the special school bub goes to has visiting 3rd year (studying) doctors. theyre learning to look at disabled children as children first not just as a disability.

the school headmistress was telling me that everytime one of my daughters classmates goes to hospital her parents are asked if they want to put a DNR in action. Even if the classmate is in for something minor.

I think its a fabulous idea to give doctors classes in bedside manners. Over the years we've had some wonderful doctors and some doctors who i'd like to poke the eyes out of.

The decision as to whether continue a pregnancy like that is a deeply personal one. The role of health care providers is to give information, and support whatever decision the patient makes. Learning something about that patient's values and desires for their care is a good starting place a lot of doctors miss out on.

All hospitals are required to ask every patient if they have advanced directives (of which a DNR is one form) or if they want advanced directives. Even minor procedures have risks, and providers should know what families want in those cases. A lot of heartache has resulted from providers not knowing the patient's feelings on advanced directives and get care they wouldn't have wanted had the frank discussion taken place.

13 and a half pounds !!!!

i think my womb just snapped in fright

Mine too. That's a big baby. Some babies are Large for Gestational Age . . . they hit the big side of the developmental charts. Sometimes it means a problem. Some times not. Macrosomia occurs in cases of Gestational Diabetes. Low blood sugars in baby is usually the worst of the problem and is easily identified and corrected. :)

[Gizmo]

But nooooo. I'm 'fat'. And that is the cause, not symptom, of my problems. According to them. (I call bullshit.)

Its standard response around here no matter what the problem. Yet when you ask for help from a dietician/exercise specialist you get stone silence or the referals go missing.:rolleyes:

We also have the doctors who use "you're too young to have {x} whenever I report a problem to them. Well that doesn't help me when I'm suffering from {x} does it? :rolleyes:

As for the original OP and doctor, he probably wouldn't have got out of there without a large rant from me if he tried that. At least back it up with "because your baby looks fatter than normal I just want to check for {y}." or something! Otherwise leave me/my baby the hell alone!:wave:

[wagegoth]

the school headmistress was telling me that everytime one of my daughters classmates goes to hospital her parents are asked if they want to put a DNR in action. Even if the classmate is in for something minor.

That is one of the most evil things I have ever heard. I'm sitting here fighting back the tears.

[Seshat]

Its standard response around here no matter what the problem. Yet when you ask for help from a dietician/exercise specialist you get stone silence or the referals go missing.:rolleyes:

(This was re 'you're too fat' from doctors)

Gizmo, that's just disgusting. If they honestly believe excess adipose tissue is your problem, they should be giving you dietician/nutritionist access, and access to a physiotherapist or other exercise specialist.

AND they should be monitoring the results. If simple diet and exercise changes don't work, they should be doing the testing to determine whether to refer you to an endocrinologist or gastroenterologist; and send you to a behavioural specialist of some sort.

The endocrinologist and gastroenterologist can help you if there's a physical problem.
The behavioural specialist can help you if you have a psychological issue around eating or exercising.

And let's face it, in modern western society, almost everyone has a psych issue about food and/or exercise. Either that, or they're (a) very lucky, or (b) have already worked on it.

[Becks]

i think my womb just snapped in fright

Mine ran away screaming into the windy, rainy day.

Wait, I think the wind blew it back and it just hit the window.

:blink:

[Little Retail Rabbit]

Mine ran away screaming into the windy, rainy day.

Wait, I think the wind blew it back and it just hit the window.

:blink:

Mine is just hunkering down and crying like a little girl.

But then again, I have tokophobia. It's always doing that :p

[Trjgul]

When I was little, about two I think, I ran into the coffee table in the living room and had to be rushed to the hospital to get stitches above my right eye. It was terrible- I still remember having to be strapped down (they didn't give me anesthesia and I don't remember why) and screaming for my dad.

My mom told me that she was standing in the waiting room when she heard on of the doctors talking to someone else about me and said "Geez, what a brat, she won't stop screaming."

NO SHIT SHERLOCK!! My mom almost punched him in the face.

[Seshat]

Two years old. In pain. Being stitched up without anaesthetic.

Yeah, I'd say screaming is normal.

[Dragon_Dreamer]

They probably thought you had a concussion. Sedating you if you had one would be Bad[tm], iirc.

[Sapphire Silk]

When I was little, about two I think, I ran into the coffee table in the living room and had to be rushed to the hospital to get stitches above my right eye. It was terrible- I still remember having to be strapped down (they didn't give me anesthesia and I don't remember why) and screaming for my dad.

My mom told me that she was standing in the waiting room when she heard on of the doctors talking to someone else about me and said "Geez, what a brat, she won't stop screaming."

NO SHIT SHERLOCK!! My mom almost punched him in the face.

As well she should. Asshole.

I've had doctors try and refuse to numb a laceration before sewing it on kids, saying, "they'll feel pain anyway." Yes, yes they will. But they'll also be holding still while you're trying to sew them back together, and that means it will hurt a lot less you dumbass!

There are a lot of tricks for numbing a kid. An ice pack to the area helps, then you can squirt a bit of lidocaine onto the wound, it'll get numb, and then you can inject it directly. Hurts a lot less. Shielding the needle from the kids gaze (but NOT blindfolding him) helps.

Another tactic is something called TAC or LET. TAC is Tetracaine, adrenaline and Cocaine and LET is Lidocaine Epinepherine and tetracaine. You pour this solution into a cotton ball and pack the wound, cover with gauze and tape for about 15 minutes. Numbs it up enough to sew in most cases, or at least numb more with an injection of lidocaine.

Finally . . . don't tie the kid down! Kids hate to be tied down . . . it scares them. Even toddlers often can understand that doctors and nurses are trying to help them if you take time to explain what you are going to do in language they can understand, then give them permission to be scared and to cry if they feel pain. Make them and the parents part of the team . . . it works so much better.

[LadyAndreca]

I fell face-first onto the pointy end of my grandparents' cat when I was a toddler. My fault. I was supposed to be napping, but I was leaning waaaay over the bed so I could juuuust reach the inviting kitty belly and gravity took over. Poor Piano had a battery of tests and both my parents and grandparents had to argue HARD for him not to be put down afterwards because he was just defending himself from the dumb kid. I was screaming so bad from fear of my parents and grandparents' unholy wrath for not taking my nap like I was supposed to (as I remember it, this was the biggie), and pain from lacerated face, that they just stitched me up without numbing me because I was already screaming. I came out of it with just a tiny scar near my eye--it balanced out the pockmark on the other side from when I had chicken pox so very few people have ever noticed either.

It generally takes me two shots of novocane at the dentist, though I was gassed under for my wisdom teeth extraction. One of my brothers just had three for a root canal, then the dentist refused to give him any more and sent him home to make an appointment with a specialist.

[Gizmo]

(This was re 'you're too fat' from doctors)

Gizmo, that's just disgusting. If they honestly believe excess adipose tissue is your problem, they should be giving you dietician/nutritionist access, and access to a physiotherapist or other exercise specialist.



I agree. Unfortunately being the NHS its been this way for decades. It shouldn't be but some doctors use it as an excuse to basically say "this isn't my problem, people can lose weight on their own, these things could (in maybe 40% of cases or less) be purely weight based" and writing off difficult symptoms (such as sleep apnea, muscle/bone aches, backaches etc in my case. Its even worse since I shouldn't eat dairy - makes me feel like i have a bad cold - and there is circumstantial evidence of possible bone issues in my family).

I have other friends who have the same thing and have given up completely on trying to get things sorted. It tends to make it more stressful trying to get the symptoms investigated than just work around the problems. One has just found out that a low salt diet was actually causing problems so trying to eat healthy to lose weight has contributed to her problems.

/will get off soap box now.