Hey everyone so sorry I have been missing in action lately, I do have my reasons so please forgive me. I have missed updating you lovely lot and I hope you all have missed my blabber! As many of you know my little baby needed emergency surgery recently for malrotation and while we had an amazing week post surgery he hit rock bottom and since then we have been hospitalised a few times. He has been having spasms of pain like you would not believe, it honestly breaks my heart to sit and watch him suffer like this. He has such intense pain he screams so highpitched and actually goes into convulsions at times it would terrify you. Needless to say our hospital stays have not been plain sailing and what I have had to endure the past few weeks is shocking. My baby started to get really constipated which apparently should not happen after he has recovered from his surgery as that was supposed to fix things and combined with really bad wind and the screaming in pain I took him to hospital. Doctors where concerned there was a blockage so they called for one of the surgical team to come to A&E. Of course several hours later someone actually decided to turn up, I know everywhere is short-staffed but I wouldn’t like to have seen my baby’s chances if it was an emergency if that is how slow they where to respond to a potential blockage in his bowel. When the staff in question appeared the patronising manner in which I was spoken to was absurd and he had the audacity to accuse my baby of being hungry and then add that I was a little bit neurotic. Well let me tell you that was like a red flag to a bull! Does this idiot really think I would go to the trouble of bringing my baby to A&E if he was crying from hunger. Honestly I’m surprised I was able to compose myself and not find myself being led away in handcuffs. He went on to say there was nothing wrong with my baby blah blah blah we have been here several times before. We got admitted around midnight and discharged at lunchtime the next day with suppositories in hand and told my baby just cries. Marvellous how these people actually listen to parents.
We went back home and persevered a week until it got too much and I had to take him back, I was really frightened now as to what could be the problem. On the next visit we where admitted straight away and of course the whole performance starts again, to cut a long story short we seen medical staff, surgical staff, dietician, reflux doctors, gastro doctors, and not one of them could come up with what was causing my baby his pain. Not one Doctor ordered a blood test, we where left most of the time alone and they didn’t bother to come to us until I asked to see a Doctor. After all I was the neurotic mum who was bothering everyone and wasting their time with a well baby apparently. Yet again no-one was listening to me that my baby was in pain. A few doctors where around to witness the screaming fits and I even took a few videos to show anyone who would listen but to no avail no-one seemed bothered. Everyone was in terrible moods most of the time, it was a real hassle for them to have to try and help my baby. Some blamed reflux, some said to start him on solids, other said he was having an allergic reaction, I asked would he be in pain healing from the surgery and was shot down with a no, I asked could something have been damaged in surgery, again no, what about the wind would it be from the surgery, honestly I might as well have been dealing with Dr Doolittle most days. In a nutshell I was treated like a child myself, a neurotic mother who was wasting everyone’s time. I was so tired and worn out, they really broke me this time. I was tired fighting for my little baby. He has no voice he just has me to defend him and try and get him help. Most days I have not known where to turn, the ignorance of most of the hospital staff has shocked me. There is no respect for parents and it wasn’t just our experience. I got to witness this happening many times with other poor parents. Despite having posters all around the hospital saying to speak up you know your child best, when you do it falls on deaf ears. Where is the love and passion for their job and patients, if they are there for the pay packet only then they really are in the wrong business.
Since this we have been back to hospital yet again to see the one and only lovely consultant who does take us seriously and she had arranged for him to have a barium enema which did help to clear him out and since then he has been able to go to the toilet and he did have another great week with hardly any pain but then back to the screaming again. I was advised to go onto a special formula from breastfeeding but my baby would not drink it and I know that is not the answer. We where up for his surgical review today and everything has healed well and from their point of view he does not need anymore surgery on his bowel which is fantastic news but we are yet to get to the bottom of what is still causing him this pain. I am just a hop, skip and jump from a meltdown. And so the saga continues……..
