Can we talk about under1000 again?

TheDuckis

Because I'm bored and meanspirited.

3 Days. 3 days that child was sick before it even occurred to her that he needed medical attention. Could it be because they don't have health insurance? And it took her 2 days to think he might be getting dehydrated, so she gave him pedialite...by the spoonful?

I'm glad the child is going to pull through, but the way she worded it makes it sound like there could be lasting damage. I hope now that she realizes her children's health is at risk she'll reevaluate her life choices.

 

I am thankful that it appears she stopped moderating comments on her post from Thursday. It makes it fun to read again.

PMeg819

The whole situation is just suspicious to me. Why in the world would they immediately think that it's anti-freeze poisoning? And how does a kid get so dehydrated they end up in a coma that quick?

Of course, we don't know the whole story. But I'll be honest...I'm interested to hear how this will affect them financially and if it changes their outlook on healthcare/money/saving/etc.

baconsmom

I'm not judging the three days thing. Bacon's had regular old colds, and been listless and sleepy for three days. I push fluids and make sure she doesn't run too high a fever, but I don't rush out to the docs for every little illness. It can be difficult to tell when a child needs medical attention, and when something will pass on its own, so no, I'm not condemning her for that.

I will say that their ridiculous diet and that horrid hovel is probably what made him sick in the first place, though.

6fsn

Pmeg- someone on another board said that it was standard to test for that.  I don't know if it's true.

I can't imagine not knowing your child was that sick.  Yes, 3 days.  Lord (or DCS) help those children. 

 

TheDuckis

I think 6 said that antifreeze poisoning is a standard test for kids with those symptoms, so I just kindof dismissed that part as routine. But yeah, healthy to so-dehydrated he's in a coma in 3 days is not normal at all.

I would not be surprised if they found out he was severely malnourished. I also wouldn't be surprised if this wins them a CPS investigation. My parents got the 3rd degree anytime one of us ended up in the ER. I hope that's still standard procedure. 

jojobrn

I found it interesting that she points out very specifically he had no fever and was using the bathroom on the first day. Makes me wonder if she wanted to bring him in sooner, but couldn't or wouldn't because of finances and such. It sounded to me like she was justifying her decision to wait until Wednesday.

My specialty isn't pediatrics at all, but I wonder if the metabolic condition they ruled out was diabetes. As for anti freeze, it is incredibly sweet tasting and not uncommon for kids to accidentally drink if they come across it.

I am interested to see how this turns out.

TheDuckis

Bmom, it would be one thing if she was taking care of him during those 3 days, but we all know how busy she was moderating the comments on her blog. And she didn't think to push fluids until day 3. And what did he eat on the day he only got up to go to the bathroom?

6fsn

On my bus to hell:  I wonder if he thought the hospital food was better than his mom's.  I wonder if her budget this month will be less since the state will pay for the hospital stay and she didn't need to feed him.

TheDuckis

Will the state pay for the entire hospital stay? Do they even have state healthcare for the kids still? She had talked about dropping it and picking it back up in case of an emergency. Maybe that's why she waited 3 days, because she needed to call and get the kid covered again.

6fsn

Even if they aren't on state aid someone will eat that hospital stay.  They fall below the poverty level so there will be hospital write offs.  Then they'll probably set up payments of $25 for life.  Bottom line is EK certainly won't pay what she really should for this incident.

Butter Cookie

Maybe she'll be able to buy herself something nice with the money she saved not feeding her child while he was in the hospital, like a plastic spatula from the dollar store.

It would be different if she made sure he was taking in fluids, but she says herself she didn't start that until day three, and then it was by the spoonful. Why the spoonful? So she could preserve Pedialyte (it's expensive, esp for someone who won't buy anything that costs more than $1 per lb) or because he couldn't manage to get down any more at a time than that? Either way, bad. 

femmevilain

I assume she mentioned him using the bathroom because that would indicate he may not be dehydrated.

I'm curious as to why the pedialyte was given by spoon. If it was because he was not alert enough to drink on his own, that alone should have sent off red flags. Pedialyte is meant to be drank (drunk?)  by the ounce, not tablespoon.

PMeg819

I had no idea about the antifreeze.

But like I said, the whole situation is just odd. Yes, kids get sick and are listless. Hell, when I'm sick it's hard enough to drag myself out of bed to shower. But in a coma like that? I don't know. It's just fishy.

TheDuckis

I have heard that when kids are sick you're supposed to give them fluids in tiny sips or spoonfuls. But I think the idea is you're constantly feeding them spoons of fluids instead of forcing them to gulp it down all at once. EK made it sound more like she gave him a spoonful every hour or so, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt there.

The fact that "They immediately transferred him to the Intensive Care Unit in a larger hospital." is what makes me think she waited until he was way too far gone to take him in.

mrs.conn23

There's tired and listless and then there's practically comatose.  I know when kiddo's really sick or just not 'feeling well'.  When the kiddo is sick, he has no energy and no interest in anything but laying around.  When he doesn't feel well, he'll be OK for stretches of time and then he'll start feeling run down and get cranky/tired. 

I think I would figure out before three days if something was that wrong with the kiddo.  It scares me that she didn't realize how bad it was. 

jojobrn

The fact that "They immediately transferred him to the Intensive Care Unit in a larger hospital." is what makes me think she waited until he was way too far gone to take him in.

This. Yes, I've seen my niece sick, she can be listless, sleep a lot, etc. But when the child isn't taking fluids unless you are pushing a spoon into his mouth there is a huge, huge problem.

I also can't get over how she knew something was wrong when his breath become "troubling." Oh really, the fact that he was likely struggling to breathe by then was troubling?