Glaucoma caused by steroid use

[littlebiddle]

It has been known by medical professionals since the 1940s that oxygen treatment can cause blindness.

Retrolental fibroplasia (an eye problem common in premature infants) has been a known and expected consequence of oxygen administered to premature babies. But oxygen treatment is necessary to assist with the breathing of infants born with underdeveloped lungs.

It was in the late 1990s that many doctors chose to use corticosteroids to treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia (a respiratory problem which affects half of all preemies weighing less than 750g). The steroids were, and still are, a way to strengthen the lungs while reducing the amount of time that a premature infant requires concentrated oxygen.

Both oxygen treatment and steroid treatment come with risks. And steroid treatment has never eliminated the risk of blindness. As I mentioned early on, with premature infants it is often a balancing act between risks and benefits - often death versus life with possible complications, some complications of which can be severe.

I understand that sometimes doctors make mistakes and some of these mistakes can be serious. A doctor should be held accountable for the serious mistakes that should have been foreseen and could have been avoided. That said, I still do not see a medical malpractice suit in what has been related to us so far by littlebiddle. I see instead a tragic but probably unavoidable outcome to a treatment that was deemed necessary by the daughter's treating physician.

It would not hurt for littlebiddle to have her daughter's medical history reviewed by other medical professionals, though. Knowing the steroid treatment was a proper treatment for her daughter's BPD could bring to littlebiddle some comfort.

I know appreciation doesn't pay the bills, but I will bet your clients feel lucky when they find you. I just recently wrote an article about compassion and its importance in helping people heal after tragic events such as war and widespread disaster. Just a little goes a really long way. Thank you for understanding the importance of truth and compassion. When we feel like we're on the same team and not in an adversarial relationship, everyone benefits. It preserves everyone's dignity.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Well, that certainly changes things for me.

I had assumed that you were just misguided and struggling. Based on your long diatribe, I have concluded that you really are calculating and looking for some sort of pay out, because the world owes you. It doesn't. Sometimes things just happen.

You do not have a malpractice suit. The doctor was trying to get oxygen into your daughter so that she wouldn't have MORE brain damage and die of oxygen deprivation. Yes, doctors make mistakes. Are you implying the doctor's mistake is trying to ensure that your daughter live versus die?!

Let me put it another way: prior to the advent of antibiotics in the last century, ear infections were really tough to treat. A relative growing up in the 30's lost hearing in 1 ear and sight in 1 eye as a result of her doctor's treatment for an ear infection (surgery). Penicillin or other antibiotic would be a more effective treatment, but did not exist at that time. You have to apply the standards of medical practice as they existed at that time!

And let me get personal.

I nearly died from side effects from a prescribed medication. There was a blood test that could have been performed that would have shown that such a medication might have lethal. However, the assay test was not recommended by the medical establishment at the time. So, the doctor did not commit malpractice, as she was abiding by the standards at the time.

Go read some more Khalil Gibran and meditate for a while. Because he would agree that your child has a future, just not what you planned. You quote the guy but don't understand, never mind embrace it. Just like you didn't get my reference to Kish. *MY* point was that life can be fully lived blind - NPR even had a segment on "Blindness is a social construct". But hey, talk about loving your child, but wanting to sue the people who made it possible for her to be alive today, since she'd vision impaired. Only you brought up the NBA And that your mother adored Bobby Knight.

------------------

Just to let you know, my daughter is also intellectually impaired due to oxygen deprivation. (I was prepared for this.) And the reason I addressed "ruining a doctor's reputation" was in response to someone's previous comment. (My parents taught me not to roll my eyes.) I am not asking for a public flogging of the doctor but sometimes doctors do make mistakes. That's what I am exploring. I am just asking for informed opinions.

My daughter is currently at The Blind School working to achieve a certificate (life skills) rather than earn a diploma. Her brain was damaged somewhere along the way, probably by lack of oxygen when she was being ventilated for weeks on end, sick with pneumonia, etc.

I am wondering why would you assume that I am unfamiliar with Daniel Kish? I find that fascinating. I have a very strong grasp on the people who populate the visually impaired community of which my daughter is a part. I've had the last 17+ years to do research, learn and try to navigate this However, since you brought it up, there are very few comparisons to be made between my daughter and Daniel Kish. Daniel lost his eyesight - his eyeballs, actually - when he was just over a year old from a cancer known as retinoblastoma. Daniel was born at a normal gestational age, remaining protected inside his mother's womb for the duration of her pregnancy. My daughter was born twelve weeks early, weighing one pound, three ounces. Her brain developed outside the womb and under no circumstances is that the ideal. She may be able to learn echolocation ... the skill that Daniel has perfected ... but she's not going to be the one to meticulously document it and figure out how to teach it. Her birth experience would be more accurately compared to Stevie Wonder, who also suffered from retinopathy of prematurity. Stevie Wonder, however, was born just six weeks premature. And try as I might, I haven't been able to teach Grace how to play the harmonica. (Read up on it. That's the instrument that Stevie Wonder played that impressed Barry Gordy enough to sign him. Barry Gordy didn't even like his voice. )

I could go on.

It's astonishing to me that you would assume I have no knowledge of the people who populate my daughter's visually impaired community. I haven't been sitting around for 17 years doing nothing and hoping that the sky would one day open up and hand me the keys to the kingdom.

I came here to ask a question. I wonder what makes you so angry that I feel conflicted about this issue. Perhaps it's that I don't understand legalities as well as you. Assuming you are an attorney, I guess that makes sense.

I do appreciate your deep and thoughtful insight. And thank you for the kind words about my visual (sic) impaired daughter. That - how was it you phrased it - that she "has a future, just not the path planned." Yes. Damn. All 5'2" of me planned to have a child that played in the NBA. Or at the very least, in the Big 10 Tournament. Oh, that would have made my mom so happy. Big 10 ball was a huge hit in our house. My mom adored Bobby Knight.

I don't recall providing you with a map of the future I had perfectly planned for my daughter before life so rudely (and inevitably) got in our way.

I assume your are intimately familiar with the philosophy of poet and artist Khalil Gibran. I very much subscribe - both on a cerebral and emotional level - to what he wrote about children and our role as a parent. I thank my 7th grade English teacher for introducing me to his work and believing that even a little WASPY girl who grew up in a Midwestern town of 1,000 people had a mind that could stretch to understand the abstract concepts put forth by Gibran.

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

All that I am when you get right down it it is a well-intended mom asking for help navigating some rough waters. Asking for help is an exercise in humility. It shouldn't be humiliating.

It's been said those who give with joy get joy back as their reward. And those who give with pain find that pain is their baptism.

 

[quincy]

I know appreciation doesn't pay the bills, but I will bet your clients feel lucky when they find you. I just recently wrote an article about compassion and its importance in helping people heal after tragic events such as war and widespread disaster. Just a little goes a really long way. Thank you for understanding the importance of truth and compassion. When we feel like we're on the same team and not in an adversarial relationship, everyone benefits. It preserves everyone's dignity.

Thank you for the kind words, littlebiddle. They are appreciated.

I did want to comment a bit on your mention of "adversarial" relationships, though.

The court system in the US is an adversarial one. Two opposing parties meet in court and argue the law from differing positions. They present arguments and evidence to support these positions. An impartial judge and/or jury will assess what is presented, picking up on any flaws or weaknesses in the presentations, and then a decision is made based on the solid evidence, the proven facts, and the law. Court decisions are never perfect but they tend to be fair.

In a court you might not see much compassion but what emerges should be the truth (or something close to it).

What you experience here on FreeAdvice is not all that unlike what you will experience in a courtroom, should you decide to pursue a legal action. It is good preparation for court. And it is an often-unappreciated benefit of this forum.

Again, I wish you and your daughter the best.

 

[Proserpina]

Thank you for the kind words, littlebiddle. They are appreciated.

I did want to comment a bit on your mention of "adversarial" relationships, though.

The court system in the US is an adversarial one. Two opposing parties meet in court and argue the law from differing positions. They present arguments and evidence to support these positions. An impartial judge and/or jury will assess what is presented, picking up on any flaws or weaknesses in the presentations, and then a decision is made based on the solid evidence, the proven facts, and the law. Court decisions are never perfect but they tend to be fair.

In a court you might not see much compassion but what emerges should be the truth (or something close to it).

What you experience here on FreeAdvice is not all that unlike what you will experience in a courtroom, should you decide to pursue a legal action. It is good preparation for court. And it is an often-unappreciated benefit of this forum.

Again, I wish you and your daughter the best.

If every family had just one quincy, the world would be a much, much better place.

Said with the utmost respect and oft-colorful friendship

 

[quincy]

... and oft-colorful friendship

SO oft-colorful, in fact, that I believe we ran out of standard colors a couple of years ago and are now into fluorescents, metallics, silver swirls and gem tones.






(Thank you, Pro)