Irked at the Stupidity

[Hound dog]

I have a LOT of friends on fb. Some all over the world, many that are actually in my area even though I don't know them personally.

Just had a woman post that her baby has been running 104 temp most of the day, furthest they've gotten it down to is 102. Woman also said that although she's been giving the baby cool baths all day it's not working and she's not had wet diaper at all today.

Yet she has just decided if the baby isn't better within an hour, she might have to take her to the ER.

Seriously?

Now I realize there are some inexperienced parents, but don't you think the no wet diaper and the raging fever MIGHT have been a TIP OFF something is WRONG? omg

So I just told her to get that baby to the ER NOW, she's dehydrated. I hope to heaven she's on the way there now.

Why on earth would you post that on facebook but not think to maybe call the child's pediatrician doctor or a grandparent and ask their advice?? This world has gone crazy, I swear.

Sorry. Rant over. Saying a prayer for this little one instead. omg

 

[TeDo]

I join you in that prayer. Poor baby. That is "neglect" as far as I'm concerned. I hope it turns out to be nothing much but if it's anything serious, I hope they go after her with both barrels (so to speak)!!!

 

[Hound dog]

OH, wait, it gets worse.

Seems I'm also friends with the grandmother of this infant. The grandmother is trying to get mom to take the baby (young mom by the way) to the ER. They're out of gas. Grandma is trying to get her to call an ambulance, asked me to please tell her to call an ambulance..........so I messaged her and explained I'm a nurse and why the situation is serious and to call an ambulance if she had no other transport to the ER.

Now the girl is not talking to grandma......last heard she was calling the pediatrician doctor. It can take forever for the answering service to get back to a parent. holy cow! And grandma is too far away to just go get them. (so am I for that matter, there in a town about 15 miles from here)

 

[Liahona]

How so many of our children survive parenting like this I don't know. I hope the nurses ream her when she (eventually) gets to the er for not bringing the baby in earlier.

she probably knows someone (neighbor, friend) who would take them. Hey, even a complete stranger if a women said I need to take my baby to the er and I'm out of gas would probably help.

 

[DammitJanet]

Dont limit it to just a woman who would take her, a father would too. Cory has picked up kids he barely knew and kept them for weeks at a time because the parents were out partying. Of course no one brought diapers or formula. He would have taken anyone to the hospital for a sick baby.

 

[AnnieO]

I'm praying for this little one too. 104 temp?! As soon as it hit 102 I'd have been on my way to the ER with the kid. Also no wet diapers is even scarier.

I had a friend whose second son at 5 weeks went from normal to 105 in the span of about 2 hours. She flipped out. (She was an STNA, but worked with the elderly.) She called asking what to do, I told her to get the kid to the hospital ASAP and I'd meet her there. J ended up having viral meningitis. You'd never know it now - he'll be 10 in October and he's a healthy, strapping young man - but what if she hadn't gone to the hospital?!

if you know what happens, let us know.

 

[JJJ]

More proof that child rearing needs to be a mandatory part of school starting in jr high.

 

[tiredmommy]

Saying a prayer for that little one.

 

[AnnieO]

More proof that child rearing needs to be a mandatory part of school starting in jr high.

I don't totally disagree, but Jett and I were discussing stuff similar to this last night. I honestly think if parents (in general) taught their kids as they were going along... Kids might have a better idea. They might not know it all (who does?!) - but...

 

[Hound dog]

I woke up to a message from the girl that "her fever broke, but she has no gas for the ER".

I think this has less to do with parenting and more to do with common sense.

I can understand no gas for the ER. I can even understand being leery of knocking on neighbor's doors in the middle of the night asking for a ride. I even know from experience that some very young people just do not understand the concept of WHEN and WHY to call an ambulance when one is needed, they believe if you're not bleeding to death you don't need one. But this mom, if she is flat broke as she says, has no money for pedialyte or anything else.

Hopefully grandma will go over this morning and give her a ride.

 

[hearts and roses]

Also, young mothers need to trust their own mothers and grandmothers on the advice they give them. Maybe not all the advice, but certainly if your mother tells you to get the baby to the ER due to a high fever and dry diaper...she should listen instead of feel as if her mom is just meddling. Jeezuz, why are people so afraid to act on the warnings of mothers with been there done that experience???? Maddening.

Sending out prayers, I sure hope that baby gets the attention she/he needs. Cold baths ARE NOT GOOD! Stupid stupid stupid.

 

[1905]

I once read a book written by a pediatric nurse or dr. about the dumbest things she had seen in her career. One was a woman who came in with a baby who had diarrea. She told the mom to give the baby Pedialyte and she would check the baby in 2 weeks. Well, 2 weeks later the woman was back having given the baby NOTHING but the Pedialyte for the entire 2 weeks. Can you imagine? You would think the baby would not survive that. Horrifying.

It's scary how dumb some people can be.

 

[donna723]

Wow! Just wow! So this poor baby still hasn't seen a doctor? I hope this girl doesn't think that the baby is "cured" because the fever came down a little! A dehydrated infant can go downhill soooo fast! Another thing I would worry about ... when my daughter was a baby she would have seizures with a high fever, once severe enough to keep her in the ICU for a few days! Very scary! The pediatrician said that it wasn't necessarily how high the fever got but how quickly it spiked that caused the seizures. Fortunately for us, we only lived a block away from a fire station and those guys were great! More than once we called them and they were there in a minute or two, taking her to the hospital in an ambulance and giving her good care all the way there.

 

[CrazyinVA]

I hate to say it, but is it possible she's exaggerating? I see lots of attention-seeking posts on Facebook, unfortunately. My own pet peeve.

 

[muttmeister]

Another thought: I agree that this is stupid, the baby needs attention IMMEDIATELY, etc. BUT if she lives in the US, she may have put off going to the doctor because she feels she cannot afford to go. Yes, we've seen enough to know that's a silly excuse but I've also seen enough poor people who need medical care who are not poor enough to get Medicaid or whatever that they get themselves into dangerous situations because of the financial aspect. Nothing is too much to pay for our kids, BUT when you are poor and desperate, the idea of calling an ambulance and having them sue you and garnish your wages forever can be a huge obstacle. I hope she listens to everybody and gets the help they need SOON.

 

[DammitJanet]

True Mutt...the hospital might not sue but the ambulance could be a totally different story. Also the looking for attention thing could be an idea. I have seen that happen too.

 

[Hound dog]

I'm wondering now if the girl was being overly dramatic about the fever ect for attention. Because all of a sudden bright and early the next morning everything was just peachy and she was posting pics of her kids ect.........and said baby is 2 yrs old. Still not good if what she said is true, but vastly different than say a 3 month old infant in the same circumstances. Know what I mean?? I don't think the child was seen at all.

Here there is no reason to fear calling an ambulance because you can't pay for it. There are programs out there to either eliminate the cost or get it down so far that you can deal with it. That is actually the way for most medical services, our hospital will write off 90 percent of a bill for low income family so they can at least get some payment......if income is low enough, they do the apps and the country pays it.

These days you can call a hospital or doctor billing office and wheel and deal yourself out of a good portion of your bill. Now I'm not sure how well it would work for someone with a good income and good insurance..... but uninsured can do it and I know low income can.

Shoot, Aubrey got careflighted to Cincy. A 5,000 bill right there. The kids never had to pay it, someone else picked up the tab.

And yeah, I know with all the help out there you have people who believe they'll get sued ect ect over the medical bills. But I've been in medical debt the vast majority of my adult life, I've had one sue me......and it wasn't the doctor it was the bill collector and he lost. For 99 percent of them, it's not worth the cost of trying to sue you because if the court sees you're too poor to pay it, they're going to side with you.........the whole can't get blood out of a stone deal. At least in ohio anyway. But I had similar experiences in Indiana and Illinois.

 

[muttmeister]

You're lucky; around here hospitals, doctors, and ambulance services can and do sue. It is very common for them to garnish the wages of people who barely make minimum wage. And they do not reduce the amount you owe so once they garnish your wages they can take 25% of your pay and if you don't make much it basically means they will get it for years.

I'm glad the baby appears to be OK. (for now) Scary.

 

[buddy]

Wow that brings back a terrible memory. My niece/God daughter was the only baby for a long time and I cared for her a lot of the time. My sister's ex is adhd and ???? I will be honest he has grown and does much better. He was a new dad and clueless but..... I arrived and he was holding her. I took her and because I have cared for many many infants I knew she was HOT. I asked for a thermometer and under arm said 106 so I asked him if I could do a rectal and it was accurate (sister is a nurse they had the right thermometer. ) He laughed. Said hed call the doctor after his dinner cooked and he ate. I snuck away and called sister while finding tylenol and running a cool bath. Sister called pediatrician and they wanted her in now! And her husband ( now ex) was ****** at me. He didn't want me to go but i said if she has a seizure you need me. If I can't come I'm calling 911. At the doctor he got ****** again they wanted to cath for urine and get blood he didnt want it because she cried ( no tears though)! I still shake when I think of it. The doctor was ready to call cps...poor kid of course ended up in the hospital. I kept defending dad saying I thought he was just so scared etc. In denial. I didn't want my sister to suffer for his actions. They got permission from her. He almost grabbed the baby and left and I talked him down. Never had I experienced something like that.

What she had???

I was banned from seeing her for a while till caring for her became inconvenient for him again. She could have died and he never acted anything but like the whole mess was my fault. I was sooo respectful to him the whole time. Even when I said I'd call 911 I said it in a way that sounded like he would of course want that too now that he knows how serious this is.....she is 16 now and it still makes me mad.

I sure hope that baby is ok. I do understand the money thing but we have to do what we have to do. That is a life or death situation. Glad you saw the post. Hope she is better now.