Me When I was a Premature Baby Blood Issue

[Sequoia]

I can't remember if I've ever posted about this and I'm not sure where to post this.

 

I know that some Witnesses have had issues with doctors and the blood issue with premature infants over the years although some doctors have been willing to do non blood medical treatment and have helped the infants that way.

 

Well my story:  I was born in 1987 when the transfusion trigger was still higher than it is now. The lowest they allowed a person to get hemoglobin wise was a 10 now they wait often until a person reaches a 7. 

 

The doctors induced labor because my mom has diabetes from childhood and her blood pressure went through the roof and they were afraid she was going to have a major stroke and could die.  Also the pregnancy caused complications with her eyes with the diabetes.  My mom ended up going totally blind but could still see at that point and they were still trying to save her eyesight.

 

So I was born two months early.  My mom (Grandparents were there too) didn't get to see me at first because doctors from pediatrics were waiting with warm blankets and they quickly took me and wrapped me up and rushed to put me in an isolette. 

 

Well not long later when my mom was in her room the Pediatrician in charge of my care approached her and told her that I wasn't making my own blood and that my hemoglobin was a 7 they usually give blood when it drops below 10. 

 

My mom starting crying and quoting statistics about the bad things that have happened to people from taking blood and stated that due to her religious beliefs she would not accept it.  He said:  "I don't blame you I wouldn't want it for my own kids." 

 

He said: "We can wait 24 hours from now for her to start making her own blood, but after that, the State will take over and it will be out of my hands."  "But I'll let you know what's going on so you can get your people to help you."

 

As far as my blood count he acknowledged that premature infants can tolerate lower than 10 and he said that they would let it get low but they could only let it get to a certain point.  I say we and they because I had other doctors treating me.   

 

Well within 24 hours he approached my mom with a smile on his face and gave her the thumbs up and said that I was making my own blood all on my own at a good pace.  Also my blood count was going up it had gone down some but not for long.

 

Another thing is that Doctor wasn't supposed to be on duty that night, for some reason we don't know he came on duty so my mom could have been dealing with someone else.

 

I know they've used EPO on some premature infants successfully but they didn't use it with me. They say that using oral iron and B12 with the EPO makes it work better with premature babies sometimes along with other things including being careful with the blood tests.  They should always be careful with the blood tests and should try to use less blood.

 

I could have been born at 3 pounds being two months early but diabetics often have bigger babies.  So although I was small I was weighed more than a two month early preemie, I was born at four pounds eleven ounces and then went down to four pounds and seven ounces which is normal for the weight to go down somewhat.

 

Additionally I was all beat up from the extremely rough delivery I had a black eye and bruises on other parts of my body for my first baby photo.  My bottom lip was paralyzed in the beginning.   They gave me a 50/50 chance of making it (Not because of the blood)  They ended up saying that I was a strong baby.

 

 

I was born at the University Hospital for Washington State but when I was two weeks old they sent me in ambulance to a unit in another hospital to be close to home. 

 

The pediatrics nurse and one of the doctors asked my mom if I'd had a blood transfusion, because I was anemic although not to the point where'd they'd give blood, they were treating me for it.  My mom said no and explained.  They said that's good because when you give infants blood they can forget how to make their own so they become anemic.  

 

I also got very jaundiced in that hospital but the light therapy worked.  I was there for two additional weeks, so a total of a month hospitalized, then I got to go home and now I'm 32.  

 

And that's my story.  I bring it up because of the blood issue.

[Miss Bea]

I appreciated the wisdom shown here. And your Mom’s stand. (Did her sight improve?) Also, at that day and age, I suspect doctors thought they were more , “god-like”. Not as much responding to what a patient had to say, but just “knowing”, they were right. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Miss Bea

[Sequoia]

21 minutes ago, Miss Bea said:

I appreciated the wisdom shown here. And your Mom’s stand. (Did her sight improve?) Also, at that day and age, I suspect doctors thought they were more , “god-like”. Not as much responding to what a patient had to say, but just “knowing”, they were right. 

Thank You for your comments.

 

No her sight did not improve she is still totally blind and has been since I was one year old and was losing vision before that.  She saw me clearly for the first six months then it became increasingly more difficult.  

 

The retina completely detached in one eye and other things happened with her other eye. I apologize if I'm getting too graphic.  What she had is called diabetic retinopathy which diabetics can get but the pregnancy triggered hers.  

 

There were ophthalmologists involved, different than an optometrist they are medical doctors and surgeons. She was having problems with her eyes early in the pregnancy so they did massive lasers a type of laser during the pregnancy which ended two months early so she never had the final lasers.  Although she did have six eye surgeries my first year of life. 

 

Nothing they did worked and she had great ophthalmologists.  First in the town where she lived then in Seattle the same city where I was born in the University Hospital.  

 

She also previously alway got her eyes checked by her regular ophthalmologist every six months which is good for diabetics to do.  But the pregnancy put pressure on her eyes very rapidly.  And she's not the only diabetic to go blind it happens sometimes sadly.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by JW2017

[Miss Bea]

I’ve worked with people with diabetes. (What’s happening with your vision is generally happening with your kidneys 😞.) I thought about it, wondered if after the BP went down, if there is a chance of it reversing. 
I think your mom lived in the time of, “Eat what you want. Just adjust your insulin”. 

She will get that sight back. And if you are close enough, and find it proper, please give her a hug for me. 
Hind thought. Um, if this is not possible, she will still get that hug, eventually. If possible...

Edited January 9, 2020 by Miss Bea
Hind thought!

[Sequoia]

25 minutes ago, Miss Bea said:

I’ve worked with people with diabetes. (What’s happening with your vision is generally happening with your kidneys 😞.) I thought about it, wondered if after the BP went down, if there is a chance of it reversing. 
I think your mom lived in the time of, “Eat what you want. Just adjust your insulin”. 

She will get that sight back. And if you are close enough, and find it proper, please give her a hug for me. 

That's what amazes the doctors my mom's kidneys have always been fine and other organs as well she has a strong heart. (Heart disease is even hereditary on her dad's side not because of diabetes she got her mom's strong heart)  She's been totally blind for 31 years and organs have been doing pretty good.  Only now are her kidneys and liver showing some issues to some extent but not severely.  

My mom blamed her self because although most of her life up to that point and since then she had taken care of her diabetes since she was diagnosed at 6 well her mother made sure at that age.  She cheated and ate things she shouldn't for five years.  The doctors say that is not why she went blind it was the pregnancy. Also getting tight control of the diabetes quickly during the pregnancy is good for the baby but it actually puts more pressure on the eyes interesting isn't it.  

 

It's possible she would have eventually gone blind anyway we just don't know but not from what she did.  She lived such a rigid life and she never did the things many diabetics do especially as teens that are terrible for them.  Pretending they're not diabetics.   

 

And what happened with my mom's eyes was so severe there's no way to reverse it it's permanent.   They actually had to remove her real eyes and make prosthetics that look like her real ones.  It was very traumatic for her they were the only thing she liked about her face not that that there's something wrong with her other features they were and are since the prosthetics look the same her best feature.  

 

Also some have made unkind comments when she's received compliments on her eyes saying "Well they're not real!"  Or she had them made to look that way.  

 

I have pictures of her when she was sighted and people that knew her then to prove otherwise but why would people say things like that.  She used to not tell very many people that her eyes aren't real anymore because of it.

 

She could change colors if she wanted to but she keeps the same color that they were because she wants them to look like her real eyes did.  They have to be re made every five years.

 

Back to how to severe for a while she had one real eye but the vision was never going to come to that eye either even before they eventually removed it.  

 

The doctors did say if she got pregnant again it would shut down her kidneys.  But the first already took her and chose her eyes so the kidneys would be next.

 

I hope this helps answer any questions you have. 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by JW2017

[Sequoia]

Also my mom should have been bed rested during the pregnancy but she was never told that she was just to told to get enough rest and to keep resting.  Well with my mom's definition of rest not working at her job not cleaning laying down and taking naps.  She was resting.  But she should have been bed ridden and no one including the OB/GYN who told her to rest told her that.