C.S. Mott Children's Hospital — Local services in Ann Arbor

After being in the emergency room, in another hospital, for approx 16 hours, for an my sons eye infection. Me and my son were transfered and admitted, three hours away, by ambulance, to Motts hospital. We hadn't any clothes, except what was on us, hadn't eaten or drank anything in almost 24 hours. Upon the arrival , Motts doctors ordered another CAT scan as they wanted to sedate my 1.5 yr old again, even though, an overdose was near as he already had been through 16 hours of needles and drugs !( I guess, somehow, the CAT scan at the other hospital wasn't good enough for them lol?!.) So they tried to drug my son again, but it wasn't working so 4 staff tried to force/hold my 1.5 yr old son down to get a CAT scan , My son was screaming bloody murder and resisting the 4 , adult staff, restraint by fighting them off!!, If you can imagine that?! This went on for what seemed like an hour! What I witnessed, was unbelievable! It makes no sense why they gave him more drugs and caused this 1.5 yr old this incredible stress and anxiety by using force and drugging him to the max. As I had to watch this , I kept thinking, "Is this right?, It sure didn't feel right!. It was "HORRIFYING "what they did. Eventually the Drs gave up and the CAT scan, was rescheduled a few days later after medication was started. (FYI, They didn't need that C-scan to start medication he improved immediately ) Once in the room, the staff was quite rude and ignored my questions on, what was available to me, was reluctant to give me information to help myself, or tell me what was going on with my son's situation. When I asked, " Where I could get something to drink", they looked at me like, ' Whatever' ! After 3 or 4 days there, I found I had access to a washer and dryer, and shower no thanks to the staff, it was due to another parent, who was no stranger to the hospital. After the CAT scan was done, I kept asking about the results, as I could physically see my son improving as his eye swelling was gone, days before the C-Scan and he was active and happy, and I couldn't wait to go home, but no answer. Approx. 2 days later, after the C-scan the doctors didn't come to visit me, a nurse came in the early morning and told me, that, "The bacteria spread to my sons brain" (Even though there was no physical evidence, and he had improved, I had to trust what she claimed, I was shocked! Why would this response take two days? ) my son was supposedly scheduled for surgery later that day, (in a few hours) and was put on a," NO FOOD OR DRINK ORDER". Breakfast, and lunch time went by, but the staff had no answers when it came to the surgery , and refused to take him off the No Food or Drink order. ( Imagine, a 1.5 year old having no drink, or food for 16 hours already?) At dinner time, I had enough!!, and let my son eat and drink because dinner time was almost over, and no word on the surgery. (Poor thing!!, was starving, and thirsty!!) The Dr's showed up in the next a.m and told me that, "You can go home"! Really?!!! . Why would that Nurse say, "The bacteria had spread to the brain"? When it did not, or that," He needed surgery" when he did NOT? And keep this going for 24 hours? Was this a sick joke? It's like they have no compassion for children at all or their family. I have to wonder, "Were they just running up the bill? I think it took another day or so for me to get checked out too. I also witnessed an aide, walking a girl patient back to her bed (she was right across from us)and basically let her drop and while the girl had a seizure on the floor not support her head, on that hard hospital floor. She asked me if I saw it, as she was aware. Plus the antibiotics they gave my son, I believe are responsible for his hearing loss as I found out later as it progresses over time. I wish I was at least aware of this. Antibiotics as well as many drugs, especially in high amounts, by IV, are ototoxic. It's amazing how many children today have...

My son was 8 weeks old but 2 weeks corrected due to prematurely when he was brought to Mott’s on 12-26 in the evening. I had written his symptoms and when they appeared in a note on my phone to give to the doctor, which I still have. This is exactly what I handed the doctor in the ED: 12-25 Tuesday Congestion (12:00pm) Cough (10:30pm) Decreased appetite (11:00pm) 12/26 Wednesday Spitting up (10am) Decreased wet diapers (3pm) Wheezing 5:00pm

They suggested doing a lumbar puncture which I declined because my son did not have a fever. Before discharge, the doctor told me “ there is a virus going around that causes a lot of congestion in the nose so make sure you clear his nose frequently.” Which tells me he probably knew my son had RSV. He was discharged at 10pm with symptoms listed as fever and dehydration.

My son’s pediatrician’s office called the next day and I told them that Mott’s said he was fine and I would prefer to not expose him to anymore germs but they suggested I bring him in just in case. I almost didn’t take him because I had such faith in the doctors at Mott’s but I agreed and scheduled an appointment for the next morning.

In the morning brought him into pediatrician office and she just looked at him and almost accusingly stated “he is very sick!” She could see how bad his retractions (chest pulling in effort to get air) were even with his clothes on. I had no clue! He didn’t look any different from when he was at Mott’s. I gave her the same list of symptoms I gave Mott’s as it was written down in my phone. She immediately tested for RSV and was positive. She was very angry that the hospital didn’t test him. She said: “it is standard this time of year! “Did you tell them he was premature?” “Are you sure they didn’t test him?” As she had staff to assist in doing a breathing treatment right there in the office. She later told me that she called and demanded to speak to the ED doctor because she was so angry that they didn’t test for RSV. At our pediatrician request, we took him directly to DMC hospital. At that point, he had Bronchiolitis due to RSV and required an x-ray to ensure his lung didn’t collapse due to the force it was taking him to breath. He was hospitalized for 5 days and put on oxygen

I filed a complaint with patients relations at Mott’s because I felt it is something that should addressed to ensure it didn’t happen to another baby. I really was only going to take it that far until I received a response from their patient relations that states “When your son was in the Emergency Department for evaluation of his symptoms on December 26th, 2018, it was determined that he had no signs of RSV on exam during his visit. Testing for RSV is only informative and does not affect care, as there is no treatments for RSV. As such, your son’s care was considered reasonable and appropriate at that time.”

This is not acceptable. The symptoms reported were perfectly aligned with RSV, it was RSV season, and he was a 2-week old premature infant with underdeveloped lungs. I thank God for my pediatrician because if she hadn’t been persistent about double checking, he easily could have died. I trusted them to care for my son and they failed miserably and than blatantly lied about his symptoms. The only other explanation is that my son’s chart was mixed up with someone else’s because he never had a fever, not even on the discharge paper that provided his stats at discharge.

I sincerely warn any parent who brings there child here, do not assume that they cannot make mistakes because if they do, they will not acknowledge or...

I have learned to be an advocate for our baby, do research, and ask questions of the Doctors, and get other opinions before going along with hospital protocol at times. If it were not for stepping back and seeing a bigger picture we may have been pressured into inducing labor with drugs (with high risk for c-section). Our baby was born 10 days ago. After waiting to find out the baby's gender, we are happy to say "It's a Girl"! Her name is Helena, and her middle name is Sage. We are greatly appreciative for the many prayers that went out over the last few weeks. She was born of a natural birth. After 22 hours of labor, and much stress, after she was born we discovered the reason the doctors wanted to induce was Not legitimate. Instead, she was born at 6lbs and 3.8 ounces and 19.5 inches long (in the 17th percentile). There were many hours spent having discussions with Doctors, Nurses, Midwives, Doula's, and other mom's around the country. By gathering as much information as possible, the best decisions were able to be made. Fortunately, the Doctors at Mott were willing to keep an open ear, and spent much time discussing their reasoning for their protocol. We appreciated this. However, while it was extremely difficult to disagree with Doctors, their hospital protocol was actually the problem. Unfortunately, they must follow certain protocol, which leaves the patient as a liability unless that protocol is recommended. This is why it is so important to be an advocate for your baby. Now, we are incredibly grateful we did not induce with drugs on the Doctor's recommendation. My wife also did not allow the use of narcotic pain drugs during labor. Instead, she used homeopathic medicine, therapeutic grade oils, and other natural methods to induce labor and manage labor pain! Since most hospitals in the USA have a high rate of inducement today (often without legitimate reason), the Doctors at Mott were willing to listen to our strong convictions, and respected that we wanted to do everything we could to avoid un-natural inducement, and drugs that could have harmed our baby. However, I would recommend Mott over any other hospital in Michigan not because their protocol is any better, but because of the quality of communication from the staff, their respect for women, and their care regarding individual needs, and the quality of the facility. As we discussed with the Doctors, we were their for "necessary" intervention only. What the hospital protocol considers "necessary" was where we completely disagreed. Once again, the reason for the Doctors wanting to induce labor was later proven to be unnecessary after discovering that our baby was Not in the 4th percentile, but the 17th (13% error by the hospital based on Ultrasound). The other reason for the Doctors wanting to induce was my wife's blood pressure being high, which was monitored carefully, instead of inducing with drugs would have also been a higher risk to both my wife and our baby. We are now settled in at home as a family, and Helena is a happy and...