DS Almost Died Yesterday

Ninn · #1 03/27/07, 09:35 AM

I cannot believe what happened yesterday. My son Kevin is 16, almost 17 years old. When he was born, his heart and lungs were too small, and they have always had difficulty supporting the demands he puts on them. He has severe chronic asthma, which is treated with albuterol and advair. He has had issues with heart murmurs, etc., for many years. In the past year or so, he has had 3 or 4 tachychardia events that were just blown off by his doctor. (one reason he no longer sees that doctor.) Yesterday, he had a really bad one. This is how my afternoon unfolded:

Around 1 o'clock, Kevin left with his brother's girlfriend to take empties back for gas money for their car. They ran out of gas about 2 football fields from the gas station. Kevin, at the age of being invincible, pushed the car to the gas station. BY HIMSELF!!!!!!! He had an asthma attack, but managed it ok. About 20 mins later, he had another one and it got really bad. He didn't have his inhaler with him, so he kind of freaked out. The people he was with stopped the car for him several times, as he could not feel his face or his limbs and needed to move around more. He could not breathe. He could feel his heart racing and began to babble incoherently. They stopped at a house and had the lady who answered the door call an ambulance for him. Then, since the car they were driving was not legal-THEY LEFT HIM THERE ALONE!!!!!!!!!!! They called my oldest daughter, Lisa, and left her a voice mail saying he was going to the hospital. They did not call me, and I did not find out about this for about a half hour. The idiot who was driving did not know the name of the road they were on, what town they were in, or even the color of the house!! He told me repeatedly that it was a blue house. It was yellow!!! After trying for quite a few minutes to find out where my child was, I made him drive back there and show me the house.(By this time, I had already called 5 hospitals and 8 clinics trying to find him. He was not in any of them) When we got to the house where he had been left-the woman turned out to be someone that we know-thank God. She knew who Kevin was and that he had allergies to medicines, just not which ones. She called the ambulance and had him sent to the hospital. When I got there, she told me which one, and I left immediately-without even thanking her yet. It took another 20 minutes to get to the hospital, where my baby was in the trauma room hooked up to oxygen tanks and monitors. The EMT from the ambulance told me that his heart rate had been over 200 bpm!!! Ordinarily, they would give meds to bring it down and stop the tachychardia. Because they were not sure what he is allergic too, they could not give it to him. They gave him 2 very long, high dose breathing treatments in the ambulance and helped him to calm himself. Here is the scariest part-his pulse could not be found anywhere. Even his carotid arterty was difficult to get a pulse from. His bp was 24 over 28. 5 minutes more and my son would have been a corpse!!!! His friends who left him? They couldn't understand why he didnt just stay in the car-the window was on him so he could get air. They were ticked off at him for not staying in the car and for calling an ambulance! One of them accused him of faking it for attention. It took me nearly an hour to explain to them just exactly what happens to the body during a tach attack. They still don't get it and don't understand why my husband wants to beat the snot out of them for leaving Kevin alone! There were 4 adults in that car-2 of whom are pregnant!! Their idea of being responsible was to leave a dying child alone with virtual strangers while they went to WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent about 3 or 4 hours at the ER, I don't know really. All I know is that the Dr. who examined him flipped out because he is not under the care of a pediatric cardiologist. No one who has ever been his Dr. has said anything to me about him needing a heart doctor!!! She said he should have been being seen by a specialist since birth. No one ever said anything to us about it. Even when he had his last tach, his Dr. said it was nothing to worry about. She is legally required to turn this in as medical neglect on my part!!! So now, on top of nearly losing my son, I am about to get into trouble with children and youth for not taking care of him!!!!!

The hospital released him last night to come home, on bed rest until he follows up with his own Dr. and sees a cardiologist. No problem-except that the only pediatric cardiologist within a 3 hour drive just retired. I am going to be logging alot of miles next week!

Needless to say, the moron who left my son by himself to die is not welcome in my house. I say moron somewhat tongue in cheek, because he honestly thought that leaving Kevin there to go in the ambulance and coming to get me was doing the right thing. Apparently, they all argued over who would stay with Kevin and nobody wanted to stay so they all left. They went to walmart and then came to get me! NICE PRIORITIES!!! Now, I can understand why the 2 pregnant women didn't help push the car. What I can't understand is why the man in the car didn't help push. Why was the asthmatic with the heart condition the only one pushing? No one seems to be able to look me in the face, let alone answer these questions. These are people my older son rooms with, so they are getting heat from Joe, too. He didn't go with them and now feels guilty because brother nearly died and he wasn't there to protect him and take care of him. Not his fault, I know. But try to tell him that.

It is going to be a long week while we research this medical mess and try to find the right doctors. Thank God that Terri called an ambulance without waiting for an explanation. We stopped at her home on the way back last night and told her what the EMT said. If she had waited even 5 minutes more, he would have died right there in her bathroom.

Thank you, Terri.

crashy · #2 03/27/07, 09:54 AM

Whew thats some scary stuff!!! I know your mad at those 'people' but you know people are strange and do stupid things like that. Just be thankful your son is ok. Try not to spend too much time and energy being mad at those people. You don't need the stress.(It causes wrinkles LOL) And you are right about them being morons sheesh!!
I hope you find a cardiologist soon.

tinetine'sgoat · #3 03/27/07, 09:56 AM

Wow, what a day. Hope he is recovering and has learned he is not invincible. Will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.

moopups · #4 03/27/07, 09:58 AM

These associates sound about as bright as the midnight sun. Persons with medical conditions this severe need to make all that surround them aware of the required actions in the event of such happening.

Was that done?

Arkie1 · #5 03/27/07, 10:01 AM

A medical alert bracelet or necklace would be a good gift idea.

charliesbugs · #6 03/27/07, 10:14 AM

Glad he is ok. Wouldn't his having a cell phone- a pay-as -you- go , or prepaid one - be a good idea ,too? just in case he is by himself and would need an ambulance.He should have the med id bracelet, fo sure, especially if he 's allergic to meds!Good luck with it all.

teresab · #7 03/27/07, 10:18 AM

Ninn...I can't possibly imagine you getting in trouble for your son not seeing the cardiologist...that is the responsibility of his doctors. I would say it is the responsibility for the ER doctor to turn in the doctor who said his heart condition was nothing to worry about.
Remember people ...doctors are not Gods ..even though some of them seem to think so. When in doubt...get a second opinion. It could save your or someone elses life.

So glad everything worked out ok for you Ninn. Take a deep breath, thank God you still have your son with you and look for those doctors that will take care of your son and find a solution.

God Bless~~

prairiedog · #8 03/27/07, 10:22 AM

Glad he recovered from that attack so scary make sure he has a medical alert on him and a list of meds he is on and that he is allergic to in his wallet at all times.

Ninn · #9 03/27/07, 10:22 AM

He actually does have a medic alert bracelet-all it says is allergies because the list is so long. He keeps the list on a card in his wallet. Unfortunately, the knothead forgot to transfer it to the new wallet he just got as a gift from his fiancee!.....lol! The people he was with are aware of his medical conditions-they just can't quite understand what tachychardia is. I explained that is it when the heart functions similar to a washing machine that is on spin, but the drain hose is crimped. Not all of the water gets where it's going. In this case, not all of the blood gets where it is supposed to. Eventually, what has been pumped pools in his legs because the heart is not letting anymore come in, and his heart will be pumping nothing and he will die. Since they have never heard of this, they don't quite believe it. They never heard of anyone dying from an asthama attack either, which happens more frequently than anyone wants to admit.

Kevin is now taking his meds like he should, and I am watching every time. He has to realize that his body has limits, no matter how much he doesn't like it. He had to face his own mortality again yesterday and he really didn't like it. Maybe this time he will take it seriously. For him, I think being told by the doctor that he cannot ever serve in the military really did it for him. He now knows that his body is not like his friends and that he cannot make the same demands of his that they make of theirs. It's a rough thing to deal with, but it could be worse. He could be dead, after all.

And, there were 5 cell phones in that car. Nobody thought to call mine!!!!!!!!!

Tricky Grama · #10 03/27/07, 10:25 AM

As an RN, I'm appalled. But I tend to forget that non-medical people sometimes don't know squat.

As far as finding a ped. cardio-he soon will be too old for a pediatrician, don't know why a cardiologist wouldn't do...b/c his heart/lung are undersized? I'm not a pediatric RN, that's why I'm unsure of this.

Anyway-the best to you & your son-take care of him!

Patty

caroline00 · #11 03/27/07, 10:39 AM

I'm sorry this happened.

Medical neglect is serious.

We have adopted 5 children. 4 of them were taken for medical neglect.

If your children have been immunized, make sure you can find thier records. If they havent been immunized make sure you have a good/legal reason.

Go thru all your medicines. Get rid of any out of date/unfinished meds... especially if you have any unfinished antibiotics.

Try to recreate your recent docs appointments date and time, reason, what was done.

Warn your current doc that this allegation has been made and see if he is willing to stand behind you.

Make sure you have legal custody of all minors living in your home.

Clean your house.

If you dont have health insurance and qualify for medicaid and arent receiving it, apply today. Not obtaining medicaid when you are qualified, can be construed as medical neglect.

Carefully, think about all your other childrens health... are any other children lacking specialists? Remedy that too.

If you cant get in to see a pediatric cardiologist, then make an appointment with a regular one. But have an appointment date/times/docs name that you can show.

Bury your anger... dont blame the other kids...
Be cooperative... the attitude you need to have is wanting to meet your childs needs completely.

Expect a visit from family services...

Honestly, if you know your child has a medical need, you need to be assertive enough to get the help they need because that is where the buck stops.... with you....

AngieM2 · #12 03/27/07, 10:41 AM

Ninn - I'd be wanting to knock some heads together of the "friends".

But, I'm glad that he's realatively okay, and things will progress.

Angie

suburbanite · #13 03/27/07, 10:52 AM

I wondered if your son has 'Wolff Parkinson White' syndrome, to cause his tachycardia. It is not a common problem but among kids with recurrent episodes of tachycardia, it is a fairly common one. What happens is there's an extra nerve conduit which can cause the electrical signal of a heartbeat to loop around and repeat itself. So the node that sets heartrate sends out a signal to beat, that signal goes around the heart like it should, and then goes around again a time or two. Meanwhile the node is sending out the next normal signal, so the heart gets double or triple the number of 'beat' signals that it should.

If so, there is a catheter procedure that can fix the problem, which a cardiologist can do. They use a catheter with a heater (laser?) tip, find the extra nerve, and zap it. The procedure resembles the procedure used to put in stents after a heart attack; I think the risks are a little less than stent risk--the cardiologist would tell you what the risk level is.

The good thing, if this is his problem, is that in most people it can be fixed. On rare occasions there are other problems or the regular nerve also gets zapped and the person needs a pacemaker, but most people have normal-acting hearts after getting the extra nerve nipped.

suburbanite · #14 03/27/07, 10:56 AM

PS: I had a class where we participated in an autopsy once. In that case the person who died also died of a poor choice of friends; he went into alcohol withdrawal seizures, so the friend he was with left him in the car and went into a bar for a few beers (for himself, not for the guy in withdrawal).

FiddleKat · #15 03/27/07, 11:06 AM

Ninn I would like to personally beat the snot out of those "adults" as well. The nerve of them to do what they do. Too bad you couldn't press charges for attempted manslaughter. Because, if your son had died, that is what they would have been looking at. To leave a person behind when you know they need emergency medical attention is just blanent unexcusable.

Im hope your son is doing better. Does he have an medical alert bracelet? If he doens't he should. My DD has one, as she also has severe allergies and seizures. I also am in the process of making a card with all her medical info on it in case she is rushed to the hospital if Im not with her, so that the EMT's have some info about her.

A'sta at Hofstead · #16 03/27/07, 11:09 AM

Ninn, how scary, I am so glad he is OK. My step son has terrible asthma, and I worry all the time when he goes snowboarding and, well just about all the time.

Bink · #17 03/27/07, 11:32 AM

I hope your son finds some new friends if the ones he's got would rather go to Walmart (Walmart????) than to see that he's okay. Good grief. He could probably find strangers who'd treat him better than
that.

Edited to add:
Another purely scary component is that two of the idiots are soon going to be in charge of helpless babies.

I tell you--Stephen King doesn't have to get all supernatural to write horror, there's plenty of horror and bloodcurdling events right here in the ordinary world.

dvcowboy · #18 03/27/07, 12:15 PM

I'm so sorry!!! If I were you, I'd get a copy of his med records from the doc. It should say if he had made a referral for a specialist or not.......might help you prove your case!

Also it would say what was done by his doc to care for the patient......like when he said that it was nothing to worry about. Shows the neglect of the doc. Although I wouldn't state the reasons for giving it......Some docs could go in and make changes at the last minute if they thought THEIR butt was on the line?????? I suppose that is possible anyway?

FiddleKat · #19 03/27/07, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bink

I
Edited to add:
Another purely scary component is that two of the idiots are soon going to be in charge of helpless babies.

I tell you--Stephen King doesn't have to get all supernatural to write horror, there's plenty of horror and bloodcurdling events right here in the ordinary world.

Yup....that is a scary thought!!

Reptyle · #20 03/27/07, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninn

He actually does have a medic alert bracelet-all it says is allergies because the list is so long. He keeps the list on a card in his wallet. Unfortunately, the knothead forgot to transfer it to the new wallet he just got as a gift from his fiancee!.....lol! The people he was with are aware of his medical conditions-they just can't quite understand what tachychardia is. I explained that is it when the heart functions similar to a washing machine that is on spin, but the drain hose is crimped. Not all of the water gets where it's going. In this case, not all of the blood gets where it is supposed to. Eventually, what has been pumped pools in his legs because the heart is not letting anymore come in, and his heart will be pumping nothing and he will die. Since they have never heard of this, they don't quite believe it. They never heard of anyone dying from an asthama attack either, which happens more frequently than anyone wants to admit.

Kevin is now taking his meds like he should, and I am watching every time. He has to realize that his body has limits, no matter how much he doesn't like it. He had to face his own mortality again yesterday and he really didn't like it. Maybe this time he will take it seriously. For him, I think being told by the doctor that he cannot ever serve in the military really did it for him. He now knows that his body is not like his friends and that he cannot make the same demands of his that they make of theirs. It's a rough thing to deal with, but it could be worse. He could be dead, after all.

And, there were 5 cell phones in that car. Nobody thought to call mine!!!!!!!!!

Did I read this right? He's 16 and has a fiancee?!

Glad to here everything turned our alright...If anyone should have charged filed against them it would be the idiots in the car for endangerment of a minor.