Who lives and Who dies?

[carlapv]

Sometimes my job is a real challenge... I received a call today from the foster mother of a three year old little girl with Down syndrome who is in need of a heart transplant. the Children's Hospital at the Univ. of Minnesota, and Children's Hospital in Milwaukee have denied this child a transplant. This child was born with a heart defect and surgery was denied at that time that could have repaired the defect. Had that surgery been done this child would not need the transplant.

The reason given is that this child will be developmentally delayed and will not be able to follow the medical protocol for care. What three old is? They also claim that because she is a foster child , she will not have the continuity of care that she will need. The foster family has already applied to adopt, so this is just another bogus reason.

Please keep this child in your prayers, without the transplant she doesn't stand a chance.

It is truly frightening that a group of docotrs, social workers and psychologists can sit in a conference room and decide who lives and who dies!

Carla

 

[Ross]

It certainly is! Unfortunately we are all seeing more and more of this kind of stuff happening and it's downright scary. I'm really surprised that Childrens Services doesn't get a court order for the surgery. They would for anyone else wouldn't they? At least they seem great at forcing biological parents to do things that may or may not be in a childs best interest.

I'll certainly keep her in my prayers. This world is becoming more and more screwed up every single day.

 

[sylviayasgur]

i agree with ross! i read about this kind of thing so frequently, whether it's a transplant or other surgeires.
i think it's pathetic.
you know this world is becoming a scary place when God is not the only one who decides who lives/dies!

our prayers are with this little girl.
please let us know what the final outcome will be.

wishing you all the best, sylvia

 

[carlapv]

Thanks Ross and Sylvia for the replies.

Gee...I hope no one tests my IQ before my surgery!


Carla

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter". MLK

 

[Ross]

My problem with this is that lets say this child is still in the womb and is known to have problems. The biological parents want to terminate the pregnancy because of this. Along comes some Government entity saying "You will be forced to have this child" claiming to be protecting the unborn childs rights. Now we have the flip side and it sucks!

 

[carlapv]

Ross,
You are absolutely right!! What happens to the child's rights once they are born? Our history has been to let them die of starvation while doctors and nurses covered their ears so they wouldn't hear the cries. It took Washington years to legislate equality in treatment of newborns, but we are still debating the merits.

How sad!

Carla
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" MLK

 

[Nancy]

This is so sad and inhumane. Why wasn't this child's defect taken care of early on? Down's syndrome children are living much longer lives now, and productive ones also.

Is there any chance at all that this defect could be corrected by a specialist in another location, perhaps when the adoption becomes a reality?

Transplant surgery is hard enough on an adult, fraught with immune system problems, infections, long hospitalizations. When my husband was last in the hospital he was actually in the transplant unit. There were several patients there who were returning because of infections. Newly operated on transplant patients have to wear a mask and there are all kinds of extra precautions. I guess things improve after the initial critical phase, but it takes quite a while.

 

[carlapv]

Nancy,
My organization has been working on this all afternoon and we are committed to finding a hospital that will do the transplant. We are also committed to doing all we can to eliminate such blatant discrimination. Hopefully, one day we won't hear these stories. I will let everyone know what happens. I am not sure why this wasn't taken care of , probably because they did not have parental consent or maybe because the child is on medicaid.

Carla

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" MLK

 

[Granbonny]

Foster Mother

Foster Mother

My prayers go out to the Foster Mother who is willing to accept the long term responsibility of this child. They are truly Angels.Bonnie

 

[JimL]

Just as we face ignorance in dealing with coumadin, so there is abundant and surprising ignorance about mental retardation.

I worked during college at a home for the mentally retarded, and got to know personally some really wonderful individuals. Downs is generally mild retardation; those with this condition can often function quite well in our society, except that they are usually much happier than the normal individuals.

Yet, perhaps because Downs people can be so easily identified, they are discriminated against. No individual should be sentenced to death because of who they are.