HERSTORY: Teaching Hospitals

HELEN QUOTE: "This is a teaching hospital, so I shall teach!"
This is long, but really worth it and is a lesson that we MUST be advocates for ourselves, our children and any in our care!!!

As a 3 month old, Ginny was hospitalized with a Nasal-Gastric (NG) feeding tube. Yes, it's just what it sounds like, a tube which goes up the nose and into the stomach and dumps nutrients into the stomach. And, yes, this was something which I learned to insert. That's something they taught me, Lesson #1.

While we were in the hospital, a Physical Therapist (PT) came in to teach me how to perform Chest PhysioTherapy (Chest PT) on a small baby by thumping the crap out of her.....okay, actually, cupping the hand and patting each lobe of the lungs. Lesson #2 for Helen. As I was learning this, an Attending Physician came into the room with his entourage. Said entourage consisted of a 3rd year Resident, 1st year Resident, and a Medical Student. It was the start of the new medical year so they all had new roles (never, EVER get hospitalized on July 1!!!!....Lesson #3).

The Attending was trying to be impressive to his latest set of groupies and thought he'd impress me with big words. His favorite was the word "sphincter". He told me that the tube was irritating the sphincter (the one between the esophegus and the stomach) and that it would continue to do so causing irritation of the sphincter, thus acid reflux and the sphincter wouldn't heal.....sphincter, sphincter, sphincter.....at the time, I had a 3 year old son who was not doing well with toilet training. Sphincter was not an impressive word to me!

Anyway, he continued running in circles telling me that the tube couldn’t stay in, but she probably couldn’t tolerate oral feed, taking a bottle by mouth. He wouldn’t listen to me, or explain what he really meant, or what his solution to this problem would be although I was pretty sure I knew. He wanted to put a feeding tube into her stomach directly. That way, we’d plug the food into a port in her stomach. Wouldn’t that be a really cool procedure to take his entourage through??? My, my what a great experience for them since they ARE in a teaching hospital.

LESSON FROM HELEN: I finally stopped the Attending and told him that he needed to leave the room. He tried to continue speaking, but I looked at him and said, “There are 4 of you looking at me and talking at me, but you are not listening to me. You say she can’t continue with the NG feeds, but you don’t think she can tolerate the oral feeds, but we haven’t even tried them. You are not listening to me and you need to leave.” When he tried to speak again, I told him he must leave and I turned my back on him to focus my full attention on the PT working with me.

They all left and I collapsed, handing Ginny over to the PT who told me I did the right thing. She told me that I need to be an advocate for my child and do what I believe is right.

A bit later, the 3rd year Resident came into the room. I’m pretty sure she was the one who drew the short straw. In a very intelligent (condescending) tone, she said, “Fine. We are going to try it your way.” She pulled out the NG tube and told me that a nurse would be in later with a bottle and they would try it “my way”.

END RESULT: That was the last time Ginny was on a feeding tube. Guess she could handle those oral feeds, and I’m sure her sphincter appreciated the break, I know mine did!