United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi my name is Dylecia and my daughter Keiarra is 2 years old and has LOBPI and I can think of a hundred things that I am angry about but I will only list ten:

1. I am angry that my baby is injured.

2. I am angry that my baby has limited use of her arm and hand.

3. I am angry that she doesn't understand why she can't do certain things.

4. I am angry that the doctor who did this to her is still delivering babies.

5. I am angry that the first lawyer we had took a year and a half to tell us that we did not have a case.

6. I am angry that th Social Security administration in Atlanta, GA do not look at this injury as a disability.

7. I am angry that my baby will suffer from this for the rest of her life.

8. I am angry at the neurologist who told me that she was making good progress when really she was doing the same every time we visited him.

9. I am angry that this affects so many children and their families and our government really does not acknowledge that this is a problem that needs to be looked into.

10. Last, but not least I am angry that this could have beed avoided if the doctor had given me an ultrasound in my ninth month to see how big my baby was and performed a C-Section instead of using what felt like the jaws of life to pull her out and had her looking like she had been beat up instead of a newborn baby.

I am angry at the doctor's who didn't seem to think it was a big deal.
I am angry that my daughter has to suffer because of one man's mistake.
I am angry that I can't fix Hannah's arm.
I am angry that I was told that it would heal in 6 wks and now it is 2 yrs later.
I am angry that I had never heard of BP until after Hannah was born.
I am angry that she may have to live the rest of her life with this.
I am angry that I was never told I had gestational dietbetes.
I am angry that she can not lead a normal lifestyle.
I am angry that the last 2 yrs of my life have been spent going to doctors, therapist and appts after appts.
I am angry that she has to struggle each day with this injury.
I am angry that I have to be afraid of having another child. Because of the fear that I might have another child with OBP.
I am sure I will think of more.
Nicki

I am angry that my child has limited movement in his arm

that he has to compensate so much all day everyday for the rest of his life.

that he struggles every day even during playtime that is supposed to be funtime

that I have cried everyday watching him struggle, I used to be a strong person always happy, laughing joking. All that has changed.

that his older sibblings tell me that they will go to the local college instead of a university as planned so that they could be here for their baby brother just in case someone pokes fun at him.

that I had to see my other children cry for their little brothers inability to do things

that what should have been the happiest moment his birth was full of tears, fear, regrets for not demanding a c-section.

that I was never told of warning signs gestational diabetes, gained 50 lbs, history of large babies etc.

that he has to have ot and pt for the rest of his life

that I had to give up my career in order to care for my injured baby

that my child may one day resent me for his disabilities

one more thing

I am angry that I was not able to hear his beautiful cry immediately after birth, instead I heard the ob and nurses trying to bring him back.

Where to start...at the beginning of it all...are you ready for this?
I'm angry at myself for being "stoic" and not calling an ambulance but rather going to hospital with hubby in our car.
I'm angry at ER staff for assuming my abdominal pain was stomache flu and making me wait over an hour in the fetal position on the chairs in emergency.
I'm angry that it took 3 doctors, a CT scan, X-rays and over 12 hours to get me into surgery for a ruptured bowel and that they still didn't know what they were looking for...even tho' I had all of the obvious symptoms (I didn't know this then)of diverticulitis and peritonitis.
I'm angry at the OR staff for positioning me in a way during surgery which caused my RBPI.
I'm angry at nurses and the surgeon who told me the inability to raise my right arm after surgery was "normal weakness" after surgery.
I'm angry at my GP for not getting me into a neurologist before 5 months after the fact.
I'm angry that it took another 3 months to get into a neurosurgeon (where I was told it was too late for nerve surgery).
I'm angry at the complete denial by all of my physicians and the chief of staff at the hospital that they could have caused my BPI.
I'm angry that the chief of staff agreed to conduct an investigation and never got back to me about it.
I'm angry that our system is such that doctors are so fearful of a lawsuit that they must put the patients welfare on the line by denying possible causes which would lead to a proper,timely diagnosis and treatment.
I am angry that there is no system in place to compensate victims of "iatrogenic" injuries without the injured party risking all of their assets in a full blown malpractice suit ( which in Canada they have little hope of winning unless the surgeon were to take out the wrong organ!).
I'm angry that I live with chronic pain, cannot work and the emotional and financial effect this has had on my family.
I'm angry that there was no "disability insurance" available to me through my place of employment and that the cost of getting it privately would have been astronomical.
I'm angry at our lousy government disability pension system,which because of poor administration from day one, deals with their financial shortfall by denying ligitimately disabled people the pension they have been obligated to pay into their entire working life.
I'm angry with my husband's employer for "outsourcing" his departments work to countries like Brazil in the name of competition (GREED), and is now laying him off permanently.
I'm angry with my doctor for telling me I should not still have pain and rather than addressing the nature of my illness, bombards me with every pain and depression drug on the market.
I'm angry with the rheumatologist for telling me to "sit up straight" and buy a book on chronic pain.
I'm angry with the physiotherapist for not being overly concerned when after a number of treatments
with him my arm and hand turned BLUE.
I get angry with all people who assume that because I have an "invisible disability" that I am malingering.
I am angry with my CPP appeal lawyer for leaving me constantly hanging as to the status of my case and making me chase him down for answers.
I'm angry at myself for venting on my family (especially my mother...and best friend)and causing them increased stress.
Last but not least...I'm angry that typing what makes me angry hurts so much that it makes me angrier!
Sorry folks...but this was therapeutic indeed!
Nan

I am angry that my child feels less than equal to her peers.

I am angry for feeling guilty about my childs injury.

I am angry because her Doctor simply suggests that what is important for my child is for her to feel normal and therefore I should put her in the pool often.

I am angry that my child gets frustrated easily and does not know why.

I am angry that the Doctor who delivered her didn't have the gumption to disagree with the OB, who said, over the phone,tell her to keep pushing, when he knew there was something wrong.

I am angry that I have a child who has such difficulties.

One suggestion: the anger involved in losing a lawsuit. There has to be a tremendous amount of angst...as much as the intial injury caused. Once more, a family loses because of the medical community.

I'm angry because of all the time this injury has taken away from my other elementary school aged children.

I'm angry that my beautiful daughter will have to deal with this injury for a lifetime.

I'm angry because of the arrogance of those in the medical profession who haven't a clue about this injury nor the protocol for treatment, therapeutic or otherwise.

I'm angry because of the ignorance of the medical community about this injury and treatment.

I'm angry that we had to file a lawsuit and deal with legal issues for two years.

I'm angry that I spend so much time on awareness instead of taking care of myself.

I'm angry because I've lost my passion for things that are of interest just to me, like my career.

I'm angry because I feel like I've aged because of this.

I'm angry because they're breaking new babies everyday.