Preemie with Rsv Untreated by Doctors

I can't believe this. My preemie was born at 36 weeks and needed oxygen. Because he was diagnosed with respiratory distress, he received the RSV shot twice. Despite this, he contraced something that gave him the slightest fever. They had us come to the ER and admitted us immediately. I had no idea they would do that. He didn't even have a fever on admission, and I left of my own accord the next morning. My doctor and the ER doctor were SO not okay with me leaving, but mother's intuition knew the little guy was fine, just needed rest. Anyway, they would have NEVER let my preemie go!! I can't believe this...

As a couple other people have said, there is no "treatment" for RSV, a virus. The only thing the ER doctors can do is monitor her oxygen levels and symptoms and admit her if necessary. I'm sure that if you would've gone back to the same ER on Friday that they would've admitted her too, just like the clinic did, because her symptoms had progressed far enough that admission was necessary then (whereas it wasn't necessary earlier in the week).

I am sorry that your daughter was sick; that has to be scary. But remember that doctors have years and years and years and years of training and education before you second guess them.

I'll bet this has happened more times than people realize. My oldest (now 21) was having trouble breathing and then stopped breathing as an infant and the ER doc sent us home because I was "overreacting" and there was nothing wrong. The next day I brought her to the clinic and she was admitted for 3 weeks due to pneumonia (clinic dr said me sitting with her in an upright position the rest of that night after the ER visit probably saved her life). What can a person do about it? Well, of course litigation is one possibility, but, in my opinion, if the outcome eventually is treatment, then what are the true damages (to us Mom's, alot, don't get me wrong)? Certainly, if your daughter will suffer long-term and lasting effects from the misdiagnosis, then you should seek legal counsel. I sent a letter to the Dr. who let my daughter go that evening and carbon copied every person I could think of that would matter (hospital board, licensing dept, etc) and left it at that.

I think the most valuable lesson that comes from this kind of experience is "if you think the dr. is wrong, go somewhere else." Don't feel like just because he/she has a medical degree, he is smarter than you or knows better than you regarding what is best for your child.

Good luck :)

Thank goodness you took her to someone else. My friend lost her grandson to RSV and it was horrible. The coroner had to check the baby for brain trauma to see if it was shaken baby syndrome...of all things. I just cringe when someone says things like this. Why didn't your Pediatrician admit your baby? Did they know? I am so very glad you acted on your instincts, take good care of that little one.

Your story is similar to what we went through last year at this time. Our son was born at 36 weeks, spent a couple days in NICU, and weighed just over 5 lbs. so he didn't qualify for the RSV shots. Ten weeks later I took him to the pediatrician who misdiagnosed him with a cold. The following night we rushed him to ER as he was stopping breathing intermittently. He ended up spending a week at Childrens and still has difficulty breathing at times from the "bruising" effects of RSV.
As a nurse, I can tell you that RSV is a virus and there is no treatment for it. Even in the hospital our son was monitored, suctioned when necessary, but mostly just rested. The nebulizer helped a little, but not much. With hydrated air, monitoring, and rest he finally came out of it. RSV is a nasty virus. Too bad it's so common.

Oh my gosh! SHAME ON THOSE DOCTORS! that is all i have to say about that. it is a very good thing you knew something was not right and demanded someone treat your daughter. so scary these days to know that some doctors just think they know everything, when they don't and didnt really do much to help an innocent little baby that was sick and not her fault. i would have been screaming and yelling!
i am glad your little angel is starting to feel better and you stuck to your guns!
hope you dont have this issue again! so sorry you had to go thru this!

My baby had RSV and ended up in the ER as well but because it's a viral infection and not a bacterial one, there isn't any medicine for it. The only thing you can do is just wait it out and keep a close eye for breathing difficulties, etc. Of course you can use Tylenol/Motrin for high fevers and if the baby is having trouble breathing, they'll prescribe you a breathing treatment (inhalers like asthma patients use). Finally, if the breathing gets too labored, they'll take the baby in at the ER and put him/her on an oxygen mask to help them breathe. This is a scary sickness, I know. Hang in there! *hug*

I am assuming you had your child Vaccinated, please do some research because this may be a vaccine reaction or your child may have caught this because the vaccines weaked his/her immune system.

To help with the breathing, take your child to an Osteopath who does Cranial Sacral work this will make a huge difference on your child's breathing and help boost their immune system naturally.

Best of luck.

The same thing happened to me! When my son was 3 months old he contracted RSV. At first I thought it was a cold and so did the peditrician, but he quiickly got worse. I took him in the the local childrens hospital and the sent him home after running no labs, crest x-rays, or anything because the said his o2 stats were only a little low and that I needed to suction his nose more often (which I was already doing all the time, but I don't think they believed me) they said he had a cold. Two nights later we rushed him to a different hospital because his breathing was very labored and he had become lathargic. He was diagnoised from one simple blood test and thirty minutes later was admitted to the hospital for the next 7 and half days. They'd said if he was tested earlier he could have received breathing treatment at home and not have been so sick and fighting for his life! I have never gone back to that hospital and after that same hospital sent my nefew home with the same diagnoisis four years later - made my sister in law get back in the car right away and we went to the "non childrens hospital" where he was admitted for four days with RSV. I have been in your shoes and will never forget those sleepness nights and worring endlessly. Feel free to e-mail me any time if there is anything can do to help.
-H. (mother of six 1,4,7,8,9,15)
____@____.com

RSV is a virus and there isn't really any treatment for it. There isn't antibiotics or anything that will make it go away any sooner. The only thing they can really do in the ER is watch your daughter and give nebulizer treatments if needed. A lot of times with RSV, children can get worse even after they seem to be getting better. Your daughter is more at risk since she is a premie. Hopefully she gets better soon.

K.,

Thank goodness she is doing better and I cannot imagine what you were going through. Our premie was born at 25 weeks and she was lucky enough not get anything beyond a bad cold...even had it xrayed a couple times to ensure not pneumonia. Anyway, my personal suggestion is this. I would contact the hospital that turned her away without treatment and let them know what happened and that you are not looking for anything from them other than for them to forgive the medical bills they are planning on sending out. The reason being is that they knew (I assume) that she was a premie and had a higher risk of issues and they didn't even send you home with a nebulizer for home treatment causing things to go south quickly. I personally do not think this is asking anything too much. I also would do anything possible to stay away from that ER.

Wow! I can't believe your daughter had oxygen levels that low and they didn't admit her to the hospital. I am upset just reading about that. RSV is a very serious and dangerous illness. My son had it when he was 9 months old and was admitted to the hospital when his levels were in the high 80's / low 90's. It was very good that you were persistant and got her the help she needed. My son is now 3 and I have a 6 mo old and both of them had it a couple of months ago. They both handled it very well this time, but both had to be neb'ed for a week. I had to take my son to the dr 3 times that week because he was getting worse. He ended up with phenmona too. But my dr was aggressive with his treatment, so he recovered quickly and didn't have to be admitted this time. Also know that if you now own a nebulizer, you can give your child a treatment when they have a bad cough. It does not hurt them, it will either help or do nothing. I am so glad that we have one and that we don't have to run to the dr or the er to get those treatments. I am glad that your daughter is feeling better now.

Did you see the same dr. in the ER both times? And just out of curiosity, did you call your ped. after your first visit to the ER to let them know what happened? I know a lot of ER doctors who prefer not to treat and advise parents to contact their child's ped. after a visit to the ER, as they don't specialize in peds patients. I would certainly lodge a complaint about the treatment, as this is something that should not have happened. Good for you that you were concerned enough to even take your daughter in again! RSV can be very dangerous, as I'm sure you know, and infection rates are rising. I hope your daughter feels better soon!

Remember that doctors are people, too, and probably see 10 or mor patients a day with a simple cold. It is difficult to diagnose when the patient is non-verbal, I am sure. Go with your instincts, always. My kids have had nebulizers for years and the always help and save the panic I feel when they have trouble breathing!

My son had RSV when he was little and, unfortunately, there isn't much they can do for them other than the breathing treatments. My son had stopped eating and drinking as well. It was really very scary, but all I was able to do with him was give him breathing treatments. Since it is a virus, antibiotics won't help. We went to the ER with him originally and he wasn't diagnosed there (they didn't even test him for it). He ended up getting very dehydrated by the time his doctor diagnosed him the next day, but he managed to stay out of the hospital.

I'm sorry that you're going through this. I remember how scared I was that my baby wouldn't eat or drink anything, but I'm not sure what else can be done for your baby other than to get a nebulizer and medication for you to do breathing treatments at home, which is what we ended up doing. I hope your little one fights this off and gets better very soon!

Hi K. - I'm so sorry your daughter was so ill. I hope she is doing much better. I know first hand how quickly someone can go downhill when they are dealing with a lung infection. Even for an adult not to mention a preemie infant, it can happen in hours. It is possible that your daughter's levels were alright when she was in the ER the first time and even the second time and then by Friday she had crashed. If you want to know, ask your doc what her oxygen saturation levels were in the ER. My guess is that she responded to the neb and her levels were in the 90's at that point.

I had a horror story. I took my one month old daughter in with fever, mucus coming out both ends, fusy, and always sleeping. I was told by my pediatrician it was a cold and to let her sleep it off. Two days later I went back because it was seeming to get worse. I was told I was being a typical new mother.
She wound up in the ER the next night, having to be revived! They transferred her to Children's and was in an induced coma for a week, followed by another week there. They told me her heart was failing since she has rsv, pneumonia, and double ear infections and her heart was beating 200+ beats per minute. I thought she was going to die, as did the doctors.
I never went back to that pediatrician again and learned early on never to trust just one doctor. Always get a second opinon. Thank god I listened to my gut and went in, otherwise I would not have my three year old miracle.

My daughter had RSV at two months old. We went to her ped. first who said to watch for it since she had the cough but was breathing ok. Went to the ER the next night, tested positive, got breathing treatment and were sent home. Went back to the ped. the next day who sent us right to the hospital for in-patient treatment. I don't know if the drs in the ER were told not to admit RSV patients or what, but we should have been admitted that night! Glad you got your daughter to another dr and in for treatment. Glad she's doing better!