My doctor said "I don't have time for you..."

The HER foundation contributed letters from our forums members for a show that featured Hyperemesis as a topic. The show aired in April of 2007.

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My doctor said "I don't have time for you..."

Postby Cindygirl » Mar 01, 2007 1:05 am

Dear Dr. Phil and staff:

Thank you for making the world aware of Hyperemisis Gravidarum (HG)! It is a tremendous victory for us as women who have the disease. I appreciate your willingness to help us publicize this matter.

I had severe HG with my first pregnancy, complete with 9 ER visits, one hospital admission, a midline that had to keep being replaced, and home health for 5 months. I lost more than 20 pounds and by the end of this ordeal, at almost 7 months pregnant, I weighed in at 90 pounds. To my surprise, I had a normal second pregnancy. I had mild HG with my third having had one ER visit and antinausea medication by mouth. Encouraged by the relative ease of my last 2 pregnancies and feeling like our family wasn’t finished, my husband and I decided to try for another one. Surely the worst was past. This time I found myself pregnant almost immediately. I drove from Colorado Springs to Utah with my three small children within days of finding out about being pregnant to help with a family emergency. The fact that I came to be with family turned out to be providential. God knew what was about happen. Within 2 weeks, at 6 ½ weeks pregnant, I found myself throwing up uncontrollably and dealing with a great deal of nausea.

Many people don’t realize that dealing with nausea can be just as hard, if not harder as dealing with pain. The extreme intensity of nausea I had to deal with was mind boggling for me. With my first pregnancy, I felt as though I was starving to death and couldn’t eat. Whatever I did eat or drink came right back up. The emotional and mental strains were also tremendous. Now here I was, the black memories of my first pregnancy came flooding back to me. I found myself back to starving, back to the darkness of depression that staying in one room unable to move can bring. I felt unable to move because of the nausea, yet needed to run to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so to throw up. With this pregnancy though, the added guilt of not being able to care for my own children was very difficult.

I selected what I thought to be a competent OBGYN. After 3 ER visits, I asked to have a PICC line put in, I could tell this pregnancy would be another nightmare. I got in touch with the doctor’s nurse and asked for her to set up home health. Of all the medical professionals I dealt with that nurse was the most understanding. She empathized and helped me feel like I was not alone. She arranged for the PICC line, home health medications, and IV’s for me. Having the PICC line put in was painful. Because veins have more than one possible path, they had to keep pulling the line in and out until they were able to trace the vein to my heart instead of into my neck. With the PICC in place, I could have home health and the much needed IV’s, antinausea meds, and vitamins would go right into my heart. The PICC could stay in place for the duration of my pregnancy if needed. I was able to keep hydrated with all of that…for a while at least. I still couldn’t eat so weight loss continued an issue. I lost more than 10 pounds even with the hydration and medication. I was still nauseated almost constantly and needed to be in a dark room with no stimulation. My only respite was found in sleep…if I could even get to dreamland.

In January I had a set back. I’m not sure why, but the medication I was taking no longer stopped my throwing up. I was thrown back into a never ending vomit cycle. I was in and out of the ER and finally admitted after my 3rd visit in a day and a half.

After admission for observation, my OBGYN came in to visit me. I was totally unprepared for what he said. “I’ve never been accused of being anything but blunt with my patients…the ER doctor called me and said you were the most pathetic creature she’d ever seen…I don’t have time for you and neither does my nurse…I think you should see a psychiatrist...â€Â
Mommy to:
Kalli-9 yo dd, moderate HG
Tiarra-5 yo dd, no HG
Michael-2 1/2 yo, mild HG
PG with baby boy, moderate HG

Image
Cindygirl
Opinionated HGer
 
Posts: 748
Joined: Jan 10, 2007 9:18 pm

Postby tatteredtoo » Mar 02, 2007 1:11 pm

Oh, that was beautiful, Cindy. Thank you for sharing your story with us, and with the Dr. Phil Show staff. You are a gem!
-Tina
tatteredtoo
HG Expert
 
Posts: 1815
Joined: Oct 11, 2006 1:16 pm
Location: Taylorsville, UT


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