A Father's Journey Through ED Critical Care and Rehab with his daughter

This is a father's story, a journey to a place no father would go willingly, bereft of all control, a feeling of overwhelming frustration and sheer panic. All control has gone and you now rely on medical professionals to do what they’re paid to do. The unwavering protection and instinct you have surrounded your child with and nurtured from birth is now beyond your reach, a stranger has your daughter's life in their hands.

Were there any warning signs? Did I miss something obvious? How did we get here? What happened to her? Who did it? and why has this happened? Are the initial questions and reactions to finding an otherwise healthy child in a coma in an ICU unit. Most likely you won't remember any of the first few hours when you arrive but subconsciously they will have a huge effect on your psychological and physical state a few weeks down the line.

Having been with my daughter Jessica only two hours before she visited our local Accident & Emergency department, during an evening meal I was aware she felt a little short of breath and had lost her appetite. But she had always been a fussy eater so no alarm bells there. She also had a pulsating neck vein on the right side of her neck which had been visible since she was seven months pregnant.

Jessica had mentioned this to multiple medical professionals and even had it noted by a nurse during post natal care, a core trainee paediatric doctor during an assessment one day before her delivery. No one person thought to mention this to a cardiologist or refer her anywhere else, even after fetal movement had been noted to have decreased one day before birth.

There are some observations of Jessica's Heart Rate post delivery, but they only took these a day after birth and Jessica's heart rate was already 96 BPM. On her notes from the other four to five days Jessica was supposed to be observed, the nurses never took her Blood Pressure or Pulse readings on what looks like a patient that is already struggling and likely in the early stages of an SVT (Super Ventricular Tachycardia).

All her notes state for each day post delivery is "well".

Visit her Facebook Page Here. 

To be continued..