Monday, October 11, 2004

Medical paranoia

My wife just called and complained that we don't have enough emergency epinephrine injectors, in case our kid has a life-threatening allergic reaction to something. I told her that I've bought 4 at her request, but she thought that we should have 6. I explained to her that they cost about $40 apiece, and are labeled to expire in 1 year. She left 1 of our 4 injectors with a preschool 4 months ago, and she hasn't bothered to pick it up.

The child has had a couple of nasty allergic reactions, but they have all been caused by my wife's neglect. I simply avoid exposure to the 2 things for which she has an allergy, and carry an epinephrine injector just in case. I don't expect to ever have to use the injector.

My wife then threw a tantrum when she found out that 2 of our 4 injectors are 6 months beyond the labeled expiration. I told her that they would probably still be good in case of an emergency, and that we have 2 fresh injectors anyway. She wasn't happy with that. She is probably writing up a complaint for the Court about it now.

Here are her previous complaints to the Court about my medical care:
19. Even though our schedules alternate daily, if the children require medical attention, I am responsible for their care. Recently, our younger daughter was ill and required medication. I instructed Father about the administration of the medication, especially because our ill daughter was experiencing difficulty sleeping due to the symptoms from the illness. Father refused to give her the medication. I later learned that our elder daughter gave the younger one her medication, without Father's knowledge. Thankfully, she gave her the right dose.

20. Father has extremely strong opinions about medical attention for our daughters. Every time I am concerned about their health and want to take them in for a check up, he argues vehemently against medical attention. An example of this occurred when our elder daughter became quite ill with a sore throat, fever and difficulty breathing. I had to take the younger daughter to a skating competition and asked Father's assistance in taking the elder daughter to see a doctor. We argued at length. I elected to take our younger daughter to the competition and intended to take the elder daughter to the doctor upon my return two hours later. Upon my return, I eventually tracked Father and our elder daughter down at the [local]Medical Clinic. He stated the tester "allegedly" indicated she had strep throat, as I suspected. The doctor also expressed concern about her tonsils and future ability to breathe if not treated. Father did not believe the diagnosis was accurate. I insured that our daughter took the necessary medication.
Note that in both cases, the child got exactly the medical treatment that my wife wanted her to get. In the latter case, our daughter got penicillin for the (alleged) strep throat, but also got an allergic reaction to the penicillin.

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