Thursday, March 31, 2011

Sick of Drugs

A very important thing I do for my family to keep us all safe and healthy, as well as saving a ton of money on medical costs, is staying the heck away from doctors.  It's true.  We almost never get sick and, when we do, we take care of it ourselves.  I attribute our health largely to lifestyle, but in the case of the children, I think it also has to do with choosing not to vaccinate, since vaccines actually damage the immune system.  Living in Michigan, we are well within the law to do so, even if I were to want to send the children to school.  (I don't want to get into all the reasons that, after educating myself and my husband on the issues, we made this decision, so if you want more information, I highly recommend my friend's blog, The Daily Guggie Daly, where she frequently discusses these issues and shares a lot of informative links.)

This is a large part of why this case has me so incensed.  This mother was just trying to keep the government from stepping in and telling her she had to drug her daughter and it escalated to a standoff with police and her being arrested!  For trying to protect her daughter!  And this kind of thing isn't that isolated either, even though I'm sure it doesn't get this out of hand that often.  Here is another very recent case of a baby being taken from her parents because some meddling person on a power trip decided that they had more of a right to say what happened to the child than the parents did.

I'm actually shaking right now, I'm so upset about these attacks on parental rights.  I've actually experienced CPS's meddling in my parental rights first hand, but I kissed their butts and told them what I wanted to hear in both cases (yes, this happened twice) and made it go away before things got out of hand.  Obviously, not everyone is so fortunate to have it work out so well.

The first instance was after my second son was born.  He was born at home and we had a beautiful unassisted childbirth.  He was a bit premature, but was fine.  He did develop a little jaundice, which isn't at all uncommon, especially in premature boys, but it was mild and nothing to really worry about.  I was treating him by breastfeeding and exposing him to sunlight as much as the winter sky would allow and although it wasn't clearing immediately up, it wasn't getting worse either and it was just a matter of time before it cleared all the way up.  Someone disagreed though, never proven who (although I have my suspicions), and reported me to CPS for medically neglecting my son.  I was completely shocked when a caseworker came to my door about it!  I played along though, and took him to a pediatrician they recommended, since I didn't have a regular pediatrician for him.  When the doctor prescribed him to be under a biliblanket for a certain amount of time each day at home, I didn't argue, just got the biliblanket and only used it when my mother-in-law was looking (like I said, I have my suspicions--if it wasn't her, it was someone she told about the situation).  I knew enough about jaundice, having done my own research to realize that the levels of bilirubin in his system were no where near a level to be concerned about, but was concerned he would become dehydrated if left under the lights like directed.  The jaundice went away in a timely fashion, despite my hardly using the "needed" biliblanket and the case was closed.

After my last baby was born, we had another situation.  The baby had some fairly severe jaundice (his doctor and I think he was actually up to 7 weeks premature, even though the ultrasound said he was due right about when he was born) before even leaving the hospital, so I was actually discharged from the hospital several days before he was, but I stayed with him in the hospital even after I was discharged to feed and take care of him.  Basically, I let him stay for observation.  Eventually, he was "allowed" to go home, pending daily bili-checks to make sure his bilirubin levels were going down.  During these bili-checks, it was noticed that not only were his bili levels not going down, but his weight was!  The hospital wanted to readmit him, this time to the NICU, which wouldn't let me stay with him.  As his sole source of food, obviously this wasn't an option.  We declined to admit him and worked out a plan with the hospital's lactation consultant to get his weight back on track.  I was to let him nurse, then pump milk while he drank from a bottle from the previous pumping session to make sure he was drinking enough, since the problem seemed to stem from him being a "lazy sucker" that would just take a couple sucks from the breast then fall asleep, denying himself the nourishment he needed.  This plan was working and he gained 4 ounces for each of the next two days!  On that second day, a CPS worker showed up to my door to make sure I wasn't starving him to death since I'd taken him from the hospital AMA.  In this case, I had the subsequent documentation from both the hospital and doctor's office showing his weight gain, so I just told the caseworker where she could find the relevant proof that he was doing well, and she went away, never to be seen again.
My little baby glowworm
In either of these cases, if I'd reacted differently, I might have lost the kids.  I know this.  I sometimes still have nightmares about it, but I know I did the right things for my kids, just like I know I'm doing the right thing if they get the sniffles and I don't give them any medications to reduce the fever or I don't rush them off to get antibiotics at the first sign of a possible ear infection.  All these things, as well as the myriad of other situations where I use natural treatments instead of pharmaceuticals, save us a ton of money as well as being healthier (which is why it is relevant to this blog, in case you were wondering what the connection is).  Drugs, and pharmaceuticals are simply another class of drugs, are not something my family needs and we reap health and monetary benefits from staying clear of them.  Cases like I mentioned make me fear that this freedom to keep my children clear of drugs is becoming more and more threatened--and that makes me sick.

If you want to take action, to help Maryanne Godboldo, and protect all parents' rights to raise their own children, if you click on the picture of her above, it will take you to her support webpage, where you can find out about upcoming events to help her out, donate in support, or find out more information about the case as new developments unfold.

8 comments:

  1. Wow Chris you were really abusing and neglecting your babies. (rolls eyes) I wonder what kid was gettin the S*** beat outta them while the CPS people were @ your house annoying you guys. Ya know when my little Maia left the hospital on her medical records they sent for the pediatrician they actually put on there that i had inadequate prenatal care yada yada, making me look like a piece of crap crackhead that just showed up there. I had been under the care of a licensed midwife, who in the state of florida are licensed as independent practitioners, they do not need to be overseen by any Dr unlike an ARNP midwife.Anyway I had been under her care since I was 10 weeks along never missed an appt and they had all my records from her. If my pediatrician hadnt know us so well they probably would have called on us. Way too much government interference.

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  2. I feel exactly the way you do. Both of these cases could easily to happen to those of us who choose to do things that aren't doing things in the mainstream way. These stories terrify me as a homeschooling, homebirthing, non-vaccinating parent. I actually make sure I stay up on well-child checks and dental care as well as not over advertising how I feel about a lot of things, to try and protect my family without compromising my beliefs and values. The more of us there are, the more the government will be pushing back to try and get us all under their "control". It's sad and scary :(

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  3. I need to email you what I wrote to a bunch of friends tonight about me vs. a foster care mom today. She said that the reason why the baby was in foster care was her mom is on drugs. I said I really hope and send positive healing energy (I'm level 2 Reiki, though I didn't say this to her) that the mother can get clean so she can raise her baby. The foster mother said that children in foster care don't deserve their parents back. I wasn't nice. I said most of the kids in foster care have attachment issues and drugged up on legal drugs. I said that is just as bad as illegal drugs and it's legal abuse what the system does to those children. Among other things...oh this is Leslie from PSU2/ and other groups :)

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  4. Hi, Leslie! So you have my personal email to send that too, cuz that sounds like a fun little read. lol Welcome to my trailer park homestead! ;-) It is really scary the number of people on drugs, legal or illegal, and really I find the legal ones MORE scary, the way they are pressured or even FORCED on people and people are so brainwashed (trying to be nice and keep the word "sheeple" out of it!) to think they "need" this drug or that drug, when 9 times out of 10, if they get off their hind end and LIVE the way people are supposed to live, DOING things and eating ACTUAL food and not the crap falsely marketed at the store as food, they'd be way better off!

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  5. Interesting...my son was born in The Netherlands and they have a completely different approach to birthing, treating children with drugs, etc. Over 80% give birth at home with a midwife, naturally. My American friends who wanted epidurals couldn't get them (I did a natural birth so it wasn't an issue for me). I find it very frustrating how the government wants to intervene in how we raise our children and force Americans to have insurance that we don't need (which cuts out all options for natural remedies). We use alternative medicine and stay away from pharmaceuticals. My children are rarely sick and like you I attribute it to a healthy lifestyle.

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  6. I'm so afraid of where this is all going. America is no longer the land of the free.

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  7. Our health is our responsibility...noone else should take over that responsibility. If I pay attention to my body, my personal reactions to illness, then I learn over time what is best for me. I may, from time to time, need a consultation, but I am the expert when it comes to my health. Check out Dr. Gladys McGarey's books and her philosophy. http://www.mcgareyfoundation.org/living_medicine.html

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  8. I used to run a daycare in my home. I was a single mother with three young children, and it was the only way I could think of to make an income AND stay at home with my children. I LOVED IT. It was great for me, it was wonderful for my children, and I felt like I was making a difference in the lives of other people's children as well. But then CPS showed up at my door with thirteen different accusations of abuse and neglect.

    I was stunned. My child care license was suspended, and my clients had to take time off from work to find alternate daycare. I had CPS workers poking around my house, asking very personal questions about everything (including my sex life - one of the accusations was that I had liaisons with lovers during my business hours).

    A couple days later, I heard from a friend that my ex was gloating about causing me "trouble" - he stated it was "payback" because I wouldn't take him back. When confronted, he admitted to me that he'd made the call to Child Protective Services.

    I understand why they suspended my license - if I had gotten a call with those kind of accusations, I would have done the same. But it took two months for them to fully clear my name and reinstate my license, and by that time my ex had made sure to smear my professional name into mud. Two months without income - and a landlord who believed the accusations - meant that I was homeless by the time I was cleared of the charges.

    Because I was living in a homeless shelter at that point, CPS kept poking into my life, making sure my own children were well-clothed and fed. Worse, while I was in the shelter, the storage unit that held all our belongings burned down. We lost everything.

    It took me years to recover from the false accusations. People should realize the effects of calling Child Protective Services BEFORE they make the call.

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