There are none so blind as the medical profession who both refuse to see, and cannot understand why they CANNOT see.
Over the last few weeks, the phone lines have run hot in this house, with many families contacting us for advice. My husband and I have talked with parents dealing with whooping cough over the last 30 years. We've also watched, first hand, the INABILITY of many doctors to either recognise or even treat the infections correctly. This year, would have to be the most spectacular yearS we have ever had to endure, in terms of medical morons. All of these families have ONE thing in common. They have instantly been diagnosed with "viruses" and prescribed antibiotics OR Steroids! One was diagnosed with the flu and prescribed an antiviral!!! To illustrate one of the worst sequences of what I consider to be utter medical mismanagement going on as I write now, here is a description of ONE family's experience.
A few months ago, older son, now an adult, got "sick". Since it was "only" a viral infection, said adult went overseas. Where he got sicker still. The coughing became so bad that he cracked some ribs. He was given antibiotics for some "mysterious" infection, which made thecoughing even worse. Surprise surprise... given that medical literature states that giving antibiotics late in the course will make whooping cough worse. But you see it's NOT whooping cough, so antibiotics can't possibly be causing a problem can it (pardon the sarcasm)? Said adult though, can't come home since he's unfit to travel. In the meantime, the overseas doctors are unable to make a diagnosis, and everything they are testing for is negative.
Back home in New Zealand, younger son, also an adult, develops a similar "cough", and is also diagnosed as viral infection, and in good old New Zealand medical moron fashion, is prescribed a course of the antibiotic "Ceflaclor". Said patient gets worse, whereupon about 10 days later, the magnificant medics decide that "oh no, it's not a viral infection, it's "legionnaires".
So, they instantly prescribe another course of the antibiotic Augmentin. But the results of the tests for Legionnaires comes back negative. Meanwhile, said adult is getting worse.
So, said adult is admitted to hospital. There, said medical wonders of accurate thinking, do the test for PERTUSSIS. (Insert mental picture here of a mallet hitting head to no effect). Naturally they did not consider the fact that this adult has been on two different antibiotics for three weeks, which have napalmed everything in sight, (but made thepatient worse) and those antibiotics will render all tests for pertussis USELESS, and that PCR in adults is ONLY useful at the very beginning of the infection, not later.
Meanwhile, while the whooping cough tests are being done, they put said adult on high doses of Erythromycin, and other "stuff" the parents can't remember. Tests come back negative. NO surprises there, surely, if you are thinking straight. So said adult is released and sent home while doctors scratch their heads. At home he continues to get worse, and the coughing is now resulting in vomitting and in inability to suck air after coughing.
No-one of course considers pertussis and the fact that late antibiotics make it WORSE.
Also, the father now has this mysterious "viral infection" which is also fruitlessly treated with antibiotics, and strangely enough, everyone in the family is now being woken regularly from their sleep with "coughing" their guts out.
The father is distressed because just about every evening meal provokes coughing, and he lands up vomitting a mix of his meal, and mucus he describes as being "like glue".
Well, hello? Can anyone here spell "pertussis"?
But no. Worse is to come.
Said younger adult son, is now in real trouble, and these marvels of medical missionaries, decide that he must have
Wait for it.......
Roseomonas Gilardii and the doctors prescribe a course of Amoxicillin with Clavulanic acid
Never mind that this said adult has not been to a tropic country and has had no contact with anyone from a tropical country.
Suddenly the infectious diseases experts are running around like headless chooks declaring to the family that said adult must be admitted instantly, for a series of injections to save his life, because this disease "is so serious it could shut down his body while he sleeps". Never mind that the test results aren't back yet!!!!....
So family contacts me, because said adult, who has spent the best part of 6 weeks on four different lots of antibiotics is getting worse by the day.
Together we write out an analysis of the train of thought of these marvellous medics, and I tell them what I would do were I faced with this scenario.
Oh yeah. And by the way. The mother has now started coughing. I wonder what her wonderful diagnosis will be? Will these paragons of intellectual accuracy, START with Roseomonas in her case?
No doubt this family - until they develop a serious backbone, will continue to be run over by a machine which has taken control.
Let this be a cautionary tale for anyone reading here, of what might be in store for you if as an adult, you present to your doctor ... with.... WHOOPING COUGH.
