The most bitter surprise of my life

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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The most bitter surprise of my life

Postby Cin » Feb 24, 2007 11:30 pm

Dear Dr. Phil and staff,

Thank you, from the depths of my being, for doing a show about hyperemesis gravidarum. It is refreshing to see fellow broadcasters cover this horrific and misunderstood disease.

I am the 30-year-old mother of three children, but am also a radio journalist. My 'beat' is health; I specialize in women's reproductive health. I had vaguely heard of HG, but being diagnosed with it during my third pregnancy was the most bitter surprise of my life.

I had "bad" morning sickness while pregnant with my two boys. It seemed it would be the same at the beginning of this latest pregnancy. Instead, at week 14, my body seemed to decide food and water were dangerous substances and would not be allowed to stay in my stomach.

I vomited dozens of times a day. I vomited walking to work every morning, until I no longer had the strength to walk. I had to rush out of field interviews to vomit. I spent most of my time in the bathroom. Smell, noise, movement and motion all made me sick.

My employer finally insisted I take time off when I started to retch during a radio newscast I was reading.

During all this, my capable and sympathetic doctor was on vacation. I spent a lot of time in my local ER, receiving IV fluids and drugs, along with stupid remarks from the doctors and nurses there. The lack of knowledge, or even human compassion, was astounding.

I was offered toast and popsicles and "nice, cold" water. Why would I be at the ER if I could eat or drink any of that? One nurse sat me in the waiting room with two drunks, who were yelling and arguing with smelly breath. This same nurse once told me she wouldn't triage me unless I drank some ginger ale. I told her I would drink it only if she cleaned it off the floor herself after I vomited it up.

The worst was the doctor who kept offering me an abortion instead of proper anti-emetic drugs. The last time she offered was when I was 18 weeks pregnant. I am a practising Roman Catholic and this fact is written at the top of my medical charts, and yet she kept asking. She said an abortion would be better than "heavy-duty" anti-emetics, because "we don't know what the drugs will do to the baby." Well, we know what an abortion would do to the baby, don't we?

All I did was vomit and sleep at one point. I couldn't work, couldn't be a wife to my husband, couldn't be a mother to my children.

I was finally seen by a competent doctor who prescribed me Zofran. It saved my life and my daughter's. I was so sick at that point I was secretly contemplating that abortion. Dehydration does funny things to the brain.

My daughter, Naomi Elizabeth Pearl Morrell, was born last August, perfectly healthy.

I have been trying to interest reporters and broadcasters here in Canada to cover HG since my ordeal, but there is little interest. Thank you for seeing the true value in this story, and for following through.

I hope at least one sick, lonely and frightened woman out there sees your show and knows she is not weak, but has an illness. And I hope many obstetricians, midwives, nurses and doctors see this show and catch a clue.

Sincerely,

Cindy MacDougall
Reporter
Mother of three
HG Survivor
Volunteer moderator, www.helpher.org

PS. This is a picture I took of myself after a particularly bad HG day. I vomited so much I broke the blood vessels in my eye. Feel free to use this image.

Image
Image
Mom to Alex, 12 -- NVP
Isaac, 10 -- NVP
Naomi, 8 -- HG
Edward, 4 -- avoided clinical HG through aggressive pre-emptive treatment and pure luck (aka medicated fluffy)
Cin
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Joined: Feb 27, 2006 7:14 pm
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

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