DAVID OBALOLUWA was born into my family at a time that I and my wife had lost hope of ever having children together, after ten (10) years of marriage without my wife getting pregnant, not to mention the emotional and physical trauma we had been through as husband and wife, it was so hopeless that my brother in-law told me that my father in-law who is a devout catholic was always praying that instead of his daughter not to have children in her marraige that God should take his (father in-law) life and give us children instead. DAVID OBALOLUWA brought a new air of hope into our lives as husband and wife and as a family. My marriage was severely threatened before DAVID came unexpectedly and he instantly became my hero 'cause I do not believe in second marriages and I was scared of living a lonely life.
David weighed 3.5 kg when he was born on the 21st of June 2011 at Orile Agege General Hospital, Agege-Lagos, Nigeria, it was the happiest and most anxious day of my life. I couldn't believe that I had become a dad when I saw my son for the first time. My son was crying when he was brought to me after his mother had undergone CS to give birth to him without complications and on carrying him for the first time in both our lives, he became calm, and so it was throughout his short life. No amount of Gold or Silver can be exchanged for that moment in my life. Not only was my son born, but I, his father was also reborn, I saw myself as a new person. OLD THINGS WERE HISTORY, GOD HAD GIVEN ME A GIFT IN THE PRESENT AND I WAS EAGERLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE. My worries had been wiped away; I had a clean slate, so I thought,
After David was born, he became both myself and my wife's purpose in life. For the first time in our lives we made plans around David. David became the apple of our eyes. Even my Dog Bruno knew that there was a new addition to our home and he was happy about it.
I soon realized that the joy of having a child is being able to nurse him to sleep and watch him sleep, when he cried, to be able to carry him and make my arms comfortable enough for him to relax and be calm, and the part I love most is to carry him on my chest after feeding and make him belch. Ohh, I love it when my son belch’s and falls asleep and I gently lay him on his bed. I looked forward to doing that always and also to help plan his future.
David was a fine baby boy, he was spotless all over. He was without rashes, without spots, his skin shone all times of the day, and one thing he hated is poop in his diapers, we just must change his diapers whenever he did his thingy. David I’m sure would make other girl babies take a second look at him if we carry him by. My son was without blemish, he was perfect. So we thought,
My best friend carried David for the first time and decided it was time for him and his wife to have more children after they had given birth to male twins nine (9) years ago, David had that effect on you. He was a boy most people thought was a girl, if you saw David you couldn't resist the temptation to carry him. The situations surrounding him being conceived made David a special child.
Five weeks after his birth, we had to complain to Doctors about our concerns over his breathing. Also, he had started throwing up his mother’s milk. We were instructed to carry out blood test and chest x-ray which were translated to us as being normal by a kind and wonderful female Doctor, Dr Arikenbi who works at the hospital where my son was born. She instructed that we do further tests, an ECG which was inconclusive, and then she asked us to do echocardiography on David to be sure of the condition of his heart. Little did we know that this test would be the beginning of the end for our PRECIOUS DAVID OBALOLUWA.
He was admitted at Orile-Agege General Hospital, Lagos-Nigeria on Friday 29th of July 2011 and stopped throwing up. He was suspected to have a condition called ?CYANOSIS HEART DISEASE. We had to confirm David's condition at LASUTH in Ikeja, Lagos.
Going to LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL PAEDIATRIC WARD, was the biggest mistake of both myself and my wife's lives. I will regret my decision as a father and husband for the rest of my Life.
On the morning of the 1st of August 2011, I went to Orile-Agege general hospital; lead my wife and son out of the hospital premises where he was born and presently on admission enroute to LASUTH on the instruction of Dr. Arikenbi, a hopeful father going to get the solution to my child’s condition. On getting to LASUTH in IKEJA, the Cardiologist, Dr. Animashaun said with a matter of fact tone that I should go back to ORILE-AGEGE and get a referral note. I Obeyed in the hope that I was on a quest to get the solution for my son’s condition. We went back and got the letter from Dr. Arikenbi in AGEGE instructing that they do an echocardiography asap and headed back to LASUTH in IKEJA. This time the peaditricians/cardiologists didn’t bother to read the letter, they just asked us to go up to the EMERGENCY WARD on first floor. On getting there, we met Dr. Oshinowo who arrogantly without regard sent us back down to the cardiologists.
On getting downstairs, the cardiologists INSTRUCTED me and my wife that before they can do the echocardiography for my son, which was why we were there, we must go back to ORILE-Agege and discharge my son and readmit him at LASUTH or transfer then they will do the test for him, and that they must observe and manage the boy before anything otherwise there was nothing they could do. And I knew that there are but a few places in Lagos to do echocardiography on an infant, so, I obeyed without hesitation.
I and my wife were worried but had no choice but to go back to ORILE-AGEGE and inform Dr. Arikenbi who RELUCTANTLY gave another note transferring David to Cardiology unit of LASUTH after explaining what we had to do.
I left again for LASUTH armed with another letter, on getting back there, the Doctors in cardiology instructed us up to paediatric emergency ward. about two hours later, after interviewing us and waiting Dr. Oshinowo, talking with a lot of arrogance as usual was threathening to send my son home and we come the following day or to go to LAGOS UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL (LUTH). My wife broke down crying on hearing the words that came out of Dr. Oshinowo’s mouth after the stress we had been through all day. I calmly explained to Dr. Oshinowo what had transpired between the cardiologist, myself and Dr. Arikenbi. Dr. Oshinowo then CONSIDERED me and instructed me that she gave me five seconds to get out of the emergency treatment room and enter the emergency ward and wait for her before she changed her mind and transfer us. I obeyed, holding my son in my arms while his mother watched, helpless. It should be noted that David, my son’s condition was considered FAIR on being admitted at LASUTH, his breathing was clear, was eating well and looked healthy. I stood like a fool waiting for Dr Oshinowo to consider my son while she and the nurses on duty where passing all sorts of comments, when it was her colleagues who INSTRUCTED me to transfer my son from ORILE-AGEGE to LASUTH and one of the cardiologists came up and confirmed this to Dr. Oshinowo.
After I had stood in between the entrance and the nurse’s table in the emergency ward for upward of thirty minutes with my son in hand, both Dr. Oshinowo and the nurses started passing comments to my face as if I forced my son on them, even Dr. Oshinowo was insinuating that I was lying about being informed that they had no bedspace, in my face. It should be noted that Dr. Arikenbi of Orile-Agege general Hospital enquired if there was bed space at LASUTH before transferring my son, of which I could not answer in the affirmative (I assumed if they were particular about us transferring David, there must be bedspace) this resulted in her reluctance to transfer DAVID, I could never had known that there was no bed space at LASUTH and agree to transfer my son when he was comfortably being taken care of where he was. At that point I couldn’t take it any more, I made it point blank matter of fact speaking clear to all of them, with due respect that I believe they were a team, that they had better get there house in order and I was beginning to lose my cool, with all the things they were saying and doing. Also, I made it crystal clear that my son was getting the attention and care he needed at Orile-Agege general hospital and I was never interested in bringing my son there for admission of any kind and, I only came for echocardiography to be performed on my son before I was forced to transfer my son to LASUTH and they don’t expect me to go back to Orile-Agege at that time of the day with the boy, when it was getting dark, since morning. It was then and only then that Dr. Oshinowo tried to calm me down by saying that she wasn’t trying to blame me, that it wasn’t my fault. Then they decided to help by asking that I lay David on the treatment bed in the emergency treatment room of the paediatric ward. I was instructed to get a folder and buy drugs and I.V. set which were all bought. The I.V. was administered to my boy; David was later joined by three other babies on the treatment bed that night. One had a terrible case of cough together with his mother, the second baby looked critically ill with different patches all over, the third was seriously sick. My wife, baby boy and the other babbies and mothers were in the emergency treatment room all night, exposed to babies with jaundice, yellow fever and other severe ailments all night. My wife counted four dead babies that night, she even suggested staying outside the treatment room with David, in the corridor. For hours they didn’t give the mothers chairs, and I had earlier indicated to them that my wife had the boy through CS after ten years of marriage and it was written in David’s file, and her stitches hadn’t yet healed fully, they didn’t care. At Orile-Agege, very sick kids with coughs and severe cases were separated from not to very sick kids but at LASUTH it wasn’t the case. To the extent that a matron, I don’t know her name was rebuffing me for attending to my wife by saying “she iwo ni nkan lo ni iyawo ni ibibai ni?” meaning (am I the only one who has a wife here) I replied by telling her that her statement was insensitive and I had informed them that my wife had done CS on the 21st of June 2011 and that day was the 2nd of August, 2011.
I WONDER IF IT TAKES JUST OVER ONE (1) MONTH FOR SUCH STITCHES TO HEAL?
I had to call my Dad who is a medical doctor to intervene and he was promised that the echo would be done latest by the following day and we would be discharged but that never happened. My son was given a bed space in the evening of the 2nd of August, 2011, and my feeling was that we would be allowed to carry out the echocardiography latest by the next day but we were told they would determine if/when my son would have an echo done on him . We were instructed to do another chest x-ray on the 3rd of August, 2011 which turned out the same as the one done at Orile-Agege general hospital which was disregarded, the x-ray report read “Normal cardiac shadow and bony thorax. No focal lung lesion seen. Echocardiography is advise, in view of clinical history to r/o CHD” . We were also instructed on the 5th of August, 2011 to do a heamatology and serum test, which we had done at Orile-Agege and were considered okay with his PCV being 40% and presently 35%. Meanwhile, up until the 6th of August 2011, David was eating well and looking healthy, though already placed on I.V. fluids and oxygen. On the 6th and 7th August doctors were scanty. All throughout the night of the 7th of August 2011, David couldn’t sleep, he had terrible breathing problems and on sighting him you’ll know he was in pain. By the night of 7th of August 2011, we knew David was in distress, He coughed profusely groaned all day as he tried to breathe. At a time one Doctor removed his I.V. fluid. Doctors were scanty and the ones around took his condition lightly. That Sunday the 7th of August 2011, I knew something was terribly wrong with my little boy, David.
On Monday the 8th of August 2011, we were informed by Professor Ogundipe in the company of Dr. Oshinowo that David had pneumonia, my knowledge of pneumonia is that it’s an inflammation of the lungs caused by bacteria, irritation or viruses and its painful when trying to breathe. Dr. Oshinowo then urged me to ask the prof. questions that if I asked her questions later, she wouldn’t attend to me.
WOULD I BE RIGHT TO CONCLUDE THAT MY SON CONTACTED PNEUMONIA AT LASUTH AFTER BEING EXPOSED. AND ARE DOCTORS IMMUNE FROM QUESTIONS, AND IF NOT WHY ARE MOST DOCTORS RELUCTANT TO EXPLAIN THE CONDITIONS OF PATIENTS TO THEIR FAMILY AND IN THIS CASE PARENTS WHO BRING THEIR CHILDREN FOR TREATMENT?
I then asked the prof. how long his condition would last and he replied 48 to 72 hours. I felt so bad, I couldn’t think of any further questions and I was instructed to buy FUROSEMIDE INJECTION and another pack of ZINACEF INJECTION. I was perplexed; then i understood what David had gone through the whole of the previous day. Also, the professor instructed my wife not to feed David until when instructed that he would continue drip. Earlier that morning, my wife had fed David using a spoon and he fed well. I rushed to get the injection and it was until 1:27 p.m. before the furosemide injection was administered to my son after I had to call the attention of doctors that David had not been given the injection. In the afternoon of that same day, I read through the leaflet in the pack of Zinacef injection and noticed the instruction about storage and duration it can be effective after dilution. The leaflet stated that IF KEPT UNDER ROOM TEMPERATURE AFTER DILUTION, IT’S POTENCY WAS FOR FIVE HOURS, meaning it would expire after five hours of dilution if kept under room temperature but IF REFRIGERATED, IT’S POTENCY WOULD LAST TWENTY FOUR HOURS, meaning if refrigerated would expire after twenty four hours. Zinacef had been administered to my son from the 5th of August every twelve hours because I bought two on the 5th and two on the 8th of August and for three days, after administering, was kept on David’s side table (room temperature) each time, after it was administered. By my understanding, each time a bottle was diluted, and administered, the initial dose in each bottle was perfect but subsequent doses after every twelve hours placed on his side table (room temperature) was expired drugs. Using only two bottles from the 5th to the 8th of August every twelve hours, the zinacef injection was doing more harm than good to my son because it was expired drugs. No wonder he came down with pneumonia.
AM I TO CONCLUDE THAT THESE DOCTORS DIDN’T KNOW THE CONDITIONS SURROUNDING THE POTENCY OF DRUGS ADMINISTERED TO PATIENTS BEFORE PRESCRIBING SUCH, SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS BELOW 3 MONTHS OF AGE HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED IN THE USE OF ZINACEF. AND IF THEY COULDN’T STORE PROPERLY, WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST ASK US HIS PARENTS TO GET COLD PURE WATER SACHETS IN A COOLER AND PLACE THE ZINACEF IN THE COOLER OF ICED WATER TO PROLONG IT’S POTENCY?
At about 2 p.m., Dr. Adekanye came to the ward to inform myself and my wife that they would be doing the echocardiography on David, my son, but he commented about not knowing how we were going to do it since David was on oxygen and on I.V. fluid. I suggested that the echo machine should be brought up and he said that it wont be possible and left. About thirty minutes later, I went looking for Dr. Adekanye and reminded him about the echo test and he assured me that when they were ready for David he would come and get him. At about 3:10 p.m. Dr. Adekanye emerged and instructed that we should bring David exactly 30 minutes after. We waited and when it was 3:35p.m., we informed the nurse on duty about us going for the echo test. The nurse, whose name I can’t remember, was reluctant to remove David from oxygen and drip. She asked us why couldn’t the doctors bring up the echo machine and do it for David in the ward. i replied that I had suggested same to the doctor and he refused. The nurse then instructed that immediately we got downstairs, we should wait around, that we should let the doctors know that David is on oxygen permanently and they should do the examination asap and we return David to the ward.
At about 3:40 p.m. we got down stairs and did as the nurse had instructed. The doctors complained and sent us outside into a corridor that had just been painted with gloss paint and the smell in the corridor was choking me, an adult not to mention and infant on oxygen support. I called the attention of the doctors and informed them of the situation and they disregarded me. After between 10 to 15 minutes of waiting, I and my wife were contemplating returning David when the doctors instructed me to get them toilet roll, I rushed up to the ward and on returning almost immediately, I saw a few doctors with my wife rush upstairs with David in her arms almost unconscious, he had suffered asphyxia. They rushed him to the emergency treatment room and placed him on oxygen so he could become stable. I took a good look at my son, and what I saw frightened me. He was nearly gone. I couldn’t imagine us loosing David after ten years of waiting and hoping. A kind nurse, sensitive to patient’ needs decided to move David out of the emergency treatment room and into the ward placing him on a resuscitator. A few minutes later, Dr. Animashaun, Dr. Ikrenm and other student doctors appeared upstairs in the emergency ward with the echo machine which to my surprise isn’t much bigger than my HP laptop. They then did the echocardiography text announcing that David had holes in his heart. My son suffered asphyxia because some doctors either felt to big to go to their patient or were just lazy. They said that David was severely sick but the same doctor had done a ECG on him at Clinique de Mercy, Gbagada in the evening of the 5th of August and didn’t notice him to be severely sick. They prescribed I.V. Rocephin 180mg 12 hrly and that we compound syr captopril 6.25mg BD and syr Frusemide 4mg BD which I bought instantly.
WHAT BOTHERS ME IS WHY WOULD DOCTORS TREATING A PATIENT PRESCRIBE THAT WE COMPOUND SYRUP FOR A CHILD THAT WAS NOT ALLOWED TO EAT ALL DAY, HOW WOULD HIS BOWELS REACT TO THAT, DIDN’T THEY READ HIS FILE?
The compounded drugs were never administered by the nurse because David hadn’t eaten all day and I had to remind the nurse on duty at 1:27 a.m. that David was to take another dose of furosemide injection. By that time we were so worried about him being weak. David would be on the resuscitator till about 7 a.m on 9th of August 2011, growing weaker every second till he died. I and his mother took turns watching helplessly, our beloved David Obaloluwa die slowly, hungry and in pains all because we trusted Doctors. David would look into my eyes as I sat by his side holding his arm and I could see he was trying to tell me to do something that he was dying. And all I did all night was to tell him to hold on till the morning and everything will be okay. That morning wasn’t okay.
After my son’s death, I sighted Dr. Oshinowo who had admitted my son 8 days earlier, she ignored me and my wife who was crying at the time. She pretended not to see or know what was happening, she passed in and out of the emergency ward door at least 2 times and my son lay dead on the bed close to the door. Not a simple sympathetic gesture came from her, even robots would’ve been programmed to exhibit emotions. Dr. Ikwenm also walked in and asked what had happened and she was told by a fellow doctor that we lost David, right in front of me, she looked at me for a split second and exhibited no emotions, no sympathetic gesture despite the fact that she was one of those who instructed that David be tranfered to LASUTH, she was the one who instructed that we did another x-ray after disregarding the first x-ray, she was the one who gave us the address of Clinique de mercy for the ECG to be done, she had looked at me with a sneer after David had suffered asphyxia in their office downstairs when I went to get the boys shawl. Probably she thought I came for a quarrel. Even witches would pretend to be sympathetic. The nurse who had challenged if I was the only one with a wife there some days earlier was practically asking us to come and sign and leave the ward with our dead son that the bed would be used by others. In shock and grief I told her to just give me some minutes. But for the consoling of my wife by two nurses and an elderly woman in purple and the male doctors I don’t know how we would’ve been able to walk out of the ward.
The emotional detachment of care givers in this country is a cause for worry. By my estimation, care giving is not just about stabbing patients with injections and stuffing them with tablets but also giving them emotional support and guidance and being sensitive to the needs of patients which are vital ingredient in the healing process.
NOTHING I DO NOW CAN BRING BACK DAVID OBALOLUWA INTO OUR LIVES, BUT WOULD I BE WRONG TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST THESE DOCTORS (MOSTLY WOMEN) FOR NEGLIGENCE AND UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT LEADING TO THE DEATH OF MY SON AND OTHER CHILDREN?

Bump

Sir do you expect me to read this?

What a painful story, nobody should be put through all that talkless an infant. The worst ordeal a parent can ever go through is watching their child suffer then die. Our teaching hospitals have more or less become death centres as a result of the negligence of their personnel. Hope the parents take legal actions. So painful

Many of our health care practitioners just have big names ( cardiologist, professors e, t.c). Many are big bundles of ignorance, wearing white medical coats. They try to cover their ignorance by being arrogant. A native doctor would have done better.

tolaji:
DAVID OBALOLUWA was born into my family at a time that I and my wife had lost hope of ever having children together, after ten (10) years of marriage without my wife getting pregnant, not to mention the emotional and physical trauma we had been through as husband and wife, it was so hopeless that my brother in-law told me that my father in-law who is a devout catholic was always praying that instead of his daughter not to have children in her marraige that God should take his (father in-law) life and give us children instead. .........

...... The emotional detachment of care givers in this country is a cause for worry. By my estimation, care giving is not just about stabbing patients with injections and stuffing them with tablets but also giving them emotional support and guidance and being sensitive to the needs of patients which are vital ingredient in the healing process.
NOTHING I DO NOW CAN BRING BACK DAVID OBALOLUWA INTO OUR LIVES, BUT WOULD I BE WRONG TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST THESE DOCTORS (MOSTLY WOMEN) FOR NEGLIGENCE AND UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT LEADING TO THE DEATH OF MY SON AND OTHER CHILDREN?

I truly feel sorry about your loss and my prayer is that the Lord God will comfort you, heal your pain and take away your distress within the shortest possible time. Do accept my condolences.

Please file a report immediately with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). Lodge a complaint about the delay in administering the right treatment on your son, the lack of urgency in handling his condition when they knew it was an emergency, their nonchalance and unprofessional conduct. Include every other thing you can think of.

What nonsense! A lot of medical people handle human lives with levity in this country and act as if they are doing the patient a favour, by offering him treatment.

If you report this case to the NMA, it won't bring your son back but at least it may prevent the death of another child in the hands of these uncaring doctors!