The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep

sleepI just saw a video on ABC on a boy suffering from pressure on the brain stem which caused a condition that did not permit him to sleep.

In chiropractic, the diagnosis of the brain stem is called a subluxation. What is frustrating to me is that it seems the family was not given any sort of alternative to this treatment (like chiropractic).

You may ask why I bristle when I see this clip-some people only see a horrible condition resolved-end of story. The problem is that in my view, this was a completely unnecessary (and radical) surgery.

  • This boys cervical spine is now very unstable. Any slight trauma could kill him. I shuddered when the parents put him in a bunk bed.
  • Had this been my child, I would like to have been offered choices as to treatment. I would always opt for the least invasive treatment first.
  • The cost of the surgery. This seems to be a complete waste of resources. No wonder our country’s healthcare costs are so out of line with the rest of the world.
  • The recovery time. If you listen closely, you will see that it took eight months to recover from the surgery;

Granted, I dont know all the facts on this particular case. I realiize that Arnold Chiari Malformation is a congenital defect (from birth) , and that some type of surgical intervention may still have been necessary-I just don’t think the family was ever given an option. That to me, is malpractice.


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1 response to “The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep”

  1. Autism Resources Avatar

    I have read several articles about autism resources but they didn’t give me the complete picture but finally you article has done when i found it on Thursday.

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