1 /5 Katherine DeMaria: Now that I am recovering from the shock and trauma of my experience at Albany med children’s hospital, I will say that anyone with a very ill child who doesn’t know what is wrong with them should not go to Albany. Go to Poughkeepsie, Boston, Westchester. Albany med allowed residents to take charge of a very complex and rare condition which was clearly not within their skill set. They overloaded my child with fluids (11lbs in 7 days) , didn’t take daily weight or measure fluid intake or output, drew blood 2x daily, did not treat the actual inflammation causing the illness until 10 days after admission and almost drowning my child in IV fluids which they claimed was edema from the inflammation…that they delayed treatment for.
I had to call rapid response while there to get an attending doctor to look at my child on the 7th day we were there because the resident in charge would not listen to my concerns that the swelling wasn’t just edema. It wasn’t. The attending right away said it was third space fluid overload. My child was taken Off all fluids and put on diuretics….he also had to have a blood transfusion because his blood count was so low from all of the bloodwork. I had to demand he be treated for the actual condition he was suffering from which was inflammation. All he needed was steroids. As soon as he got them (10 days after admission and being mistreated with fluids) his recovery started.
No doctor will admit the fluid overload or delayed treatment. It was terrifying and I am very sad for my son who kept telling me “we are never leaving here.” I would like the hospital to recognize their terrible oversight of my child’s care and to admit fault.
As a teaching hospital they should have better control over their training of resident doctors. ESP when it comes to children.