Update on drama with CPS and baby Hannah

[Guest guest]

First, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to send prayers and

positive vibes up for us and baby Hannah plus take the time to send me words of

advice and encouragement, everything has helped tons and things are turning

towards a positive direction as I have good news to share with all of you.

We got back the drug test results from the tests that both baby Hannah and I

took last Friday. Of course my test came back positive because of the

medications I take and Hannah's test came back totally negative. Though it

sucks that I had to put my baby girl through the crap of taking this drug test

I'm glad to have the information that there are no drugs showing up in her

system from the meds I'm taking and the fact I'm breastfeeding. I have been

breastfeeding her according to the guidelines recommended for women who have to

take meds and still want to nurse, timing taking my meds right after she nursed

so my body has time to process before she nurses again. The test is proof that

this is working as none of the meds I'm taking is crossing over into the

breastmilk, this is the one positive and comforting thing that I can take from

all this difficulty that we have been put through.

I was contacted by patient advocacy from the hospital yesterday and believe it

or not, the lady in charge of investigating the case totally admitted that the

hospital screwed up not once, but twice!!! Glenn and I picked up my records and

Hannah's records and we found the problem started with the nursery nurse

practitioner as she is the one who first made the leap about my medication as

she notated in Hannah's chart that I was a " narcotics addict " . Now if she had

noted that I was " narcotics dependant " versus " addict " that would have flown

with me, but the fact that she said " addict " that told everyone that she was

assuming incorrect things without consulting with my OB. I then found out from

the patient advocate from the hospital this problem was compounded when the drug

testing company sent an amended report to the hospital two days after we were

discharged about the levels of drugs in Hannah's system. The way it was

explained to me was that the first test was a screening to show what drugs were

in her system and the second test was to show how much of the drug was in the

system. What happened is when the drug testing company sent the results it went

to the hospital social worker and for some reason this social worker freaked and

lost her mind when she saw a baby tested positive for drugs and that baby was

already discharged from the hospital, so when she read the results she read them

all wrong. She ended up reading the results and thinking that everything they

listed as negative was positive, so when she contacted CPS she told them Hannah

had tested positive for all these drugs when the report the company sent was

saying she tested negative.

The patient advocate lady said she didn't even know where to start to apologize

because the hospital screwed up so bad. She told me it took her a couple of

days to get back to me because it took her that long to track down " all the many

errors " that the hospital made. I guess they are using my case as an education

tool for the nursery nurses, bringing in the pain management team to teach them

about the many drugs used in patients with chronic pain problems and how they

would show up on drug tests and how they would effect a baby. There was also

emphasis on having the nurses and nurse practitioners communicate with the

doctors if they see patients on suspects to clarify what the meds are being

taken for. There has also been meetings with the hospital social workers on how

to correctly read these tests results and that they need to communicate with the

patients doctors and make sure they gather all the information before they make

that call to CPS.

Both Glenn and I are very glad that the hospital is supposedly taking action to

make sure that this doesn't happen again to another mother like me, but it still

doesn't take away the fact that this CPS report is going to follow us for years

and cause us problems regardless that it was unfounded and we cleared our names.

We are going to consult a lawyer about a malpractice suit because of the fact

that this report could cause both of us problems in our careers.

We are very grateful that this is clearing up for us and we can stop worrying

and completely focus on how blessed we are to have the child we have prayed for

for so long. Now if I could just get some sleep and a shower I will be in

heaven! LOL! Thanks again for all the support!

Axelrod