SMILES

My niece has been accepted for surgery for UCL at Shriners Chicago. For any who have used them, I have several questions. I realize that each child and situation is different but would like to try to get a general idea.
1) How long did they keep your baby in the hospital after surgery?
2) How long after surgery did those of you breastfeeding have to wait to start again?
3) Did they use/recommend/send you home with arm restraints?
4) Any particular questions my sister should plan to ask at the evaluation appt?
5) Anything you wish you had taken along when you went for the surgery but didn't?
Thanks in advance for responses.
Linda S S

My sister and brother-in-law got word today that Shriners Chicago will NOT do my niece's cleft lip surgery which was scheduled for a week from today. They had sent them a letter a while back saying that they had been accepted. Very frustrating! They can't even call other hospitals until Monday.

Do they have insurance? Contact me pketti2@netscape.net. We went through Children's Memorial in Chicago. Let me know what their story is. Dino is 1 years old now. I don't log on here too often. I might have some contacts for them.

Any news yet?

Any reason given as to why they won't do the surgery now? Chicago Shriner's is where my daughter goes..

Because they chose not to vaccinate (many reasons: baby has first cousin with vaccine-induced autism, I (aunt) had mercury poisoning, etc). The surgeon signed a vaccine exemption on Sept 30 then a week before the surgery the director said no exemptions and overruled the one the surgeon had already approved.

Linda, I know that vaccinating can be a very touchy subject these days, but in my opinion, there is a way that it can be done safely. Before choosing a pediatrician, one of my top concerns was to ensure that his office used ONLY single dose vials of vaccines that DO NOT contain mercury as a preservative.It is hard to find doctors who use these, as they are WAY more expensive, and don't get as much insurance reimbursement. After educating myself on all of the statistics, I DO believe that vaccines are a large cause for the rise in Autism. But I also believe that it is taking a HUGE risk to send your child out into the world with no protection against diseases that could kill them! And also it is putting other children at risk that they may come in contact with. Plus, unfortunately, you are asking for a LOT of trouble when dealing with daycare and schools and situations such as this. Maybe they can research the possibility of using the Mercury-free vaccines. It will be hard to find ANY hospital that perform her operation without up to date vaccines. I know that is always the first question they ask when we take Jackson in.Sorry to hear they are having more trouble. I know dealing with all of this is already causing them lots of stress, and then to be denied the surgery she needs is just making things worse. Good luck in making a decision!
P.S. There is a really good book out there about vaccines and Autism. I will have to double check the name and get back with you.

They have found several hospitals that will do the surgery without requiring vaccines. Now trying to figure out the financial part of it.

As for the books, you're probably thinking of Stephanie Cave, MD's, "What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Childhood Vaccines". My sister and I both have and have read that. There's also "Evidence of Harm" by David Kirby and "A Shot in the Dark" by Barbara Loe-Fisher.

The vaccines Shriners was requiring that she get were the DPT and the polio. The CDC and US Dept of Health polio vaccine info sheet admits that there have been NO wild virus cases of polio in the US for 20 years, (only cases caused by the OPV vaccine itself).

Vaccines also kill. They are responsible for many cases of SIDS among other things.

I don't know if traveling is a big problem for you, but St. Louis Children's Hospital has financial help for their patients. You might try contacting them. They also have a very exceptional cleft team. You can't hardly tell my son had a cleft in his lip at all. We are preparing for his palate surgery in a week and a half. It's worth a shot. Good Luck!

What a beautiful family!