I’d like to try to clarify one matter before presenting the concluding segment of the timeline from Mary McGonigle-Martin and Tony Martin concerning the illness of their son, Chris.
Several readers have questioned whether Chris became ill from raw milk. I appreciate their concerns that no one knows with absolute certainty what made him sick. I have ascribed the illness to raw milk based on an assessment by the California Department of Health Services, which in late September said it “studied all information available to determine linkages in the cases of four children stricken with E.colio 0157:H7 bacterial illness. That information revealed that the only common exposure reported by all four cases was consumption of raw milk or raw colostrum…in the week prior to symptom onset.” Chris Martin was a fifth child who became ill, with no E.coli being found. Because the timing and symptoms were so much like those of the other children, his parents feel he was similarly affected.
As I pointed out yesterday, this isn’t really a story about raw milk, but about deficiencies in our medical system that too often aren’t properly acknowledged by medical and insurance authorities.
Finally, I have edited this segment to remove certain passages making accusations or ascribing motives to certain Kaiser officials.
HERE IS PART 2, "Timeline for Christopher Chase Martin":
(Tony continues the story, in the first person.)
At this point, 1:30 p.m., I was furious. I requested a private room where Dr. K and I could discuss this matter privately. He took me to a private room and we both sat down.
(Tony describes at some length the details of conversations he had with physicians. Tony says he eventually convinced the doctors and Kaiser administration to approve the transfer, which happened by the end of that day.)
My son was transferred to Children’s Hospital by ambulance at approximately 7:30 p.m.. By the time they got on the roof, into the air, and landed at Loma Linda, it was 9:00 p.m… His breathing was labored.
X-rays were taken immediately. Dr. G showed us the pictures and told us that the reason he was breathing so hard was because he had lots of fluid behind his lungs. Plural Effusion. He told us that he would have to place a drainage tube into each side of our son’s chest. He explained the risks. We approved the procedure. 1100 cc’s drained out of our son over the next few hours, over 5000 cc’s over the next three weeks.
Our son also received emergency dialysis that night…(In my estimation) our son should have immediately been sent to Loma Linda. Or Children’s Hospital. Or UCLA. Any place where his medical needs, i.e., dialysis, could have been met as needed… Only in this case, there was no bed available and this meant our son’s condition would decline markedly while a search for a bed ensued.
9/15 Friday: Our first full day at Loma Linda. Chris received the much needed blood transfusion. He received dialysis again. He suffered from bad cramps and dry heaves for hours. He was absolutely miserable. After all, this was his eighth day in the hospital. He was absolutely exhausted.
As the day progressed, he got progressively worse. By evening, his chest was pounding. Harder and faster. Harder and faster. 130 beats per minute, 140, 150, 170, 180. At this point, Dr. T came to us and told us that Chris was now in danger of congestive heart failure—a heart attack. She informed us that modern medicine would now have to take over some of Chris’s bodily functions—he would have to be intibated to slow down his heart and let him sleep.
We were devastated. It seemed Chris was slipping further and further away.
(NOTE: We video-taped Chris lying in the bed, machines breathing for him. We were so angry. All because of…Doctors not talking to doctors.)
9/16 Saturday: It was now 2:00 a.m. The ventilator was managing Chris’s every breath. He was sedated. On this day he also received plasma, another blood transfusion, kidney dialysis. And much needed rest.
9/20 Chris would spend nearly five full days on the ventilator. His testicles grew to the size of a large grapefruit, his face and extremities were now puffed and abnormal. We stared at our son’s face, hour after hour, so swollen that we wouldn’t have recognized him on the street had he passed by in that condition…
From this point forward, days turned into weeks. Chris was taken off the ventilator after five days. He could not speak from a swollen throat, more drugs were administered to reduce the swelling. He had to wear a tightly fitted mask (By-Pap) over his mouth and nose, forcing oxygen deep into his lungs, due to a partially collapsed lung…
9/29 Chris had a seizure due to high blood pressure. He was again intibated. Cat Scan, EEG, MRI, more sedation, would follow.
10/1 He was taken off the ventilator at 11:45 p.m. Still suffering from abnormally high blood pressure. Taking medications to stabilize.
10/4 Chris was moved to Step-Down ICU. (two patients per room)
By mid-October, we were dealing with one final issue: his pancreas. Every attempt at feeding for seven weeks failed. His pancreas would have nothing to do with food. His lipase levels were abnormally high, indicating pancreatitis. In all, we would spend the next three weeks watching his lipase levels fluctuate each day, waiting for them to retreat to normal levels.
10/19 Loma Linda nephrology officially signed off on Chris’s case and turned his primary care over to Dr. S, gastro-intestinal specialist. However, Dr. S’s time would be limited. Kaiser notified Loma Linda that they would now recall Chris back to Fontana and turn his case over to their own gastro-intestinal specialist, Dr. H.
10/20 Chris was transported by ambulance back to Kaiser, Fontana. He ate for the first time on 10/26 and was released from the hospital on 11/2/06.
He had spent 8 full weeks in the hospital: Here is the timeline.
9/7 — 9/10: Kaiser, Riverside. (3 days)
9/10 — 9/11: Kaiser, Fontana. (1 day)
9/11 — 9/14: Kaiser, Sunset (4 days)
9/14 — 10/20: Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (5 weeks)
10/20 — 11/2: Kaiser, Fontana (2 weeks)
11/2 Chris began a four-week stay at home, recuperating and rebuilding his strength and weight. He complained of back pain—probably due to too many weeks of lying in a bed. He is now a patient of our family chiropractor and spinal adjustments have begun.
Tony stayed home with Chris during these four weeks. Mary returned to work on 11/6, having exhausted her sick leave.
11/27 Chris returned to school.
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