Skip to content

Relapse After Infant’s ICU Stay; Offered MAiD Instead of Pain Help

Day 4 · 2:38:18 · Shannon Holmes · Jamie R. Daniel · Dean Allison · Glen Motz

  • 👶 After her infant nearly died in ICU, the stress and virus triggered a full TM relapse; her neurologist ordered steroids and pain management.
  • 🚫 A consulting neurologist called her a drug-seeker, blamed rheumatoid arthritis, and sent her home until her rheumatologist forced readmission.
  • ☠️ While on narcotics, postpartum, with a baby just out of ICU, and begging for help, staff brought a psychologist to discuss medical assistance in dying.

The moment that permanently destroyed her faith in the system she had served.

← Price of Testifying: Pre-Rest, Child-Care, Week-Long Crash | Q&A: What would you like to see happen as a result of this inquiry? →

Transcript

Shannon Holmes · 2:38:18

So I remained off work, and about a year and a bit after my initial injury, in June 2022, My infant had been hospitalized. She almost died. She was in ICU. When she got out of ICU, between— she had had a virus that also affects the immune system, which is a known trigger for relapses of transverse myelitis. Between the virus, the stress, the physical task of being in ICU and in the hospital for a week caring for her when I have complex pain, emotional issues, I myself ended up being readmitted to the hospital for a week with a complete relapse of my transverse myelitis. My neurologist at the time was like, absolutely, it is a relapse of your transverse myelitis. You need to go get pain management. You need to go get steroids. The first time I went to the hospital, they agreed. But when they call and my husband had had to go out away for town, so he was trying to arrange a flight to come home to care for our children.

Shannon Holmes · 2:39:20

The first time I went to the emergency department, the emergency physician agreed, yeah, this sounds like TM. We'll get everything sorted. They sent a neurologist to consult on me who was like, no, absolutely not. She's a drug seeker. She's just here for pain management. Yes, I'm here for pain management because my neurologist told me to come to the hospital for pain management and steroids. And then And at that point he said, and it's, you know, she's a drug seeker. It's probably not even her TM. It's obviously her rheumatoid arthritis, which is why I'm peeing myself, which is why I have no sensation, which is why I feel like there's an ice pick stuck in my spine. So I got sent home. Luckily, I had had an appointment with my rheumatologist that week, and my husband basically again had to carry me into that appointment. And she looked at me and she was horrified.

Jamie R. Daniel · 2:40:13

She's—.

Shannon Holmes · 2:40:13

She had never seen me like this. She had never seen me in such significant suffering that she called the hospital, doctor to doctor immediately and was like, you will admit her, you will treat her for pain and you will get this figured out. So we went back to the hospital and luckily I did get a bed. I got treated, I got admitted. They preferred a functional pain disorder. Instead of the transverse myelitis, even though all of my other providers were like, this is TM. And I remember breaking down crying after all of this being happening. I was crying and bawling to my team saying, I can't live like this anymore. I can't live like this. I was not suicidal. I was asking for help. And at this moment, instead of helping me, they brought in a psychologist to talk to me about MAiD. Medical assistance in dying. I was in my early 30s. I had a baby at home that had just been in ICU. I was barely out of the postpartum period.

Shannon Holmes · 2:41:14

My hormones hadn't settled. I was admitted for pain crisis on heavy-duty narcotics, and I was asking for help, and instead they offered to euthanize me. 3-Year-old's old and 3 or 4 months old was my little one at the time. And they were just— instead of treating my pain, instead of finding me help, they wanted to euthanize me. That moment broke me. It broke my husband. It broke my family. That was the moment that any faith in the medical system that I so proudly served for years was gone. And then it just continued because after that I still had severe pain, severe disability.

Shannon Holmes · 2:42:15

That was in summer 2022. And then I held out hope that maybe the government All my faith in the medical system was gone. All of my faith in, you know, even my, my coworkers, the people who are friend group, the people who are supposed to have me outside of my husband, our immediate family, and a handful of people. My faith in everything was gone. But I held out faith that the government, they're like, we got you. If something goes wrong, we've got you. And then in January of 2023, so 6 months after this event, of which I had walked with a cane for most of this time as well.

Dean Allison · 2:42:55

Um, Jamie, could I, can I interrupt you a second? Yeah, we want to ask a couple questions. It may be related just because I got a couple of the MPs that want to ask you some information. Mr.

Glen Motz · 2:43:05

Stravatz, thank you for sharing your experience.