Re: Life Saver
Valerie Brew-Parrish (brew-parrish(AT)juno.com)
Fri, 3 Oct 1997 21:48:08 -0500
Carol,
My daughter is 15. She was born Feb. 17, 1982. Luckily, for me, I met Dr.
Allen Goldberg and his wife Evie in 1980 when I went into respiratory
distress on a small air plane (Air Illinois) Allen was a good friend of
Margaret Pfrommer, a polio quad. Margaret got me in touch with Allen. He
and his wife came to my house to meet me. We were all friends with Gini
Laurie. The first polio conference was initiated after my plane incident.
Gini Laurie was the Mother Teresa of polio survivors. I asked Gini if I
could have a baby. She knew more than any doctor in the world. She
assured me I would have no trouble. Allen was working at Children's
Memorial Hosp. in Chicago and Evie was in Pennsylvania. They would each
call me in C'dale (350 miles from Chgo) and ask how I was doing and what
my doctors in C'dale were saying. The doctors in C'dale knew NOTHING
about polio survivors with respiratory problems. Both Evie & Allen were
alarmed by their ignorance. We all became convinced they would kill me in
C'dale as they just wouldn't listen. Allen & Evie said, "get the Hell out
of C'dale!" They made me an appointment with an Ob/gyn specialist in Chgo
that they were friends with. When I went into labor on Valentine's Day
Rick called Allen. He had just gotten off the plane from visiting Evie.
He came to the hosp. held my hand, encouraged me as I puffed on my vent
and he'd say, "this too shall pass." I was in labor three days. He and
Rick never left my side. I ended up with a c-section but I was only
intubated 3 days and then went back to my vent. Allen, Gini, & Evie
notified doctors in England, France, Germany, etc. about my progress. I
left the hosp. 10 days later. I published an article about this in the
Dec. '89 issue of Redbook Magazine. I love Allen & his wife. I knew Allen
would make sure everything turned out all right. He had a good rapport
with the doctor who delivered Tara. Unfortunately, there's not enough
Allen's in the world. Gini Laurie introduced me to my current doctor,
Oscar Schwartz. She trained him well and he is brilliant. When I got the
plv-100, Oscar moved Tara & Rick into my hosp. room so I'd be more at
ease. Tara was only 3 yrs. old. Gini had a name for great doctors. She
said instead of MD after their name it should be RD--Real Doctors. My
life has been blessed and so enriched because of these special people.
Allen never even sent me a bill! It is so important for all of us to stay
connected with other survivors, people with disabilities, and the docs
who care more about our welfare than money. I wish I could have known
each other when our girls were babies. We could have swapped some good
stories!
Val