Opinion: Doctors like me are at a loss when parents can’t agree on their child’s treatment
My young patient's condition was worsening, and I knew he needed surgery. But his parents were still at odds on what was best for their son.
Kathy sat quietly before me in one of our pediatric exam rooms, dabbing tears from her eyes. Beside her sat her husband, Mitch, his right hand clenched so hard that his fingers had gone white. Jasper, their 3-month old son, lay swaddled in Kathy’s arms, struggling to breathe, the veins on his tiny neck bulging with each desperate inhalation. (The family’s names have been changed for privacy.)
The silence between Kathy and Mitch was palpable, and it was obvious that they were somehow at odds.
Days after Jasper’s birth, I had diagnosed him with , a congenital condition in which the structures of the voice box become too soft,
